Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Teaching is one of the most "dangerous" jobs in southern Thailand. Some 44 teachers lost their lives since 2004 as a result of bombings and shootings by Islamic insurgents. Teachers have thus decided to learn how to use handguns.

In Chulabhorn Naval Base (Narathiwat province) in the Gulf of Thailand, about 100 men and women teaching in public schools are taking lessons. For them carrying a weapon has become an "essential" part of their work.

Since January 2004 violence between Islamic insurgents and law enforcement agencies has caused more than 1,700 deaths in the southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, the only Thai provinces with a Muslim majority in an otherwise Buddhist nation.

Sanguan Jintarat, head of the teachers association (15,000 members) in these troubled provinces, said the choice is between "having a gun or die".

Thousands of teachers are now carrying weapons, many without a proper permit. Many more have applied for a permit. Guns top the list as weapon of choice, because they are easier to carry and handle than rifles. The army is selling 9 mm Steyr pistols for 18,000 bath (US$ 480), a quarter of the normal market price.

Srisompob Jitipirmosri, professor of political science at Prince Songkhla University in Pattani, agrees that "teachers must defend themselves" after a wave of violence swept over some 300 schools and teachers.

Just last July 24, Prasarn Martchu, a 46-year-old Buddhist teacher, was hit in front of his pupils in the village of Narathiwat. Two terrified security guards witnessed the incident unable to do anything.

Thawach Saehum, also a teacher, said that a colleague in Yala province saved himself by firing back when assailants attacked him last March as he was driving to school.

Rebels now target teachers, Buddhist monks, bank employees and car mechanics. Initially, police, the military and public officials took the brunt of their attacks. Later places frequented by soldiers came under fire like restaurants, car repairs shops, open markets. But it seems that anyone now can be a victim. In August an elephant trainer was shot.

According to official figures, teachers are particularly targeted because they represent the central government but also because the rebels want to push families to stop sending their children to public schools and opt instead for Islamic schools, the only ones not to have suffered from the wave of violence.

Experts are hard pressed to find a reason for this violence though. Although the area once belonged to a Malaysian sultanate, rebels have not made any demands or even claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Currently, the central government has deployed some 20,000 soldiers in the area but without achieving any tangible results.

The violence is in fact growing. In the late August bombs exploded simultaneously in 22 banks. (PB)