Published on May 25, 2006 - Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya and Defence Minister Thamarak Isarangura yesterday flew to the restive South to strengthen field operations after officials failed to rescue two teachers in a hostage drama in Narathiwat last week.

Chidchai told reporters that he would not blame any agencies for the failure but would take it as a lesson to adjust operations - and response times.

Two teachers were brutally beaten after being taken hostage at Ban Kuching Reupah School in Rangae district. One remains in a coma.

The hostage takers had demanded in exchange the release of two suspects arrested earlier in connection with the murder to two marines last year.

Doctors said yesterday the condition of teacher Juling Pangamoon had not improved.

The hostage taking has raised the question of the military's ability to respond to emergencies as officials took two hours to reach the site.

The government is struggling to contain violence, which has killed more than 1,300 people in the restive South since the beginning of 2004.

Meanwhile, in Pattani, the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) subcommittee on education and culture, conducted a public forum to explore ideas about grass-root mechanisms aimed at bridging the gap between various communities in the region, and the rest of the county.

Political scientist Assistant Professor Surichai Wun'gaeo, a subcommittee member, said the NRC has concluded its final report and will present it once a stable government is in place.

But its recommendations should not be seen as an end in themselves. "It won't make any difference if it's only on paper. The key is to have the local community to be more politically active and to reach out to one another to strengthen understanding," Surichai said.

He reiterated the NRC's proposals that the local Malay dialect be used as a "working language" in government offices, saying the "inability to communicate effectively has created problems and misunderstanding".

Besides the history of the region, Surachai said standard Malay spoken in Malaysia and Indonesia should be taught in public schools. He pointed out that half of Asean citizens speak standard Malay and the idea should be understood as an investment in human capital.

With regards to formal education and traditional Islamic boarding schools, known as pondoks, Surachai said the country has to give more importance to capacity and to push the idea that one form of education does not have to come at the expense of another.

The NRC plans to conduct similar public forums in other parts of the country because it is vital to understand the problem in the restive region is part of a national one, and that everybody has a stake in the outcome.

The Nation
Pattani