Thai troops get sacred flags to avert south attacks
Thu 22 Dec 2005
BANGKOK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Thailand, struggling to end nearly two years of separatist violence in its Muslim south, issued thousands of "sacred flags" to soldiers and civil servants on Thursday to protect them from daily bomb and gun attacks.
"This ceremony is a way to boost morale among government employees working and risking their lives in the south," Defence Minister Thammarak Isarangura said at the handover of some 65,000 red flags.
The triangular flags, bearing ancient and modern Thai script and blessed by Buddhist monks, would bring good luck and ward off evil spirits, retired general Pallop Pinmanee told reporters.
Largely Buddhist Thailand has tried all means to end the violence in the south -- from using brute force to "bombing" the region with millions of paper cranes in a gesture for peace.
But gun and bomb attacks on civilians and security forces have become part of daily life in the provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat since violence erupted in January 2004, despite the presence of 30,000 troops and police in the region.
Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya, senior minister in charge of national security, said this month it would take generations for Thailand to end the unrest, which has killed more than 1,000 people in the past 23 months.
The government insists it is winning the hearts and minds of Malay Thais, many of whom complain of unfair treatment at the hands of officials sent from Bangkok.
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