Thaksin did not meet with PULO leaders : defence minister
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Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat on Friday travelled to the three southern provinces on a one-day visit to follow up the situation and provide moral support to the military stationed in the violence-plagued area.
Air Chief Marshal Sukumpol told reporters before leaving Bangkok that the trip was aimed at providing firsthand information on obstacles and recommendations from the authorities working in the region and to seek ways of facilitating operations in the southern provinces among the various agencies so that they run more smoothly.
He said that any intelligence and strategy operations, which were working properly would not be altered, but that more communication technology for more effective coordination among official agencies would be implemented.
As for the security measures to ensure public safety, he said the emergency decree is already being enforced in the three southern provinces and the local authorities would decide whether a curfew was needed in any of their jurisdictions.
He also noted that it was not considered possible that fugitive ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had held secret talks with Thailand’s exiled insurgents abroad.
Sukumpol said the claim would not have an impact on security matters and urged the public not to give it any credence.
Opposition Democrat MPs for the southern border provinces of Songkhla and Yala cited informed sources as saying that Thaksin had recently talked with the Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO) in a neighbouring country.
The insurgent movement however reportedly rejected the ousted premier's alleged offer to give it money in exchange for an end to the eight-year insurgency in Thailand's southern border region. The failed talks reportedly led to the recent surge of violence, which has rocked the region.
The Democrat MPs asked the government to investigate the PULO website where Mr Thaksin was said to be pictured embracing its leader.
ACM Sukumpol was scheduled to visit Pattani and Yala before returning to Bangkok at around 7pm.
