By NNN-TNA
Pattani : Thousands of Thais, Buddhist and Muslim alike, and bird-lovers from more distant places, gathered together peacefully Saturday, as 1,700 doves crooned and cooed and help the spectators put aside their worries of violence in the ongoing shadowy and formless insurgency which has brought fear as a constant companion to residents of the South.
Owners of the winning birds will receive trophies from Thailand’s Queen Sirikit.
The annual dove singing contest, held at sports stadium here, saw more than 2,000 dove raisers participating in the colourful event while many enthusiasts also joined. Many dove breeders from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines also participated in the contest, being held for the sixth time in Pattani.
The most expensive dove joining the contest is named “Papa James” from Singapore, whose owner valued him at Bt2 million.
Cooing and crooning don’t diminish the need for security, however, and vehicles entering the stadium are searched thoroughly to protect participants from insurgent sabotage.
The insurgency doesn’t go away. Earlier in the week presumed insurgents killed and burned two men in Pattani Monday, beheading one victim. Responding security forces found two bombs, which were defused by a police bomb squad.
The violence continues unabated despite the repeatedly reaffirmed intentions of the interim government of Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to apply every effort to ending the unrest through reconciliatory means.
More than 2,100 people have been killed in three years of violence in the three southern border provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani.