Thaksin orders changes to system

Published on October 30, 2005 - Tells security chiefs idea may have been implemented prematurely, says 19 confess to temple attack. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday instructed his top defence planners to revise the system in which civilians are used as counter-insurgency defence volunteers in the deep South.

Thaksin also stated that all 19 suspected insurgents behind the attacking of a Buddhist temple and the brutal killing of a monk, along with his two assistants, had confessed to their crime.

However, he did not reveal when the 19 were taken into custody or explain as how the confessions had come about.

The 19 are believed to be among scores of insurgents who ransacked a Buddhist temple in Pattani two weeks ago, hacked a monk to death before setting his body on fire, and shot dead two of the temple boys.

Regarding the civilians participating in the counter-insurgency, Thaksin said many of the government-trained village defence volunteers were either not prepared to use the weapons issued to them or were cooperating with militants.

He said the idea behind the village defence volunteers may have been implemented prematurely and added that the authorities would re-assess the entire scheme.

“We have villagers who are either too scared to use the weapons against the insurgents, or who use them and end up getting killed,” he said. “Some are believed to have been cooperating with the insurgents.”

The decision to reconsider the scheme came just days after suspected insurgents raided 63 locations and stole at least 92 government-issued weapons from village defence volunteers.

An investigating unit set up to look to the missing-weapons case was involved in a brief but intense gunfight with suspected insurgents yesterday in Yala’s Raman district.

Attending yesterday’s security briefing at the prime minister’s official residence were Defence Minister Thamarak Isarangura, Justice Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya, Interior Minister Kongsak Wantana, and all three armed forces chiefs.

Before the meeting, Thaksin said on his weekly radio programme that he would make another trip to the South on November 6 and 7 for merit-making and to inspect progress made by security agencies since his last visit in early October.

Speaking at a press conference following the security meeting chaired by the premier, government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee appeared to contradict Thaksin over the past week’s events by claiming that the attacks were freak incidents rather than an escalation of violence in the three southernmost provinces.

“The security situation in the deep South is in a transient phase and the arms thefts against village defence volunteers indicate effective security in the region, forcing militants to attack the volunteers instead,” Surapong said.

“The prime minister wants to ensure that security measures as per his instructions are on track in the wake of last week’s attacks,” he said.

The military and security agencies reported to the prime minister that measures designed to restore peace in the South were on track, he added.

At the meeting, the prime minister emphasised that Chidchai was in charge of overseeing security policy while Army commander-in-chief General Sonthi Boonyaratklin was responsible for implementation, Surapong said.

“Top security officials present at the meeting are confident that southern residents will soon see tangible changes leading to their increased safety,” he added.