100m origami birds flutter down on Thai Muslims

An estimated 100m paper birds were released yesterday on the birthday of Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej as a goodwill gesture by the predominantly Buddhist kingdom towards a mainly Muslim region mired in communal violence.

Thousands waited outside their homes as the origami cranes descended from more than 50 air force planes trailing smoke in the red, white and blue colours of the Thai flag.

Everyone in the targeted southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat was hoping that he or she would be the one to find a bird which had been folded and signed by the prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra - the prize was a scholarship for a child and a good job for an adult.

By last night no one had claimed the sought-after bird.

Mr Thaksin called for the gesture after being widely criticised following the deaths of 78 demonstrators in the south in October. They suffocated when bound and stacked on top of each other to be transported to a detention centre. About 500 people have been killed this year in the region.

All 63 million Thais were ordered to fold at least one bird, and for the past fortnight local television has shown everyone from cabinet ministers to prisoners busily using everything from bank notes to colourful plastic.

While ordinary people appeared to enjoy the bird drop, community leaders in the predominantly Muslim provinces said it would do little to arrest the escalating unrest.

"The paper birds are not a traditional symbol for us," said Abdullaham Abdulsamad of the Narathiwat Islamic Council. "It's a different culture. Our people do not understand what the birds stand for."

The stunt did not prevent one person being shot dead yesterday, and police being called to defuse a 10kg bomb on a road where hundreds of people were waiting for the bird drop.

Analysts blame the violence on a combination of Islamist-inspired separatism, cross-border banditry and turf wars between the police and military.

The government's heavy-handed response has been criticised for aggravating rather than calming the situation.