Thai Islamists Continue Jihad

Ah, the restive South Thailand regions. It's such a lovely place. You've got Islamists seeking to create their own Islamist state, and the Thai government is once again entertaining the thought of appeasing them, despite the ongoing jihad:

Three teenage boys were killed and a Buddhist man slain and his body set on fire in separate attacks in Thailand's restive southern provinces, police said Saturday.

Three 14-year-old Muslim boys were killed when suspected separatist insurgents threw a grenade and opened fire with automatic weapons at a busy teashop in Yala province's Bannang Sata district late Friday, police Lt. Anan Ritthitham said. Another 10 people were wounded, he said.

Manoon Sangthong, 46, was shot dead Saturday morning and his body set on fire near his rubber plantation in Narathiwat province's Rue So district, 800 kilometers (500 miles) south of Bangkok, Police Lt. Khanchitphol Kuenor said. Manoon was a Buddhist, he said. Seven schools were also torched in Yala and Songkhla provinces on Friday night, police said. Songkhla borders the three southern provinces and violence often spills over into there.

Thailand's Defense Minister Gen. Boonrod Somtad, speaking to reporters Saturday, said the government is willing to talk with insurgents and knows some of the leaders. Boonrod made the comments on his return from visiting Malaysia and said Thailand's neighbor to the south offered to give full cooperation in efforts to resolve the violence in the south.

The Islamists aren't just murdering people, but they're destroying schools to further intimidate anyone who isn't a Muslim or as Muslim as the Islamists into submitting to their way of life. They're destroying any opportunity those living in the region have of improving their lives - gaining an education that doesn't consist solely of regurgitating passages of the Koran.