BANGKOK, 27 May 2013 Army Chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha has admitted that there is a shortage of troops in the southern border provinces and has disclosed his idea to construct a fence along the Thai-Malaysian border.
Gen. Prayuth, in his capacity as the deputy director of the Internal Security Operations Command, said the situation in the Deep South was getting better with the government’s policy which focused more on development and integrated work of relevant units. He noted that the government had succeeded in cracking down on many insurgent networks despite their efforts to pressure the government to comply with their demands.
However, due to the insufficiency of military forces in the far South, the army chief said he had asked for cooperation from the Ministry of Interior and Malaysia to help oversee the situation along the border. In the future, a border fence might be constructed with the use of electronic device. Gen. Prayuth also called on the local residents to refrain from traveling at night and being near risk areas.
