The Fourth Army has defended its decision to allow a Muslim prayer facility to be built at a military camp in Satun. It says the facility is not a mosque as some allege and is only meant for Muslim soldiers at the camp and their immediate family members.
About half the officers living in Samantaratburin Camp are Muslims, and they need a place to perform daily prayers and religious rituals, said Maj Gen Pramote Prom-in, a deputy commander of the 4th Army in his capacity as the spokesman for the regional army.
“It is not registered and run by an Islamic committee like mosques are, and only Muslim personnel who live in the camp can use the building,” Maj Gen Pramote said, adding the army believes its personnel have the right to worship regardless of their faith.
The prayer building came under scrutiny after a YouTube account which claimed to represent a Buddhist association, slammed the army for allowing its construction, calling the building “a threat to national security”.
Phetcharawat Watthanaphongsirikun, a former deputy chairman of the House committee on religion, art and culture who is now a potential election candidate of the Pheu Thai Party, claimed that allowing such a building at the camp was against the law.
He said the Treasury Department allowed the 5th Infantry Regiment to use the land, but army is using the land for purposes not intended under that arrangement. He insisted he wasn’t biased against any religion.