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Defence volunteers questioned; Army says still early to judge motive for recent attacks
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday ordered security agencies to provide better protection for officials and the public in the deep South, after a Yala deputy governor was killed in a roadside bombing by suspected insurgents.
Yingluck said that Deputy PM Chalerm Yoobamrung, who oversees security affairs in the region, had closely followed the situation in the region and would visit the southern provinces soon.
Meanwhile, police investigators summoned six Bannang Sata defence volunteers who provided security to the deputy governor's motorcade amid suspicion that the attack may have involved an insider because the assailants knew precisely which car to hit.
The volunteers initially gave similar testimonies - that they were informed just an hour before the trip to provide security for a motorcade and they did not know who was travelling in it.
The Friday afternoon roadside bomb in Bannang Sata in Yala also killed provincial civil defence chief Chaowalit Chai-ruerk.
Offering condolences over the deaths of the officials, Yingluck said she had ordered security agencies to step up measures to ensure the safety of officials and residents in the deep South. She also instructed authorities to be more alert for possible attacks and provide moral support to officials working in the area. The PM said the death of Issara and the recent abduction/murder of a marine private, Ma-ila Tohlu, in Narathiwat, were outrageous events that affected the morale of officials. She vowed that the government would facilitate their work by providing more modern equipment.
Yingluck affirmed that dialogue between the National Security Council (NSC) and insurgent groups would continue, as it was one way to end the unrest.
Yala Governor Detcharaj Simsiri admitted the killing of Issara had affected staff morale and prompted him to be more cautious. However, he vowed to reach out to all areas to perform his duty to try to end the unrest and help people, without fear of threats by insurgents to harm high-ranking officials.
Thai Army deputy spokesman Winthai Suwaree said the motive for the attacks of the past 2-3 days was not clear yet. He said the insurgents may be trying to show their ability to strike hard after many leading members were arrested or slain lately and many sympathisers had changed their minds. He said it was also likely that the representatives were no longer united in controlling the insurgents or weren't really representing the right groups. He urged the public not to jump to conclusions and said it would take a while to see the results of the peace dialogue.
Winthai admitted state officials, executives, teachers, policemen and soldiers were the original targets of the insurgents and that remained unchanged. He said that while NSC worked on the peace dialogue, with help from Malaysia, the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4 Front would strive for good understanding with local groups for solutions, while also implementing peaceful projects to let "those with a different ideology from the government" participate in solving the problem.
The violence continued yesterday with a roadside bomb at 11am slightly injuring a defence volunteer in Narathiwat's Sri Sakhon district. The bomb impact caused an armoured truck, in which the victim and five other Sri Sakhon defence volunteers were travelling, to swirl but the driver drove on for another 30 metres. They fired gunshots to ward off any further attacks by suspected insurgents.
Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said his party did not disagree with the peace dialogue with insurgent groups. He suggested that Thai representatives table conditions and guidelines to reduce violence in the region, as the attacks in the past month may be symbolic. If the insurgent groups attending the dialogue process would not or could not help reduce the violence, Thailand might get an answer on how to proceed.
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