Insurgents have succeeded in everything that they have set out to do, while the military has failed to achieve any of what the public expects of it. The armed forces have not only failed to contain the worsening situation in the southern provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat, which have descended into lawlessness, but they have also allowed insurgents to expand their sphere of influence to parts of Songkhla, if not Bangkok, which was rocked by coordinated bombings on New Year's Eve.

The number of people killed since January 4, 2004 has gone well past 2,200, most of them civilians, and it keeps rising. Not a single day has gone by without policemen, troops and civilians being blown up and ambushed, schools being torched, teachers being murdered or other innocent civilians being killed.

Insurgents have been able to challenge the authority of the Thai state, destabilise the southernmost region and wreak havoc on local economies with impunity and little cost to them. Only a handful of suspected insurgents have been arrested and have court proceedings pending in connection with about 20 incidents. Insurgents get away with their crimes 99 per cent of the time.

The military has been so humiliated in this regard that its credibility as an effective fighting force has been cast into doubt, which explains why the armed forces never have good intelligence: local people are too afraid to identify with authorities. This is why government troops who are armed to the teeth dare not venture into areas infiltrated by insurgents.

Troops brave enough to put their lives on the line to do their jobs are left largely to their own devices if targeted by roadside bombs or ambushes - there is little hope of reinforcements arriving promptly. In the absence of clear strategy and workable tactics, the majority of troops stay in their heavily fortified units whiling away their six-month tours of duty.

Contrast this to the situation faced by tens of thousands of teachers. These usually unarmed but extremely courageous men and women go to work everyday to schools, including some in areas infiltrated by militants, to try to teach local children how to read and write so they have a chance to prosper and grow up to be law-abiding, productive citizens. Some 77 teachers have made the ultimate sacrifice while another 72 have been wounded or maimed for life by insurgents since early 2004.

The great majority of teachers are bound by a sense of duty to continue to go to work, even after it became evident the insurgents were targeting them. Meanwhile, almost 200 schools have been torched since January 2004. Education and a proficiency in the Thai language - the glue that holds people together regardless of their socio-economic status, religious faith or ethnicity - is giving way to the law of the jungle.

How many more teachers have to be killed in cold blood in schools or on their way to and from work in remote communities infested with insurgents before the military comes to its senses and starts defending civilians against these hateful insurgents and restoring peace the way it should? Schools in areas infiltrated with insurgents must be closed down for the whole semester, if necessary, and should not be reopened until the military is able to secure them and guarantee the safety of teachers, children and the local population.

The armed forces must be asked to make state their objectives publicly so that their performance can be assessed in measurable terms, such as a rise in the number of insurgents captured and prosecuted, a drop in the number of insurgent attacks on security forces, schools and teachers, as well as a decrease in bombings, and so on. No one says a career in the military should be safe or comfortable.