ISOC mulls reinstating emergency powers in restive southern districts
ISOC may seek Cabinet approval to reinstate emergency decrees in Thailand’s deep South as violence rises and new security measures are planned.
The Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) may ask the Cabinet to consider re-enforcing the emergency decree in certain districts of Thailand’s southern border provinces where violence has recently escalated, ISOC spokesman Maj Gen Thammanoon Maisonthi said on Monday.
Districts seek reinstatement of emergency powers
Speaking to reporters after an ISOC meeting chaired by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Maj Gen Thammanoon said several districts had proposed the reimposition of the emergency decree to allow security forces greater flexibility in controlling the situation.
“Let me study it in detail first,” he said when asked whether Sungai Kolok district in Narathiwat would be among the areas seeking the return of emergency powers.
Sungai Kolok has recently seen a resurgence of violent incidents, including an armed robbery at a gold shop in which suspected insurgents made off with gold ornaments weighing about 600 baht.
Current enforcement of the emergency decree
The three southern border provinces — Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala — remain under the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations, B.E. 2548 (2005), granting security officials special legal authority to handle suspected insurgents.
However, under a Cabinet resolution in July 2024, 15 districts across the three provinces were exempted from the emergency decree and placed instead under the Internal Security Act (ISA):
- Narathiwat: Yi-ngo, Su-ngai Kolok, Waeng, Sukhirin
- Pattani: Yaring, Panare, Mayo, Mai Kaen, Thung Yang Daeng, Kapho, Mae Lan
- Yala: Betong, Raman, Kabang, Krong Pinang
Anutin’s three key instructions to ISOC
Maj Gen Thammanoon also elaborated on Anutin’s directives during the meeting, held at ISOC headquarters in Bangkok’s Dusit district.
As the ex officio chair of ISOC, Anutin issued three main instructions:
- Monitor and assess all security threats — particularly drug networks, terrorist activities, and online scam groups.
- Promote accurate information among the public regarding national defence, Buddhism, and the monarchy.
- Strengthen inter-agency coordination to ensure unity, reduce redundancy, and recruit more police personnel.
ISOC restructuring in the Fourth Army Area
Thammanoon added that the ISOC Forward Command for the Fourth Army Area will undergo structural reform to streamline its operations. The reorganisation will reduce six divisions to four:
- Operations Command Division
- Intelligence Division
- Joint Civil-Police-Military Operations Division
- Development and Understanding Promotion Division
He said the new structure aims to enhance efficiency and improve coordination between civil, police, and military sectors in the deep South.
