Thai police arrest teenage suspects in southern arsons

The arrest of 10 teenagers suspected of torching dozens of targets including schools in southern Thailand will help resolve the unrest in the troubled region, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday.

The 10 young men were caught in the midst of a Thursday night arson rampage across Narathiwat and Yala provinces in the kingdom's Muslim-majority deep south, which has been rocked by deadly violence since January, police said.

The attacks were reminiscent of the Jan. 4 raid on a Narathiwat arms depot that killed four Thai soldiers and was accompanied by the near-simultaneous torching of 21 public schools.

That brazen attack kicked off a wave of violence that has left at least 65 people dead, mainly security personnel and government officials.

Thaksin, who has blamed the unrest on Islamic militants and separatist groups, said the suspects could provide vital clues about who is behind the violence.

"The arrest of the 10 teenagers has enabled us to resolve several issues which we could not resolve before," the premier told his audience in a live radio broadcast from northeastern Sri Sa Ket province.

"Criminals who cover themselves in their false ideology will be punished," he said.

Special Branch police said the youths, some reportedly as young as 13, were paid an average of 1,500 baht (US$38) each to carry out the arson.

Meanwhile police have requested prosecutors indict 33 suspects, including a Thai member of parliament, for involvement in the Jan. 4 raid, police said yesterday.