Army chief dubious about the proposed administrative body for the South

Anupong did not elaborate on the sticky question over the whether the army will lose its leading role in the deep South. He would only stated that the existing mechanisms will remain in place and that the proposed administrative body will focus on cultural, educational and economic development for the restive region.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said past administrations tend to focus too heavily on security and not enough on other issues, such as cultural space and identity of the local community and promised to return the responsibility in the deep South to the civilians.

 Currently, the government is working on final details of a comprehensive legal bill for the deep South.

At the centre of the contentious debate is the division of labour between Isoc and the proposed administrative body, said Associated Professor Srisompob Jitpiromya, the director of the Deep South Watch, a centre at the Prince of Songkhla Univeristy in Pattani.

Isoc is mandated by the Internal Security Act. Therefore, in order to prevent overlapping duties and responsibilities, the proposed act should be understood in the context of "Special Administrative Act", as opposed to a second security act on top of the current ISA, Srisompob said.

While the idea of the new administrative body is to give civilians the supremacy in this contested region, the extent as to which the government will curb the role of the army in the deep South, on the other hand, remained to be seen, Srisompob said.

"This is about political will," Srisompob said.