Deputy Defence Minister and army chief Udomdej Sitabutr on Sunday went to the South on an inspection trip following a spate of bombs that rocked Yala province during the past three days, leaving 22 people injured.
Gen Udomdej and other officers were scheduled to meet with soldiers at the Sirindhorn Camp in Pattani's Yarang district. They were to be briefed about the situation in the aftermath of the latest spate of bombings in Yala and will visit the injured and those badly affected.
Gen Udomdej said before he left that security plans for the South needed to be adjusted.
Gen Udomdej Sitabutr visited Thailand's deep South on Sunday morning. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)
The army chief said there would be redeployment of security units and intelligence operations would have to be improved with more cooperation from the people.
However, he admitted it would take some time to solve the insurgency problem which has been augmented by many other factors including the trade in drugs, crime, human trafficking and local politics.
"Investigation is underway. I don't want to point out whether the problems involve local politicians with links to mainstream politics. But, local politicians on the one hand say they want to help restore peace but on the other provide support for perpetrators of violence to erode the government's credibility," Gen Udomdej said.
He said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon are concerned about situation in the South.
Gen Udomdej said that in his opinion the perpetrators of violence wanted to show that they were capable of causing unrest.