Militant order keeps Thai rubber tappers home
Fri 29 Jul 2005
BANGKOK, July 29 (Reuters) - A militant demand that the Islamic holy day be observed as a day of prayer brought much of a southern Thai province to a halt on Friday.
Rubber tappers and merchants in the relatively poor province of Narathiwat, where 80 percent of the 800,000 people depend on rubber for a living, said they were simply too scared to work after militants issued their first such demand.
"All my five Muslim workers dared not go out buying from farmers today," said rubber merchant Uthai Kosiyaporn.
"They said their ears could be cut off if they went out today on the grounds that they did not listen to the threat," he said.
"They also told me if they work next Friday, then they will be killed, either by beheading or 357," he said, referring to a pistol used by militants in three Muslim-majority southern provinces where more than 800 people have been killed since an insurgency began in January last year.
Many rubber tappers stayed at home and markets were empty in Narathiwat, where militants distributed leaflets ordering that Friday be observed as a day of prayer.
"I did not go out tapping rubber today. I am scared because of the threat," said Yarn Rattananiyom, a Buddhist.
"Other farmers, including Muslims I know, also did not tap. Local markets looked like graveyard todays," Yarn told Reuters from Narathiwat.
But not everyone could afford not to work.
"We went out tapping as usual today. If we did not work, we would have nothing to feed the family," Suthira Thongboonruang said. "It does not mean that we are not scared. We are."
The three southernmost provinces of Thailand, the world's biggest producer and exporter of natural rubber, normally produce around 600,000 tonnes a year, or 20 percent of the country's annual output of 3 million tonnes.
Narathiwat accounts for about 200,000 tonnes a year.
Officials fear the violence in a region annexed by Bangkok a century ago will cut output of predominantly Buddhist Thailand by 6 percent this year.
Concerns about supply in Thailand and falling domestic stocks propelled Tokyo rubber futures to their highest level in 17 years this week before fund selling erased some of the gains, but dealers remain upbeat on price outlook for at least another month.
($1=41.36 Baht)
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