Yingluck fine-tunes security strategies for deep South
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra Friday announced a plan to fine-tune strategies to deal with violence in the southern border provinces.
As part of the strategies, the government will focus on maintaining security in the deep South rather than on quelling insurgency.
On Friday, Yingluck set up a committee to be in charge of the strategies to maintain security in the deep South. She assigned Deputy Prime Minister Kowit Wattana to head the committee; the Army commander-in-chief was named deputy chairman.
Yingluck said that despite the existence of both the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center and the Internal Security Operations Command, there was no agency in direct charge of solving the southern violence, hence the setting up of the committee.
The new committee is to head a special centre, which will be set up soon to coordinate with other government agencies in operational matters.
She said the Kowit committee will not focus on suppression but will ensure security and create better understanding among local people based on the rule of law and human rights principles.
She added the government has no plan to turn the deep South into a special administrative zone.
Yingluck will also delegate Kowit to take charge Internal Securities Operation Command, thus allowing the new Kowit committee to take charge of southern operations. The prime minister is the ex officio director of the ISOC but can delegate her deputy to head the ISOC on her behalf.
