BANGKOK, Sept 27 – Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha is is Thailand’s troubled South today on an inspection trip of the insurgency-impacted border region.
Meeting the media before departing, he said that security in the area is less than it might be, but that it will be stepped up to contain the movements and actions of insurgents.
The visit of the Thai army chief came as London-based Amnesty International released a new report in the Thai capital saying that at least 4,766 people have died and 7,808 have been wounded in over seven years of the conflict.
Amnesty urged the insurgents in Thailand’s southern border provinces to stop targeting civilians, saying many of the insurgent attacks constitute war crimes that should be prosecuted under international law.
“(The insurgents) have committed — and are continuing to commit — what amount to acts aimed at spreading terror among the civilian population, and which constitute war crimes,” the London-based rights group said in a report.
Gen Prayuth met the media in Bangkok this morning before the human rights organisation announced its assessment of the human cost of the insurgency and the government’s response.
The rights group said that noncombatants have accounted for two-thirds of the nearly 5,000 people killed since insurgents took up arms in 2004.
Gen Prayuth is making his first inspection of army operations in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala since multiple bombings shook Narathiwat’s Sungai Kolok district Sept 16 killing five persons, including four Malaysian tourists, and wounding as many as one hundred others.
Responding to criticism of lax security, the army chief conceded that the government’s security measures are weak in some areas. He said that security will be improved but that resolving the insurgency must involve all parties concerned.
Gen Prayuth said that control measures on firearms, ammunition and explosives will be tightened, as well as measures to contain the movements of presumed insurgents.
“Some problems such as drugs and illegal petrol smuggling, and other criminal offences, are part of the violence,” the army chief noted.
“We should realize that all the incidents stemmed from misunderstanding,” Gen Prayuth said.
“What should we do to enable Thai-Buddhists and Thai-Muslims to live peacefully as it was in the past? We must foster mutual understanding and government representatives must act to ensure fairness for everybody.”
The army chief said that though the overall situation is gradually improving, the insurgents must be condemned for using violence against innocent people and government representatives.
Gen Prayuth urged local residents to join with the government to monitor the situation and any irregularities, while government personnel must also comply with the law in carrying out their operations and avoid heavy-handed measures against perpetrators as that could worsen the situation.
The army chief warned however, that government security forces must retaliate if they are first under armed assault.
