Thai PM: Intelligence for South to be stepped up

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BANGKOK, April 24 – The Thai government has instructed agencies concerned to improve their intelligence gathering system to boost security for state forces deployed in the country’s far South, according to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

She told reporters after the Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting that ministries handling security for the southern region must more effectively spend their allocated budgets to improve equipment for security personnel as well as expand and improve transport and communication systems for the convenience and safety of the public and the authorities alike.

A new contingent of volunteers will be assigned to the South in the next few months as part of the reinforcement, she said.

She emphasised that peace talks with southern militant leaders would contribute positively to resolving the insurgency in Thailand’s southern border provinces despite the continuing violence in the last few months.

The government has held talks with various groups of people in the South to learn about their opinions and needs, she said.