PM, officials to discuss South measures on Wednesday

Meanwhile, Pheu Thai Party deputy spokesman Jirayu Huangsap revealed that the government planned to provide additional aid for low-ranking soldiers in the three southernmost provinces. The region, as well as Songkhla’s Hat Yai Airport, has seen security beefed up recently.
Yutthasak said during a phone interview yesterday that the workshop, hosted by the newly established operations centre to deal with southern unrest, would be attended by Army, police and related officials, as well as 17 ministers or their representatives, who would offer suggestions about the centre’s operations. The Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) and the National Security Council would then draft an operation plan.
Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha, as ISOC deputy chief, would draw up charts based on the plan to check for loopholes and provide solutions to them, Yutthasak explained, adding that after that Yingluck would be in charge. Currently there was no representative from the 17 ministries working at the operations, so the move would result in both politicians and civil servants working at the centre to have input into operations.
Saying the southern region curfew was just an idea to prevent violence, Yutthasak said that if approved, it would be implemented in certain locations or routes, rather than blanketing the affected provinces. He said it was up to the Army Region 4 chief to implement the curfew if deemed necessary, and that the centre must be notified about the curfew details (time, location and period of implementation) before it took effect. He said he thought the strategic policy to tackle the unrest was good, but there might be weak spots in the implementation, leading to casualties. Therefore, officials must be more cautious and vary their operations so the insurgents wouldn’t figure out their routine. He said Prayuth was determined to ensure national security officials worked well.
Expressing optimism that the workshop focusing on policy and social development work would improve things, Yutthasak said it would enable related ministries to understand the government’s policy, work well with the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre and know what the budgets were spent on. Each ministry’s work in the region would be evaluated; for example how the Justice Ministry responded to injustice complaints, or how the Agriculture Ministry helped with flood-affected farmland and helped locals to raise goats, he said. If agencies assisted the locals, the Thai authorities would have more members of the public on their side.
Yutthasak said he would also ask the Budget Bureau to use funds from the remaining budget for this fiscal year to procure CCTV cameras for the region.
Defence Minister ACM Sukampol Suwannathat said the related agencies would discuss at Wednesday’s workshop whether they would implement the curfew, and see if the Army Region 4 agreed. The Royal Thai Airforce was considering the possibility of dispatching AU-23 aircraft to aid the operations in the region, he added.
Army deputy spokesman Winthai Suwaree dismissed speculation that the 5th Field Artillery Regiment sent a company of soldiers and two cannons to Pattani and Narathiwat to act against the Runda Kumpalan Kecil separatists as a misunderstanding. He explained that the regiment, based in Songkhla’s Muang district, performed annual field training in Chana and Na Thawee districts from July 28-August 4, leading to the misunderstanding, as the training area was near the areas where violence had occurred.