Families stop coffin protest
Authorities have convinced the families of two slain Buddhists to cancel their plan to place the coffins in the middle of a road and conduct religious rites for the victims in protest against the authorities' failure to provide safety for local people.
They also planned to block the road until the authorities gave them a satisfactory answer concerning the security situation.Suspected militants killed Lerm Waewphet, 70 and Sumalee Thammapradit, 26, yesterday morning as they were on their way to tap rubber trees in Yala's Than To district. District chief Surachai Wongsupalak visited the families of the victims at a hospital and convinced them to cancel the plan. Authorities were afraid that militants would manipulate the situation and instigate violence if the funeral was conducted in the road. "In previous months, militants in the province have stepped up their bid to stir up the people's anger against the authorities. We are worried they would also manipulate the funeral," Surachai said. In a separate interview, Kaewprapan Artwichai, a villager, said families of both victims had planned to conduct religious rites in the middle of road at 4pm. The villagers would also block the road to protest the authorities' failure to provide safety for Buddhists living in the district. "One or two Buddhists are being killed every month. Police and soldiers can arrest no one. We will protest until we get some real answers from the authorities," he said. In related news, a retired teacher, Naowarat Sukuman-rapan, 69, of Khok Pho district in Pattani, was shot dead while riding a motorcycle in the Nong Chik district. He was on his way to visit his relatives. Teachers from Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat will meet with authorities on Friday in Pattani in preparation for the opening of the new school semester, said Sanguan Indharak, president of the Teachers' Federation of Pattani. "We plan to discuss with authorities to provide security for teachers and students as the new semester starts in mid-May," he said. Teachers and students have been prime targets for attacks by militants and the number of teachers killed has increased. Sanguan said schools in the three provinces should be divided into three zones according to the degree of risk. "The schools should be divided into minor, medium and high-risk zones. "Deployment and frequencies of patrolling should be different according to the risks. We will discuss the idea with the authorities when we meet on Friday," he said. Meanwhile, Army spokesman Colonel Akkara Thiprote said in Bangkok that some 230 people had surrendered to authorities.
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