VOA标准英语2013--Violence in Thailand's Deep South Escalates as Peace Talks Take Place

（单词翻译）

Violence in Thailand's Deep South Escalates¹ as Peace Talks Take Place

In Thailand's deep south, it's common to see men in uniform at local schools. But unlike at institutions in the West, the men are often heavily armed.

Early this year, instructors³ and students at one Muslim primary school in Narathiwat province witnessed a cold-blooded killing⁴ as two men walked in during lunch-break and gunned down a teacher.

For grade 1 instructor² Yai Nong, who witnessed the savage⁵ attack, the brutal⁶ act left many questions to answer - for everyone.

“All the students in the school asked us why they had to shoot our teacher and many of them talked about the incident in their own little groups. What did he do wrong? They ask us the same question,” Yai Nong said.

In the three southern-most provinces, known as the “Red Zone,” most of the targets are those associated with the central Thai government.

Until now, the attacks occurred in the Malay Muslim-dominated region bordering Malaysia, but there's always the underlying⁷ fear of escalation⁸ through support from international terrorist cells.

Analyst⁹ Srisompop Chitpirom, who documents the ongoing¹⁰ conflict on the "Deep South Watch" website explains.

“This is a theory that so long as you still have a certain level of violence going on and the government cannot solve the problem it will be the Pandora's Box and everything can come, including the international insurgency¹¹ or the international terrorist organizations,” Srisompop said.

For now, it seems that the problem is contained within a region that is 90 percent Muslim and is deeply impoverished¹².

For Islamic Committee leader Abdulrahman Abdulsamad, it's not about religion but rather the neglect and alienation¹³ of the region by a predominately Buddhist¹⁴ Thai government.

“There is no justice for the local people and they don't trust each other. The Thais don't understand the language and don't understand the culture. Religion is not the main problem,” Abdulsamad said.

As a small step forward in the fragile peace process, both sides have agreed to curb¹⁵ the violence during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins next month.

But people still wonder if negotiations¹⁶ will be enough to bring eventual¹⁷ peace to the area.