SOUTHERN VIOLENCE: SCHOOLS REMAIN A TARGET

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 004592

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS
PACOM FOR FPA (HUSO)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER TH
SUBJECT: SOUTHERN VIOLENCE: SCHOOLS REMAIN A TARGET

REF: BANGKOK 826 (NEW REALITY)

Classified By: CDA Alexander A. Arvizu. Reason 1.4 (b)


1. (C) Summary: The shooting death of a teacher in
Narathiwat, in front of a class of primary school students,
outraged the country and highlighted the danger facing
government teachers in the far south. Rural village schools
-- often the only visible symbol of the Thai government
besides security forces -- have long been focal points for
Malay-Muslim disaffection and have repeatedly been targeted
for arson attacks. Increasingly, violence is being directed
not at the schools, but directly at the staff, reinforcing
the sense of disconnect between the far south and the rest of
the country. End Summary

RECENT TEACHER ATTACKS CAUSE OUTRAGE


2. (SBU) On July 24 a gunman walked into a fourth-grade
classroom of a government school in Narathiwat's Rusoh
district and shot the teacher three times in front of his
class of screaming students. The victim was the 44th public
school teacher killed in the South since January 2004.
Following this latest shooting, over 40 government schools in
Narathiwat have been closed indefinitely. This incident
followed the May 19 abduction and beating of two female
teachers from a village in Narathiwat's Rangae district by a
mob. One of these teachers remains in a coma. These two
incidents caused shock and outrage across Thailand and
highlighted the danger teachers in the far south are forced
to live with. Government teachers in parts of the three
southern-most provinces are now routinely escorted to and
from school by armed patrols. On June 8, a road-side bomb
killed five police officers in Narathiwat who were protecting
teachers returning home from school.

SCHOOLS HAVE LONG BEEN SOURCE OF FRICTION


3. (SBU) Schools in the far south -- both government and
private Islamic -- have long been focal points of conflict.
The RTG has made various efforts since 1902 to turn schools
into vehicles of assimilation; prompting resistance from
southerners. Many ethnic Malay-Muslims view the standardized
Thai national curriculum -- with references to Buddhist
traditions -- as an affront to their values. At the same
time they are protective of their own private Islamic schools
which are seen as central to maintaining their distinct Malay
cultural identity. Traditionally, arson attacks against
public buildings have been the most common type of violence
related to schools. For example, on January 4, 2004, 20
schools were torched as part of the coordinated raid on the
Narathiwat Army depot which marked the beginning of the
latest round of violence.

GOING AFTER THE TEACHERS - THE MILITANT'S CURRICULUM?


4. (C) Comment: Government schools are often the only
physical manifestation of the Thai state in rural areas
besides security forces, and correspondingly have sometimes
been the target for local anger against Bangkok. What
appears to be changing is that public school teachers --
often Buddhists from other parts of Thailand assigned to the
South by the Ministry of Education (MOE) -- are now the focus
of attacks rather than the buildings they work in. In
Narathiwat there are only 57 Thai language teachers for 153
public schools -- the MOE can't find people willing to fill
the slots. As we have reported previously, an emerging
demographic reality is being created on the ground in the
deep South as non-ethnic Malays leave, or choose to isolate
themselves from their Malay-Muslim neighbors (reftel).
Attacking teachers and public schools only reinforces that
isolation and sense that the far south is a separate place
from the rest of Thailand. End Comment
ARVIZU