BANGKOK, Sept 8 – After educators voted yesterday for a three-day closure in response to the killing of two Narathiwat teachers, 365 schools in ‘red zones’ in this southernmost Thai border province Wednesday began the first day of a closure intended to send a message to Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat who said he is seeking extra security measures to protect teachers in the insurgency-impacted provinces.

The Narathiwat school closures came as the Teachers’ Federation in the three southern border provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat on Tuesday resolved that all 465 schools in the red ‘high-risk’ zones should be closed for three days for safety reason after Wilas Kongkham, 54, a teacher at Baan Mananggayi School, and his wife, Komkam Petchprom, 53, a teacher at Tungtohdang School, were shot dead by presumed muslim insurgents Tuesday morning.

MCOT