Three killed in restive Thai south ahead of PM's visit

Violence continued in Thailand's troubled South on Tuesday as three persons were killed in separate suspected insurgent attacks. The incidents took place one day ahead of Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont's planned visit to the region, the Thai News Agency reported.

In the first incident, 33-year-old school janitor Manaseng Jehso of Ban Loobodeeyae school in Narathiwat's Rangae district was shot dead by an unknown number of gunmen in a car, who followed him as he drove to work.

Manaseng's killing prompted the immediate closure of Ban Loobodeeyae school.

In another incident in nearby Pattani, Masale Paka, 36, and his wife, Usani Tuyong, 33, were shot dead in the provincial seat by gunmen on a pick-up truck, who fired at the couple as Masale drove his wife to work by motorcycle.

Masale was a worker at a petrol station, and was a crime prevention volunteer in Yaring district, according to police.

In Yala province, a school was burned down by militants Tuesday morning in the Bannang Sata district where four other schools were torched a few days ago.

During his planned one-day trip to the restive South on Wednesday, Surayud is scheduled to meet a group of southern students and meet teachers hired under temporary contracts in Pattani.

Source: Xinhua