Fears of more exodus to neighboring Malaysia are floating in Thailand's insurgent deep south, where a village has again refused entrance of security forces accusing them untrustworthy.

Some 100 young girls and women with kids formed a human blockade Sunday by standing together at the entrance of Ban Rahan village in the southern province of Narathiwat.

They dressed scarves according to Muslim tradition and turned their backs toward armed policemen and army soldiers outside the village, showed a front-page photo on Monday's Bangkok Post.

It's the second time in one week that residents of the village have closed entrance to the authorities, accusing them shooting dead an imam here.

A villager who refused to be named told local press the government could not be counted on and the villagers would rather look after themselves.

After lengthy grassroots negotiation, villagers let in the provincial governor Pracha Therat, who came to explain the government's policy to the south and tried to melt down the confrontation.

The governor, however, admitted that the incident was a setback to the government's community relations work and innocent villagers now faced prosecution in Malaysia.

On last Tuesday, 131 people crossed border illegally to the northern Malaysian town of Kelantan and are still there seeking refugeeship.

The 131 including men, women and kids reportedly fled the region for fear of the authorities' stronghand dealing with insurgents, though Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra insisted they leaving for fear of insurgent violence.

Since the beginning of last year, Thailand's deep south bordering Malaysia has fallen into unabated violence by revived separatism movement, which has claimed around 900 lives.

The latest confrontation between villagers and the authorities is feared to spark further exodus of locals.

English daily Nation on Monday published front-page story with the headline of "Fear of Muslim refugee explosion", saying Kelantan officials were scared of mass exodus and many were said to have already crossed border.

Source: Xinhua