Yingluck 'has a better hold on South situation'

The violence continued unabated yesterday, with a villager being shot dead in Songkhla in the afternoon and two Army paramilitary rangers being killed in an ambush in Pattani in the evening. 

Meanwhile, the implementation of various projects is entering a new phase, as a vast area of abandoned farmland is being revitalised to boost harvest output and seminars were being held in 26 large communities to narrow the cultural gap and hear what the residents have to say, he added.

So far, 318 suspects have reported under the Army’s pardon scheme, and of them 171 were wanted on criminal and security warrants, the colonel said. 

Thanathip went on to say that 12 journalists from seven Muslim countries visited the deep South last month as part of a project aimed at giving the international community, especially the global Islamic community, a better understanding of the situation. Victims of violence are also being compensated and cases that were previously delayed are being sped up, he added. 

As of May 31, there were 120,472 cases of which 9,054 were security- or violence-related. Of the 9,054 cases, 6,916 have no known assailants and of the 2,138 cases with known suspects, 1,529 have already been arrested, the spokesman said.

In Songkhla’s Thepha district, former insurgent Samsudi Lahte, 62, was killed in a drive-by shooting outside a mosque. Police are investigating to see if the murder had anything to do with the victim being a former Patani United Liberation Organisation member. Later in Pattani’s Yaring district, a team of rangers was ambushed while escorting teachers, with two of them shot dead in a brief gunfight with insurgents.