Thailand to use soccer to fight insurgency

Thailand will install cable TV in tea shops across the Muslim south in hopes that watching soccer will keep young Muslim men from joining the insurgency.

Interior Minister Purachai Piumsombun announced he wants to install 500 cable television sets in tea shops frequented by young Muslim men, the BBC reported Tuesday.

The conflict of Islamic insurgents with government forces in the southern provinces has claimed more than 800 lives in the past 18 months. Various approaches by the Thai government have proved ineffective at stemming the growth of the insurgency.

A prominent community leader in the south, however, said the move to install cable television would likely be viewed as an attempt to project government propaganda.

In addition, he said, the close association in Thailand between televised football and illegal gambling makes this an especially insensitive form of entertainment to promote in Muslim areas.

© Copyright 2005 by United Press International