Suspected separatists on Tuesday shot dead five people in two incidents in Thailand's violence-wracked far south, police said, as schools reopened after being closed for a week in protest at the lack of protection. Five insurgents broke in to the canteen of Bangngo School in Mayor, Pattani, 765 kilometres south of Bangkok, around noon (0500 GMT), and shot dead the school's female director, Piyarat Chuangkeow, and another teacher, Somsak Kwanma, in front of the students, Fourth Army Region Commander Lieutenant General Udomchai Thamasaroraj said. Earlier Tuesday, assailants opened fire with assault rifles on a tea shop in Rangae district, Narathiwat, 822 kilometres south of the capital, killing three people including an 11-year-old girl, and injuring another five, Udomchai was quoted as saying by DPA.
