SOUTHERN UNREST
ANUCHA CHAROENPO
The cabinet yesterday approved in principle an upgrade of the national police's forward operation centre in Yala to aid operations dealing with the ongoing violence in the deep South. Deputy government spokesman Natthawut Saikua said the upgraded unit would be named the Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre, and would have a police lieutenant-general as its commissioner.
Mr Natthawut said it would be equivalent to, but independent of, the 9th Regional Police Bureau, oversees the seven southern provinces of Songkhla, Phatthalung, Satun, Trang, Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat. Provincial police bureaus in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat would be moved under the new centre.
National police chief Pol Gen Patcharawat Wongsuwan stated in his proposal to upgrade the agency that the violence in the three provinces, which has raged since 2004, is unlikely to end in the near future, so it is necessary for the national police to have a dedicated centre there to manage budgets, staff and equipment.
Chidchanok Rahimmula, deputy dean of the faculty of political sciences at Pattani-based Prince of Songkla University, said she agreed with the upgrade, as it would enable the agency to recruit its own police officers.
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