Effort launched to get local officials involved in quelling Southern violence
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Panu Uthairat, the Interior Ministry's deputy permanent secretary for special activities, has gone back to the deep South on a mission of restoring peace there, this time by increasing the involvement of local communities.
“The role of civilians, including local administration officials, in the peace-building effort in the deep South has not been very prominent in the past even though they number around 70,000,” Panu said.
“We believe civilians from district chief, kamnans and village heads to territorial-defence volunteers and village-protection volunteers can play a more active role.”
Panu, who three years ago was at the helm of the Southern Border Province Administration Centre (SBPAC), initiated the Yala-based section of the Permanent Secretary’s Office, which sprang into operation on October 11.
The unrest in the southernmost provinces, including Yala, will definitely ease if kamnans and village heads are very active in their areas, he said.
The new southern section does not overlap with the SBPAC, Panu said. While the SBPAC supports the peace-building work of kamnans and village heads in the region, they are not under the agency’s supervision.
“Kamnans and village heads are under the Interior Ministry’s oversight. The ministry can punish them for negligence,” he said.
The section will facilitate closer coordination by bringing in civilians to work alongside the military and police in suppressing the violence in the deep South.
Village-protection volunteers will be assigned to some 10 households each. Not only do they have to plan how to protect those families, they also have to monitor their movement.
“That should provide comprehensive intelligence gathering and security,” he said.
The 1,900 villages in the deep South will be divided into three security groups based on the violence in their areas. Villages with more unrest will get more volunteers and security officials.
