PM: spy charge a misunderstanding

Published on October 24, 2005 - Chidchai to meet Malaysian counterpart; 13 youths held over attack on temple

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday described a claim by Malaysian officials that Thailand was spying on its troop movements at the border as a “misunderstanding” and insisted that the two countries would continue to work together to strengthen their relationship.

Thaksin added that Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya would meet Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak this Friday.

Malaysia’s defence forces chief Mohamed Anwar Mohamed Nor said last Friday that soldiers guarding the border in the northeastern state of Kelantan had seen men in black balaclavas, believed to be Thai military personnel, trying to monitor troop movements at the Malaysian border post.

Meanwhile, police yesterday detained 13 youths suspected to be involved in last week’s attack on Promprasit temple, where an elderly monk and two temple boys were killed.

The detention was made under a provision of the emergency law, said the Commissioner of the Ninth Police Region, Lt-General Adul Saengsingkaew. None of the names of the 13 suspects or any other details were disclosed.

More than 30 special police were deployed to detain the 13 youths who were found in a dorm in A-dre-rosah Isalamiya School in Pattani’s Panare district. Another 100 police then searched each of their rooms.

The police said they found a metal “Exit” sign, a bag of fertiliser, a knife, an axe, some clothes and some unidentified documents which they believe could be used as evidence against the youths.

The youths will be detained and interrogated and samples of their DNA will be collected, Adul said.

Adul added that police had adequate evidence to believe that the young men were involved in the attack last week when some 20 suspected Muslim separatists stormed a monastery in Pattani and hacked an elderly Buddhist monk to death and shot two temple boys dead. The attackers also torched the monks’ living quarters.

Meanwhile, Army Chief General Sondhi Boonyaratkhlin said officials were closely watching the Thai-Malaysia border for shipments of smuggled assault weapons. He pointed out that the sea was a potential route for the militants as the border is very wide, but added that he was working with the Navy to provide extra monitoring.

He also said that officials were investigating a case of military weapons intercepted in Petchburi to determine whether they were intended for use in the deep South.

Elsewhere in the South, the violence continued with a Buddhist man being shot and burned to death in his vehicle, while another survived a shooting attack.

In Pattani’s Panare district, two gunmen riding a motorbike opened fire with a 9-millimetre pistol at Somchai Maleewan, 35, while he was driving his pick-up truck to collect construction workers in a village.

Somchai, though injured, ran to the village to seek help but the two gunmen captured him and took him back to the truck where they set him ablaze, said investigating officials.

Investigating officials suspect Muslim insurgents were behind the attack but did not rule out a personal conflict between the men as a possible motive.

In Sai Buri district of the same province, a Tambon Administration Organisation official, Sommart Srimart, 45, survived an attack by two gunmen while riding his motorbike to his part-time job as a postman.

Two gunmen on a motorbike approached from behind and opened fire with a 38-millimetre pistol before speeding away. Sommart was hit once in the chest by a bullet but survived the attack.

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Six-month toll nears 300

Almost 300 people have been killed and more than 500 others injured in the three southernmost provinces over the past six months, a senior army officer said yesterday.

Between April 1 and September 30 this year, 298 people were killed and 564 others injured in Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla, said Fourth Army Commander and director of the Southern Border Provinces Peace-building Command Lt-General Kwanchart Klaharn.

He added that a total of 722 shooting incidents had been reported, with Narathiwat having the most with 325, followed by Pattani with 201, Yala with 116 and Songkhla with 30.

A further 252 incidents involving booby traps and damage to government property have also been reported over the past six months.

Of the 298 casualties, 174 were local residents who were not connected to the violence, he said.

More than 1,000 people have died in the unrest in the three southernmost provinces since January 2004.

The Nation