“Motorcycle drivers should have their driving licences and vehicle-registration records ready for inspection at checkpoints in the three southernmost provinces,” said Colonel Somkuan Saengpataranetr, a military spokesman.

Somkuan announced the new enforcement plan at a press conference in the South yesterday that was broadcast via the military satellite channel in Bangkok.
He said the military was drafting new rules designed to more closely monitor authorised firearms in the South.

Lt-General Palangkoon Klakarn, director of the military’s civil affairs, said security authorities would also intensify a publicity campaign designed to counter the insurgents’ propaganda.

“Unless local residents understand the situation correctly, it is possible there will be a repeat of last year’s tragic incidents at the Krue Se mosque and Tak Bai district,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya urged local officials to remain vigilant to effectively solve security problems.

“Bad people are lurking in the dark, and authorities have to be patient and cautious at all times,” he said, addressing 200 local officials during his inspection trip to Narathiwat’s Sungai Padi district.

Chidchai said security and local officials should be extra careful not to fall prey to terror attacks.

He said security problems could be resolved if relevant officials persevered in their efforts to combat insurgency.

Speaking in Bangkok, Defence Minister Thamarak Isarangura said the government was fine-tuning its policies in the strife-torn provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

“The militants pick and kill their victims at random every day, but the military cannot retaliate in the same manner,” he said.

He said the military would try to come up with improved counter-insurgency measures. “Assailants belong to the same group of people, but security teams are too slow to track them down,” he said.

The southern security forces will be deployed in smaller teams capable of quickly responding to violent incidents, he said.

He said the number of terror-related violent incidents seemed to have risen in recent weeks because some attacks had been mistakenly linked to the separatist movement.

Several shootings should have been classified as campaign violence between rival candidates competing in local elections who staged the killings to look like terror attacks to distract police, he said.

Narathiwat governor Preecha Terat said some violent incidents reported in recent weeks had been not terrorism but normal crimes, the blame for which had been pinned on militants.

Preecha said local residents had started to regain their trust in security officials, which had lead to the seizure of explosives and in turn foiled a number of bomb attacks.

In related news, police are close to issuing an arrest warrant for a man suspected of killing a school administrator in Narathiwat’s Chanae district last week, said Colonel Ubon Meeboon, district police chief.

Ubon said Kobkul Ransaewa’s killer was also wanted for a murder last year.
He also urged teachers in Chanae to travel to and from work under the protection of security guards after police received a tip that militants planned to target more teachers.

Since the Kobkul murder, schools in the district have suspended classes pending further notice.