BANGKOK, Feb 15 – It is unlikely that a curfew will be imposed in Thailand’s three Muslim-dominated provinces in the far South after a preliminary feedback from most security agencies shows their confidence in handling the situation under normal circumstances, a senior official said today.
Paradorn Pattanathabutr, secretary general of the National Security Council, said 80 per cent of security officials in the South believed the existing laws are sufficient to handle the southern situation.
He said southern people are cooperating more in providing information to the authorities and there is a positive sign concerning solutions to the southern crisis.
“Seeking the people’s cooperation is more efficient in dealing with the situation. After the militants’ attack on a marine base in Narathiwat’s Bacho province, residents were asked to refrain from leaving their houses. It was a softer measure,” he said.
Lt-Gen Paradorn said families of the 16 militants, killed in the Wednesday’s attack on the Bacho marine base, are not entitled to any financial assistance from the state.
“The dead militants intentionally attacked the authorities. They were not innocent people,” he said, adding that aid to their families will be extended on humanitarian grounds.
