PM approves NSC proposal for peace talks with insurgents

The airship, which has been in the air almost every morning recently, landed at Ban Ton Durian in tambon Yarang at 11am. This vessel, bought in 2009 for Bt350 million for the southern border surveillance programme, also suffered extensive damage when it had to make an emergency landing in December 2012. Meanwhile, Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha has approved a National Security Council proposal to proceed with a peace dialogue with southern separatists.

An Army source said the Army chief’s adviser General Aekkanit Muensawat would not lead the negotiating team as rumoured – he would just advise – but a team leader had not been assigned yet. Aekkanit said he could not lead the team because he had a lot of work, as he was also a member of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and set to chair one of its committees.

The peace negotiators’ structure is made up of three levels: policy-makers to be led by a deputy prime minister and five to six committee members to control overall direction and allocate budget; a negotiation team to represent the Thai government in the talks and to be supported by three working teams for legal help, politics and tasks to improve confidence; and an operative level to be supervised by the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4 front command. Meanwhile, security agencies apologised yesterday to the family of Muhammad-asuwan Sorhor, a 14-year-old boy killed during a gun attack at a military outpost on the night of August 21 in  Narathiwat’s Sri Sakhon district. This move came after a probe revealed that a paramilitary ranger volunteer shot the boy dead.

Narathiwat police chief Pol Maj-General Pattanawut Angkhanawin told a press conference that paramilitary ranger volunteer Ekkapot Samansuan shot his 11mm pistol from an outpost that came under attack, but the incident occurred at night so Ekkapot couldn’t see clearly and the bullet hit the boy, who was on a motorcycle and making a U-turn to get away from the scene. The volunteer had assumed him to be an insurgent fleeing the scene, the police said.

Pattanawut said the death was not an extrajudicial killing, but Ekkapot would face charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, having a gun and ammunition in possession, and trying to tamper with evidence at the scene, because he allegedly placed a pistol in the boy’s hand after.

Maj-General Singhasak Uthaimongkol, commander of Narathiwat’s task force, offered condolences to the family and said he would ensure justice and would not protect his subordinate. He said the Army had no intention to kill innocent people. Besides Bt50,000 in initial compensation, the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre would provide Bt500,000 to the boy’s family and build them a house and provide scholarships to the boy’s two siblings.

In related news, Colonel Pramote Phrom-in, spokesman for ISOC Region 4 front command, said Yafree Saro-eng, 30, had been arrested in Pattani’s Sai Buri district yesterday morning and a 9mm pistol and 35 bullets seized. He was wanted under 12 national-security warrants and an initial probe that found he allegedly made bombs for an insurgent cell in Sai Buri, Mai Kaen and Kapho districts.

Meanwhile, Deep South Watch reported that there were 18 people killed and 40 injured in 66 attacks in August – reportedly the lowest figure since the unrest flared in January 2004.