Ex-Security Council chief links recent attacks to BRN militants

Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), or “National Revolutionary Front”, is a Patani independence movement.

“I do not think you can overlook BRN. It has the potential to carry out such coordinated attacks and many factors point to it as the group responsible for the recent attacks,” Paradorn said in an interview.

Paradorn has maintained a low profile after the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) took control of the country in May 2014. He was transferred to an inactive post before the NCPO coup, paving the way for Thawil Pliensri to be reinstated in accordance with the Administrative Court’s ruling. 

The court ruled that former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s order to transfer Thawil was illegal.

Paradorn has only emerged from two-year silence after the recent bomb attacks shocked the country.

“I believe the theory that BRN is stepping up and spreading its operations bears more weight than political motives [as suggested by the government],” he said. 

He added that he was confident of his theory because of the depth of his involvement in addressing the insurgency in the South. He once led a government delegation to hold peace talks with BRN in 2013. 

“I felt something was wrong when Malaysia decided to seal its border before the attacks. The telephone signals used in detonating the bombs had come from Malaysia,” he claimed. 

He believes that BRN had launched the attacks in retaliation against the Thai government for failing to proceed with peace talks. 

“We must admit that the peace dialogue had come to a standstill since April this year because the government rejected the negotiation frameworks, all proposals from BRN and did not honour the group. This probably made them decide to stage the attacks,” he said. 

The timing of the attacks, a few days after the draft charter was accepted in the referendum, could signify that BRN did not approve of the draft charter created by the Meechai Ruchupan-led commission, because they believe the charter will extend the military’s power. He said they probably also believe that this charter will cause the peace talks to fail. 

Paradorn added that the bombs used in the attacks required some time for preparation and political groups did not have the ability to do this. 

He went on to say that the attacks were possibly a means to pressure the government into holding a peace dialogue. “They could have made it worse with more stronger bombs, but chose only to warn the authorities,” he said.

He also warned that the government to no longer be complacent about the situation in the South.