Thread: Teachers allowed to carry guns in Southern Thailand

Teachers allow to carry weapons outside class



The government has agreed on Wednesday to allow teachers to carry weapons outside the classroom in the southern border provinces, after another teacher was killed by Islamic separatists today.

The 39-year-old teacher, a Muslim, was shot in an ambush early Wednesday while traveling with two other teachers to an elementary school in Pattani.

She died later in hospital, becoming the 65th teacher to be killed in three years of bloodshed in the deep South.

The continuing violence against teachers prompted military-installed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to hold an emergency security meeting in Bangkok today, where the regional southern army commander agreed to allow teachers to arm themselves outside of working hours.

The military also agreed to step up patrols around schools, he said.

Agence France Presse