Teachers in Thailand's deep South call for increased security

BANGKOK, January 16 (TNA) - Speaking on behalf of all teachers in Thailand's deep South, president of a teacher confederation in the southernmost Yala Province Manop Boonthawiroj urged the government on Monday to pay special attention to teachers in the troubled far South, especially further stepping up security measures for them, as local militants have kept targeting teachers with several fatalities so far. Manop, who was among over 3,000 Thai teachers and other educational personnel attending an event marking the National Teachers' Day at Rajabhat University Yala, presided over by Commanding General of the 4th Army Area Command Lieutenant General Udomchai Thammasarorat, also asked the Thai government to take care of southern teachers' welfare, covering expediting a special payment for all teachers working in the insurgency-plagued southernmost region. In nearby Narathiwat Province, Deputy Governor Pradith Sukhonthasawat also presided over an event to observe the National Teachers' Day, which annually falls on January 16, at Narasikalai School in Muang District and presented plaques of honour and honourable certificates to selected teachers with honorary role models and outstanding performances. A senior teacher then led other teachers to take their oaths on keeping their professional ethics, never abandoning children in the troubled deep South throughout their lives and to take a one-minute mourning to those having lost their lives in violent unrest in the southern border region over the past years. (TNA)