More Than 215 Villagers Missing From Home In Southern Thailand
- From: pluto <pluto@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 08:21:49 +0800
October 29, 2007 16:45 PM
More Than 215 Villagers Missing From Home In Southern Thailand
BANGKOK, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- More than 200 people from several villages in the restive Bannang Sata district in the southern Thai province of Yala have left their homes, probably to work in Malaysia, said Thai officials.
Bannang Sata district officer Metee Kanchanaphuwa said checks by the authorities showed that 215 people were no longer staying in the area.
"From our investigations, some of them went to Malaysia to work as rubber tappers or to stay with their relatives. They went there using proper documents and not through illegal ways," he was quoted as saying by the INN online news portal.
Metee could not be contacted to confirm the report but one of his officers said it was normal for people in the district to cross the border and work in Malaysia. He added that it was not true that the villagers had fled to the neighbouring country due to the ongoing violence.
"We normally give out about 200 border passes every month to villagers who want to visit Malaysia or work there, not to run away. Any report linking this with the violence was meant to discredit us as we are celebrating the 100the anniversary of Bannang Sata district," he said.
The disappearance of the villagers came more than two years after 131 Thai Muslims crossed the border from Narathiwat into Kelantan on Aug 30, 2005, claiming that they feared for their safety due to the unrest in southern Thailand. Eleven of them returned this month while the rest are being detained at the immigration detention centre in Terengganu.
More than 2,660 people have died in Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala and Songkhla since suspected separatists resumed their campaign in January 2004 seeking independence for the three Muslim-majority provinces.
Thai Army spokesman Col Akara Thiproj said the villagers' action could not be linked with the insurgency as the violence in the district had decreased in recent months following the crackdown on suspected separatists.
"We believe that they went to look for work in other areas or stay with their relatives. The figure could also be smaller than the 215 reported," he said when contacted.
He said the military was also considering lifting the curfew in the Bannang Sata district which was once considered among the most dangerous spots in the restive south.
Earlier today, soldiers arrested 14 suspected insurgents from a village in the Muang district.===============================================
-- BERNAMA
is the above reported by any bkk papers or by the th govt?
why report now after all, the 215 "have been missing " for more than a month or
so?
something is not cooking right ;-(
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