Thaksin blamed for aggressive Ramadan
Discussed: 12 Mar 2025 at 04: 00
A new serenity dialogue crew chief will not be appointed until a comprehensive strategic plan for the restive southern counties is finalised, Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Tuesday.
The note comes amid speculation that former army permanent director Gen Nipat Thonglek may take over as deputy negotiator.
Gen Nipat served as assistant to former prime minister Srettha Thavisin and is now assistant secretary to the PM’s Office Minister.
Mr Phumtham, who also serves as defence secretary, said the proper program aimed at resolving aggressive problems in the heavy South is under evaluation, and no visit may be made until the plan is complete.
His meeting with Chatchai Bangchuad, secretary-general of the National Security Council ( NSC), on Monday focused on security issues and the endorsement of prior agreements, he said.
Mr Chatchai formerly served as the chief mediator in peace talks under the Srettha management.
The defence secretary even criticised attempts to link the surge in crime in the South to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s attend to the place, saying violence is occurring at Ramadan despite the president’s repeated enquiries for a block.
” I’ve said it over and over that crime may be halted for the deals to continue. You can look at stats… problems do taking place during Ramadan. We didn’t say when they will have them out”, he said.
He was responding to studies that murder usually escalates toward the end of Ramadan but has occurred earlier this year, leading to speculation that Thaksin’s recent excursion to the place had stoked up enmity to the government.
However, an army officer was severely wounded in an invasion by an unknown number of armed men in front of a defense island in Yala’s Bannang Sata city on Tuesday night.
Lt Phuwiwat Khamsong, 41, of Nakhon Si Thammarat, was shot in the chest in front of the Jatae military airbase in Sanambin community Moo 1 in tambon Khuen Bang Lang, said a police commander at Bannang Sata Police Station who was alerted at 9.45am.
The man was rushed to Bannang Sata Hospital before being transferred to Yala Hospital, police said.
According to men at the island, a number of adversaries had opened fireplace following a violent trip in which three people were killed and at least a few injured in separate episodes in Narathiwat and Pattani regions.
They were strange in that they occurred during Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month when insurgents in the area generally stay small. It was not clear exactly who was responsible for the violence.
Meanwhile, security footage showed two assailants on a motorcycle passing a checkpoint in Pattani’s Khok Pho before turning back and throwing a pipe bomb at officers on duty, which, although landing nearby, caused no injuries.
Authorities said they were reviewing the footage to identify and track down the attackers.