Wassana Nanuam, Bangkok Post, August 2, 2012
The army has stepped up security to the maximum
level in seven business districts in the far South following the bomb
attack at a luxury hotel in Pattani on Tuesday.
Officials are advised to boost security measures especially when they attend public events.
Soldiers must also take precautions for their own safety.
Col Sirijan said army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha was not considering imposing a curfew in the deep South, which would only inconvenience locals.
He quoted Gen Prayuth as telling yesterday's meeting that solutions to the southern violence would take time and the military would solve the problem through legal means rather than force.
According to sources in the far South, security authorities do not know the actual scope of insurgency in the region. But they estimate there are 8,000-10,000 militants.
More car bombs are expected because many cars and pickup trucks have been stolen in the region.
A series of recent bombings and ambushes have prompted security authorities to boost safety measures.
Col Pramote Prom-in, deputy spokesman for the southern outpost of the Internal Security Operations Command, said officials were imposing maximum security in seven business districts in the far South, namely Muang and Betong districts in Yala province; Muang district in Pattani; Muang, Tak Bai and Sungai Kolok districts in Narathiwat; and Hat Yai district in Songkhla.
More security officials have been deployed. They are operating more checkpoints, installing more security equipment including surveillance cameras, and adjusting safety zones.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said strategies for the far South would not change but officials would have to cooperate more closely, and operations and intelligence had to be swift.
Fourth Army commander Lt Gen Udomchai Thammasarorat said more security officers had been deployed to prevent attacks and conduct searches on vehicles in the far South.
Security officials are also looking for stolen vehicles that might be used as car bombs, he said.
Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat plans to have the air force deploy armed aircraft to protect patrols and escort army soldiers on roads.
Soldiers in the deep South had been taking on work which was not their responsibility.
He said soldiers have been busy suppressing the smuggling of goods and drugs, and police should step in to help relieve the troops' workload.
ACM Sukumpol said security authorities had not discussed the possibility of a curfew in the far South.
Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said neither politicians nor policymakers had given clear instructions to officials in the southern border provinces.
Meanwhile, police inspected the site behind CS Pattani Hotel yesterday where the blast went off on Tuesday night.
Police found the remains of the pickup truck that was carrying the bomb, along with those of a 15kg gas cylinder that is believed to have contained the 50-60kg explosive device. They also found parts of a communications radio and steel bars which had been cut up to serve as shrapnel.
The rear of the hotel sustained large cracks. Its transformer and generator were damaged, as were nearby homes.
The hotel was storing about 500 litres of oil for the generators.
The explosion ignited the fuel, setting the hotel ablaze.
The bombing slightly injured five residents and three hotel staff suffered chest pain.
The blue Isuzu pickup that carried the improvised bomb had been stolen in tambon Plong Hoi of Kapo district in Pattani on June 25. It belonged to the Betagro Group.
Armed attackers stole the truck after killing three Betagro employees who were transporting chickens, according to police.
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