Despite the appointment (by military coup) of a Muslim prime minister, and his obsequious apology to Muslims for the previous government’s policies, the killing in Thailand is getting worse: Teacher slayings shut Thai schools. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Hundreds of schools in Thailand’s restive south will shut their doors in response to increasingly vicious attacks by suspected Muslim insurgents against teachers and schools, an official said Saturday.

The closure, which begins Monday, affects all 336 primary and secondary schools in the province of Pattani, where two teachers were fatally shot by suspected insurgents in the past two days.

In one of the killings, attackers shot a school principal Friday, and then set his body on fire. The principal became the 59th teacher or school official killed in three years of violence, said Bunsom Thongsriprai, president of the Teachers’ Association in Pattani.

“Teachers can’t bear what has happened,” Bunsom said. “They are paranoid, worried and afraid.” He said the province’s schools, which teach about 100,000 students, will reopen when teachers feel safe.