Article 106

Queen likely to extend stay in region

Determined to help people in hardship

WASSANA NANUAM

Her Majesty the Queen is likely to extend her visit to the deep South by at least another two weeks to offer emotional support to residents anxious about security, said lady-in-waiting Khunying Thidarat Thammaraksa.

She said the Queen was undeterred by the ongoing violence in the South and was determined to come to the people's aid in their time of hardship.

The Queen is staying at the Taksin Ratchanives palace in Narathiwat, one of three border provinces that have been rocked by separatist unrest.

Her visit that began on Sept 4 was expected to end early this month.

But the Queen has made known her wish to remain in the province for at least another two weeks to boost people's morale and find solutions to their plight, Khunying Thidarat said.

From the South, the Queen is scheduled to travel to the Northeast next month.

The Queen had earlier expressed her deep sadness that so many innocent lives had been lost in the violence.

She was distraught after reading about Kanchana Khunthong, a seven-year-old Yala girl. On finding the body of her father who had been decapitated, allegedly by separatist militants, Kanchana had cradled his severed head in her arms.

The Queen granted the girl and her brother an audience during her recent visit to Wat Siri Punnaram in Yala and has provided the children with financial help to complete their education.

She reminded Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra how unsafe the situation was. Mr Thaksin flew south to meet the Queen yesterday and was seen seated at her side listening to people's problems first-hand.

Rassamee Petchpuang, a 37-year-old villager, said it was every man for himself. Buddhists and Muslims in the same communities were now estranged and when a Buddhist villager was killed, people in the neighbourhoods became paranoid of Muslims, and vice versa.

The Queen has also asked soldiers to help plant rice seedlings at the so-called ``widows' village'' before families settle in later this month.

The Queen bought 632 rai of land for the village and donated it to 150 women whose husbands were killed by separatists.

The locally-named Robun Too village in Muang district, Narathiwat, will practise self-sufficiency in farming, a concept advocated by His Majesty the King.

Around 100 Fourth Army soldiers have been deployed to build the houses for the widows' village.

They have also been instructed to work in paddy fields to plant seedlings for the widows' families who are expected to move in around the middle of this month.

Each family will be given two rai of land to live and farm on. The Queen has paid for all the land and the construction of the houses.

About half the village land will be set aside for demonstration farms and occupational centres to hire the widows so they can earn a steady income.

Fourth Army commander Lt-Gen Pisarn Wattanawongkeeree said the Queen wished to have lush paddy fields ready to welcome the families when they arrived.

The families would run a rice farm covering at least half a rai. The rest of the land would be reserved for other crops, and raising livestock and fish in ponds to help supplement incomes.