Free Republic

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A massive airdrop of paper birds intended to promote peace failed to halt violence in Thailand's restive south, with a spate of new attacks Monday that targeted soldiers and local officials. The bombings, shootings and arson attacks came hours after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Sunday's airdrop of nearly 100 million Japanese-style origami cranes over the predominantly Muslim region had achieved an "enormous, positive psychological effect" toward peace. On Monday morning a bomb was detonated at a rest stop for patrolling soldiers. Four troops were wounded, one seriously, in Narathiwat province's Ra-ngae district. Another bomb exploded...