Udomdej to visit Malaysia on Thursday
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Army Commander in Chief Gen Udomdej Sarikalaya will make a two-day official visit to Malaysia, starting tomorrow, at the invitation of his Malaysian counterpart to boost the bilateral relations and cooperation.
The discussion with the Malaysian Army Chief would focus on the development of bilateral cooperation, particularly in intelligence and joint patrols along the common border.
As the two countries have already engaged in joint patrolling, Gen Udomdej said the frequency of the operation might be increased.
Gen Udomdej also said he would use the chance to bring several policies initiated by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to establish permanent peace along the border into concrete action.
Such projects are the setting up of Parallel Border Villages, implementation of Asean Forests, border fencing, and the suppression of human trafficking and goods smuggling.
As for the cooperation to strengthen peace in the southernmost provinces, the Army Chief said Malaysia has deployed troops to help look after security at particular areas such as border crossing points.
However, Gen Udomdej said he would ask Malaysia to impose stricter immigration rules to prevent persons with intention of causing unrest from crossing into Thailand. He would also reaffirm Thailand’s wish to see the continuity of peace dialogue with groups behind the southern violence.
