National
Security Council secretary-general Pol General Wichien Photeposri
yesterday went to the deep South following more than 100 coordinated
attacks, blamed on insurgents, in the four Southern border provinces on
Friday.
The incidents, including five bomb attacks in
Narathiwat that wounded six security officials, also saw the insurgents
planting the Malaysian national flags across the region, in a
purported attempt to symbolically link the region with Malaysia's
independence day celebrations.
As he left Bangkok, Wichien said the trip was to check on the
implementation of the nine-point strategy, especially the seven
safety-zone measures, the progress of CCTV camera installations and
security manpower management. He will report back to PM Yingluck
Shinwatra. Speaking about the coordinated attacks, Wichien said it was
not an intelligence failure.
After an urgent meeting with related officials, Wichien disclosed that
the insurgents and sympathisers on Friday carried out more than 400
activities, mostly minor acts such as raising Malaysian flags and bomb
hoaxes. He said Thai-Malaysian relations remained unaffected by the
insurgents' attempts to cause a bilateral conflict. He said Malaysia had
clearly stated that it backed peace and would cooperate in developing
both sides of the border in order to prevent conditions that led to
insurgency. He said the NSC had a policy on negotiating for peace in the
region, hence there were ongoing attempts for talks.
Lt-General Udomchai Thammasarojrat, the commander of the Fourth Army
Area based in Pattani, said the insurgents' use of Malaysian flags did
not affect bilateral relations and affirmed that the authority would
continue to crack down on insurgents.
Saying that Friday's attacks in Narathiwat and Yala were carried out
systematically, Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva urged Yingluck to
carefully assess the Southern situation and not jump to conclusions as a
mistake could worsen the problem. He urged Yingluck to assign only one
minister to be in charge of the Southern unrest rather than three
ministers, so as to prevent confusion. He planned to propose discussions
on the Southern unrest to the House once the rubber price issue was
discussed.
Narathiwat officials yesterday inspected the department store, which
was bombed and was on fire on Friday night despite being in the safety
zone. Police suspect that the group which carried out an attack on two
shops on October 23, 2011, killing seven people and injuring eight
others, was responsible for this attack, too. The store suffered
95-per-cent damage, initially estimated at Bt10 million.
Two rubber tappers lost a leg each in two separate bomb explosions in
Narathiwat yesterday. Charoen Daengtae, 64, lost his left leg after
stepping on a buried bomb in Tanyong Limor of Rangae district while
Maena Lateh, 54, lost her right leg after stepping on a bomb in Tambon
Bangpor of Muang district.
The city of Lowell, Mass., officially coronated Cambodia Town earlier
this month. City officials hope the designation, which marks a section
of the city where many Cambodian businesses are, will bring an
improvement to people's lives. 
