Chalerm to visit south but dates remain vague
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Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, criticised for not visiting the southernmost provinces despite being in charge of southern security, will head south after the Songkran festival.
Army Commander in Chief Gen Prayuth Chanocha said Chalerm’s visit is aimed at following up the situation and exchanging information.
He did not reveal the exact date of the visit. Chalerm has been criticised for refusing to go the southern region to supervise the security issues despite the fact that insurgents have stepped up their attacks.
Violent incidents are continuing despite the government and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) movement’s recent dialogue in Malaysia, which seeks to restore peace to the region.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told reporters that Chalerm will certainly go to the south. However she did not say when.
National Security Council Secretary Gen Paradon Pattanathabut said the peace dialogue is the best means for resolving unrest in the deep South, not a further aggravation of the insurgency crisis.
Paradon, chief negotiator in the dialogue, said it was unclear if the militants’ continued attacks on the Thai authorities represented an attempt to upgrade the level of violence since other factors may be involved.
Yala deputy governor Isara Thongthawat and senior provincial official Chavalit Chaireuk were killed and their driver was seriously injured by a bomb detonated by militants on a road in Yala’s Bannang Sata district on Friday.
The incident was a blow to the peace process between the government and militant groups, who held their second round of meetings last month and have set April 29 for the next peace talks.
Paradorn said violence also escalated in the festive months of MarchApril last year though he acknowledged that there have been attempts to obstruct the peace dialogues.
He insisted that the current peace process is the best path to resolution of the unrest in Thailand’s Muslim majority provinces on the ThaiMalaysian border and that the government was on the right path.
Talks with the BRN leaders, he said, were necessary to create understanding and trust, which will be further developed towards peaceful solutions.
Opposition Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the Thai representatives attending the peace dialogue on April 29 must clearly spell out Thailand’s demand for an improved situation and less violence in the South.
The escalating attacks (on the Thai authorities) reflect a lack of authority among the insurgent leaders who attended the peace dialogues, he said.
He called on Yingluck to directly take charge of supervising the southern situation, instead of assigning it to Chalerm who has never set foot on the southern region.
