Teachers are soft targets but why?
By the News Desk
The killings of two teachers in Narathiwat on Tuesday September 7 have reconfirmed the belief held by some security officers that teachers are the primary targets of the militants.
The two ill-fated teachers, 54-year old Vilas Petprom of Ban Manangkayi school and his 52-year old wife, Mrs Komkham of Ban Thung Toh Dang school, were gunned down by a militant riding on the pillion of a motorcycle with an M16 assault rifle as they were riding on a motorbike on their way from home to Tanyongmas market in Rangae district of Narathiwat with a basket of vegetables to be sold there. The incident took place at about 6 a.m. before the couple were to go to schools to teach.
The latest deaths have brought the number of teachers in the three southernmost provinces killed by suspected militants during the past seven years to 108. 103 other teachers were also injured. During the same period, another 27 educational officials were killed and 19 others injured.
The seemingly endless violence has also claimed the lives of 36 students with 158 injured.
Also during the same period, altogether 327 arson attacks against schools were reported, including two this year.
And since May this year, seven teachers have been killed, including Vilas and his wife. The five other victims are as follows:
- Parb Larpjuajan, the 45-year old teacher of Ban Kruesae in Yarang district of Pattani. He was gunned down as he was driving in a pick-up truck for home. The incident took place on May 7.
- Boonnam Yodnui, 41, a teacher of Ban Tha Klong in Kok Pho district of Pattani. He was killed as he was riding on a motorcycle on Kok Pho-Thepa highway. The incident took place on June 3.
- July 21 as Pichai Suasaeng, 55, director of Dusong Payae school in Yaring district of Pattani was driving in a pick-up truck from school back to his home, he was attacked by gunmen suspected to be militants.
- August 17, Sanchai Akarapongpan, 57, deputy director of Ban Nok school in Panareh district of Pattani, was gunned down in his house as he was dining with his family by gunmen who broke into the house.
But the most famous victim of violence by suspected militants and their sympathizers was that of Ms Juling Pongkanmoon, a teacher of Ban Kujoengluepa in Ra-ngae district of Narathiwat. She was brutally beaten up by a group of villagers apparently incited by militant sympathizers on May 19, 2006. She was in coma until her death some weeks later.
Undoubtedly, teachers are soft targets for the militants. But why?
Lt-Gen Nanthadej Meksawat, former director of the southern special action force centre and a former advisor to the government of General Surayud Chulanont explained that since teachers were regarded as the symbol of the Thai state by the militants, so they had to be eliminated.
“Teachers are representatives of the Thai state. They teach Thai and, therefore, the militants have to shoot them so that they will not be able to teach Thai language to Muslim children. This is the nationalistic concept of the militants that people in the region must learn local dialect and local religion. And this is the condition used by the militants to incite rebellion for secession,” said the general.
Teachers, he said, are primary targets for the militants and their killings are justified, he said.
Maj-Gen Samret Srirai, deputy commander of Special Force and former deputy commander of the 4th army region, said that teachers are the militants’ secondary targets after soldiers and police.
“When they could not kill the security forces, they simply turned to the teachers,” he said.
Maj-Gen Samret, however, noted that killings of teachers had more impacts than killing members of the security forces – that is it tends to sow the seed of mistrust between Muslims and non-Muslims which is the intention of the militants.
Moreover, he said that each time a teacher was killed, the teacher federation would put pressure on the government to deal with the problem instead of putting pressure on the militants.
The general further pointed out that the militants would normally not shoot teachers while they were guard by security forces although they might encounter bomb attacks while traveling in a protected convoy.
He said that the militants knew all the movements and activities of the teachers because they had spies in the neighbourhoods. They selectively chose the targets when the targets were not guarded, he added.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Caption : The funeral of the latest two teachers who were killed in Narathivat province