Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says he does not believe the insurgents operating in the far South of Thailand are linked to the al-Qaeda network.
The government knows who it is fighting in the southern border provinces, he said. The insurgent groups active there had no clear organisation like that linking the terrorist operations in the MIddle East .
His comments follow the arrest by Thai security officials of three Rohingya allegedly involved in passport forgery and human and weapons trafficking.
They were believed to be linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka, which the Colombo government now claims to have been totally defeated, and insurgents in the far South.
They were also suspected of links with the al-Qaeda network.
National police chief Patcharawat Wongsuwan echoed Mr Abhisit's voice, saying that the Rohingya suspects arrested in the South had little or nothing to do with the southern insurgency.
He then said that the continuing unrest in the three southern border provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala stemmed from internal issues, but the terrorists wanted to raise it to an international level.
Pol Gen Patcharawat said the insurgents unleashed violence to facilitate the activities of drug traffickers.
He said the government needed to improve its intelligence capabilities in the far South, as the terrorists were lifting the intensity of their attacks. The strength of the security forces in the South should also be increased to ensure they were capable of dealing with the rebels.
Five schools in Raman district of the southern province of Yala closed on Wednesday after a female teacher was shot dead on her way to school on Tuesday.
The managements of Ban Pormeng, Pattana Balor, Ban La-ae, Ban Pulai and Ban Bueyong schools plan to reopen for classes on Monday.
On Tuesday, Lekar Issara, a teacher at Ban Pormeng school was killed when she was riding a motorcycle to work. Her home was only a kilometre from the school.
Also in Yala on Wednesday, a group of gunmen sprayed bullets at a local restaurant in Bannang Sata district, wounding two teachers and two security volunteers.
The attackers fled and were not identified, but police blamed separatist militiants.
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- Writer: Bangkok Post.com
