BANGKOK, April 27 – The Thai government has initiated proactive strategies to deal with the violence in the country’s three southern boder provinces and it is closely monitoring the situation as Saturday marks the eighth anniversary of the Krue Sae incident, Deputy Prime Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapa said on Friday.
Gen Yuthasak made his remarks in response to concerns of possible violence tomorrow, the eighth anniversary of the April 28, 2004 Krue Sae incident in which 32 people were killed in clashes between authorities and suspected insurgents at a Narathiwat mosque.
The deputy prime minister said that intelligence agencies are closely watching the situation and are proactive in their engagement with the southern border region.
Gen Yuthasak expressed his belief that there will be no violence on tomorrow’s anniversary as the army, police and the Southern Border Province Administration Center (SBPAC) have closely monitored the situation in the area.
He said Deputy Prime Minister/Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit will visit the insurgency-torn provinces on Saturday to follow up the work of government agencies and try to create better understanding of the government compensation scheme for the victims of violence.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is scheduled to visit the region to boost morale of local residents on Sunday, Gen Yuthasak said.
Following various reports that the young generation of insurgents have been trained overseas, Gen Yuthasak said he has received the report on the matter and instructed officials in the region to win the hearts and minds of those people and keep them better informed regarding the government’s policies.
Gen Yuthasak reporting that the government-initiated proactive operations were underway in the violence-plagued region, He advised the education ministry to play a larger role in providing solutions to the problem as well.
More than 5,000 people, including local residents, security officials, monks and insurgents, have been killed since violence erupted in the restive southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat in 2004.
