Thailand to build 'peace zone'

Thailand to build 'peace zone'

THAILAND: Thailand's government plans to set up "peace zones"
in southern provinces to curb mounting unrest that has been
linked to Islamic separatists, a minister said on Monday.

The deadly violence in the majority-Muslim region of mainly
Buddhist Thailand has flared again in recent weeks despite
efforts to stem the attacks on security forces, government
officials, civil servants and civilians.

"We will announce a peace zone, an area that should not have
much violence so that people can feel comfortable," Defense
Minister Thammarak Issarangkura Na Ayutthaya told reporters.

"We hope to start by August, and Betong district will be a
pilot peace district," he said. He did not provide details of how
the zones would be implemented.

Betong is the southernmost tip of Thailand, in Yala province
which along with Narathiwat and Pattani provinces has borne the
brunt of the violence.

Thailand's deep south along the Malaysian border has been
roiled by an Islamic separatist insurgency that has left more
than 710 people dead since a bloody attack on an army weapons
depot in January 2004. -- AFP