BANGKOK, 29 October 2014 – Colonel Banphot Poonpien, Spokesperson of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) revealed that ISOC, in its latest meeting, resolved to apply the Thung Yang Daeng model of peace-building in priority villages in the restive South before expanding it to all of the 162 villages under the Army’s security enhancement plan.
The meeting was chaired by General Udomdej Sitabutr, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army in his capacity as Deputy Director of ISOC. The meeting also heard a report of progress on training programs conducted in the 2014 budgetary year. One of the programs was to instill nationalism into 1,945 villagers and the other was for developing relationship among 600 villagers.
In another problem-solving approach for the deep South, the Army Commander-in-Chief, after his visit to the region, ordered that the Thung Yang Daeng model be applied firstly to priority villages, to mobilize efforts for peace building, after which the model will be expanded to cover other districts.
At the same time, the database on rural communities should be updated regularly and made sure the same version was utilized by all units. Moreover, he also stressed that a safety zone be established to temporarily accommodate villagers who used to be on the opposite side and change their mind to join the government’s peace plan before they return home.
