PM visits Malaysia for talks on southern unrest

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he is optimistic he will see an end to the violence in the South and promised new opportunities for people in the restless border provinces after talks with his Malaysian counterpart on Monday

Mr Abhisit was speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

"Let me reiterate that my government's approach is based on the belief that the key to peace and security is justice and opportunities," he said.

Mr Abhisit said he had invited the Malaysian government to help revamp the syllabus of Islamic schools in the southern region.

He agreed to the Malaysian leader's suggestion that as prime minister he should visit schools which teach Islam in the three troubled southern provinces this year as a demonstration of the government's support.

Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters that both leaders were optimistic about the future of Thailand's southernmost provinces.

"We remain optimistic that things will get a lot better if we continue emphasizing economic development and giving them a better future," he said.

On Monday, militants killed a rubber tapper and blew up an army vehicle, wounding nine soldiers.

The rubber worker was shot dead and a bomb planted on a road wounded nine soldiers in Narathiwat, police said.

The nine soldiers were on teacher escort duty when the explosive device was detonated under their  patrol vehicle  around 6am.

The injured soldiers we taken to a hospital in Rueso district, where two were reported in a critical condition.

In neighbouring Yala province, a Muslim rubber tapper was shot dead in Bannang Sata district.

Arsae Kama, 39, of tambon Bajoh in Yala was shot six times while he was working in the plantation, police said.

Villagers said they heard the shots but were afraid to enter the plantation as insurgents may have planted bombs around the area.