BANGKOK: Violence in Thailand's Muslim-dominated south forced hundreds of schools to close yesterday, while two lawmakers scuffled during a heated debate in parliament over the government's handling of a riot in the region last week that left 85 people dead.
Warnings that Muslim insurgents may try to abduct Buddhist teachers and students prompted most schools in the country's three southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani to shut until at least Monday, education officials said.