Teachers seek transfer out of Thai south

Teachers seek transfer out of Thai south

THAILAND: More than 1,000 panicked education officials and
teachers have sought transfers out of Thailand's restive south
following the latest shooting of a teacher by suspected Islamic
separatists, an official said on Thursday.

At least 200 teachers in Pattani, one of three provinces in
the deep south wracked by violence this year, petitioned
authorities for immediate transfers after a deputy principal at a
local school was gunned down on Wednesday and left fighting for
his life, a Pattani education department official said.

About 1,000 others were also believed to have requested
transfers from neighboring provinces Narathiwat and Yala, as
authorities were unable to provide sufficient security in the
region which has seen more than 310 people including teachers
killed this year, the official.

"We are terrified. We don't know what will happen to us," she
told AFP. "Even though I was born here, I want to leave and work
somewhere else because we are living in fear here."

She said teachers had taken to avoiding public places such as
markets, shopping centers or outdoor cafes. --AFP