Southern teachers, sick of politicians' promises on the insurgency, now want action

Southern teachers, sick of politicians' promises on the insurgency, now want action

'If I stacked up all government blueprints for ways to end the problems in the South, they would reach to my roof," said Boonsom Tongsriprai, a teacher leader in the far South.

The chairman of the Confederation of Teachers in the southern border provinces says successive governments have failed to tackle the insurgent violence in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.
He is angry after watching one teacher after another falling victim to the bullets of gunmen since the insurgency returned in 2004. Since then, 144 teachers have been killed and 136 injured.
They are still targets, as insurgents regard teachers as a hostile group representing Bangkok-based interests, attempting to exercise authority over the Muslim-dominated provinces.
The latest victim was Somboon Jongdoem, 57, assistant director of Kongthapbok Utis School, in Nong Chik district, Pattani. He was shot and wounded on Tuesday by a gunman on a motorcycle.
A week before, Noppadon Sasimonthon was killed in a drive-by shooting while leaving his home for Tanyongluloh School in Muang district of the same province.
What the confederation wants is simple: better protection for its members.
Mr Boonsom has led teachers to Bangkok for many meetings with government leaders and education ministers.
The confederation has also staged peaceful rallies in Bangkok and occasionally resorted to tougher measures such as temporarily refusing to teach, to send a message to those in power.
Politicians listened to their plight, promised better protection, and paid them danger money.
But Mr Boonsom said little had changed, or improved.
Security officials provide escorts for teachers. But the main concern for the confederation is teachers who make lone trips both during and after work.
Teachers are still an easy target for insurgents, as security authorities lack coordination, he said.
Each unit of soldiers and police has its own area, and they confine themselves to that zone.
In theory, all security forces come under the Internal Security Operations Command but in reality, their operations lack unity, he said. "Everybody is concerned about taking care of his own area. They do not coordinate with the others," he said.
The confederation would like security authorities to work more closely together, before the morale of teachers plunges any lower. Most of 19,220 teachers in the three southernmost provinces come from the region, aided by part-time staff filling vacancies left by teachers who moved out for safer employment elsewhere.
"What we need is anybody in charge who truly understands the problem and knows how to solve it," Mr Boonsom said. "The confederation would not make any demands if the situation in the three border provinces was as peaceful as other places," he said.
The confederation hopes to meet Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her education minister in Bangkok in coming weeks.
It will not urge the government to come up with any new strategies, or impose a deadline for action.
"Six months, nine months, 10 months. I don't want to listen to those [empty promises] any more," he said.
"What we need now is a government which is serious about dealing to our problems."