Violence in Thailand's Muslim-dominated south continued Wednesday with a hospital worker fatally shot, one day after the prime minister made a high-profile visit to the region to address its grievances and pledge nearly US$800 million in aid.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra held a Cabinet meeting in the southern province of Pattani in hopes of easing unrest that officials blame on a Muslim insurgency, emboldened by the growth of Southeast Asian militant movements such as the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah.
At least 50 people, including police officers, military officials, Buddhist monks and government workers, have been slain in hit-and-run attacks in the Muslim-dominated southern provinces since early January.
On Wednesday, an unidentified gunman shot hospital laboratory worker Thirasak Yodkaew, 30, in his arm and lung while he was going to work in the Ra-ngae district of Narathiwat province, a police officer said on condition of anonymity. He later died in hospital.
Earlier Wednesday, attackers set fire to two telephone booths on the outskirts of Yala province's capital city. No one was injured by the arson, police said.
Muslims in southern Thailand have long resented the government for what they see as its failure to alleviate poverty and recognize the south's distinct culture and language.
A low-level separatist movement thrived in southern Thailand for decades before fading after a government amnesty in the late 1980s.
A renewed spate of violence began Jan. 4, when attackers raided an armory, killed four soldiers and stole weapons.
Almost simultaneously, 21 schools in the area were burned.
On Tuesday, Thaksin's Cabinet approved US$304 million for a raft of projects to improve security and the economy in the south at a special meeting held in Pattani to show the government's commitment to the region.
The Cabinet also pledged US$481 million for future social and economic development projects, but agreed that they would have to be approved later.
The projects will be introduced over the next three years.
About 90 percent of Thailand's 63 million people are Buddhists, but the southernmost provinces are predominantly Muslim.
Meanwhile, Thailand's revered monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej has called on Thais to stamp out corruption within a decade or risk leading the country to ruin, local media reported yesterday.
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