Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow wants to further extend the fence long the border with Malaysia to help curb smuggling of untaxed goods and drugs.
Mr Sihasak, also a deputy prime minister, said before Tuesday’s mobile cabinet meeting in the border province of Songhkla that he would propose the additional construction for consideration at the meeting.
The proposal was among measures discussed at a recent public hearing on resolving problems in the southern border provinces, he said at the International Convention Centre, Prince of Songkla University in Hat Yai district, Songkhla.
‘Thailand and Malaysia already have a fence. This is about extending it to prevent illegal activities, including drug trafficking and smuggling of goods,” Mr Sihasak said.
Security agencies also needed to identify the root causes of the violence in the region and the people orchestrating it.
“Security is important because it affects confidence and economic activity in the southern border provinces,” he said.
– Community engagement important –
Mr Sihasak stressed the need to improve intelligence gathering to ensure it is accurate and shared among the appropriate agencies to ensure timely decision making.
He highlighted the importance of community work in ensuring this.
“We need to know what is going on,” he said. “If our community engagement had been better, we could have responded more promptly” to past incidents, the minister said.
Community engagement was not a short-term task but required working with younger generations to ensure they saw opportunities for employment and economic advancement, he said.
“We must seriously focus on economic development because three southernmost provinces need better infrastructure and stronger road and rail links to Malaysia,” said Mr Sihasak.
The minister said he would travel to meet his Malaysian counterpart on Sept 6 to follow up on and expand areas of cooperation previously discussed by the two countries’ leaders.
Asked about discussions on Aug 31 on improving intelligence coordination, Mr Sihasak said Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has stressed the need for closer cooperation among agencies to ensure timely decisions.
“We will have a better early-warning system. Most importantly, we must prevent incidents like those on Aug 22-23 from happening again. Such incidents affected the confidence of residents, investors and business operators in the area,’ he said.
Asked about the burning of a backhoe in Yarang district of Pattani on Monday night, Mr Sihasak said he was aware of it. Authorities needed to look into how matters could be improved.
Asked whether the ongoing attacks were the result of officials’ complacency, Mr Sihasak said authorities now know what needs to be done to improve the situation.
Regarding his coming talks with the Malaysian foreign minister and whether there would be progress on appointing a facilitator for a southern peace dialogue, Mr Sihasak said he planned to take Thanat Suwannanon, director of the National Intelligence Agency and head of the southern peace dialogue team, with him.
Mr Sihasak said he wanted Mr Thanat to join the discussions and become acquainted with senior Malaysian government officials.
Asked whether safe zones in the southern border region should be expanded, Mr Sihasak said the proposal was already part of the government’s strategy.
The plan included safe areas along the border in 14 districts, under the supervision of the government’s Southern Border Provinces Development Strategy Committee, which is tasked with addressing problems in the far South and is chaired by the minister.