National Security Council (NSC) secretary-general Thawil Pliensri will lead the Thai delegation when peace talks with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional separatist group resume.
Deputy army chief Udomdet Sitabutr yesterday said Mr Thawil will take on the role of chief negotiator.
Before the announcement, it was unclear who would succeed Lt Gen Paradorn Pattanatabut, the former NSC secretary-general, as head negotiator.
The military had earlier unveiled plans to make changes to the negotiating team.
Mr Thawil, who was reinstated to the NSC’s top post this year after his illegal transfer in 2011, is a vocal critic of the peace talks policy.
Even though the NSC chief will head the negotiations, there must be “little changes in detail” to the peace talk efforts, said Gen Udomdet without elaborating.
Lt Gen Paradorn led the Thai team in the peace dialogue from March last year.
He had to stop the talks in December after the Lower House was dissolved.
In April this year, Malaysian peace talk facilitator, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zamzamin Hasim, insisted the talks would continue, but he expressed concern the two sides were still in a state of mutual mistrust.
That problem will be overcome, Gen Udomdet said yesterday.
Future peace talks at the highest level must be based on trust, he said, referring to the intention of National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha.
As for talks at the operations level, “we need to carry out some missions, but they cannot be unveiled now”, said Gen Udomdet, also the NCPO’s secretary-general, who chairs a committee looking for solutions to stop the southern unrest.
The Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) forward command will lead the talks at the operational level, he said.
Gen Udomdet yesterday also visited authorities in Yala and Pattani to gather first-hand information of the insurgency that has plagued the deep South since 2004.
But hours before his meeting with the authorities, a deadly attack in Yala’s Than To district about 7am killed one military ranger and injured another, police said.
Security forces believe militant suspects intended to stir up violence on the day of Gen Udomdet’s visit to the region.
The attack occurred as a team of military rangers from Rangers Company 3314 were on foot patrol to provide security to teachers along Thanto-Puyut road in tambon Than To, about 2km from Highway 410 (Yala-Betong), according to an investigation.
A group of militants hiding on both sides of the road detonated a land mine and opened fire on the rangers. The soldiers returned fire and the militants retreated after a 15-minute clash.
One ranger, Donchai Saeng-aree, was killed by the mine. Another ranger, Jakri Khammee, was slightly injured.