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Thai General Proposes Safety Zones for Thailand’s Deep South During Peace Talks

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Thai soldiers rush children to protection in Thailand's deep south

Thai soldiers rush children to protection in Thailand’s deep south

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BANGKOK – General Aksara Kerdpol Thailand’s Chief Peace negotiator in the South has revealed that an agreement which would include a proposal for “safety zone” is being drafted for discussion with the separatists in the deep South of Thailand, Colonel Banphot Phunphien, spokesman for the ,Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), said yesterday.

Gen Aksara Kerdphol

Gen Aksara Kerdphol

Colonel Banphot, also deputy spokesman for the Peace Dialogue Panel, said the Steering Committee for Peace Dialogue, chaired by the prime minister, had set the dialogue’s framework and direction in three phrases.

They were confidence-building, ratification and achievement of a consensus for a peaceful solution for the conflict.

In the first phrase, which was the most challenging and was now in progress, talks would be arranged to boost confidence and trust on both sides so they could approve the joint agreement on administration and the supporting details as well as the violence limits.

Talks with the separatists are on an unofficial basis and at the level of exchanging ideas with all sides, selecting and checking on representatives to join the dialogue and listening to problems raised by “those holding different views from the state”, he said.

A joint technical team was just set up recently to formulate a joint agreement that would serve as rules for the dialogue, which the team could submit for approval from both sides’ policymakers, he said.

Colonel  Banphot quoted  Gen. Aksara as saying the delineation of a safety zone was among the three proposals that the Thai team would try to present officially to the dialogue process.

It is hoped this idea will see both sides agree to stop violence within such zones. This would reduce the violence in those areas first and international humanitarian law would be applied there.

This is a measure to boost confidence and trust in the dialogue process, Colonel Banphot said.

He also quoted Gen. Aksara as saying that the team expected progress, which should diminish violence in the Southern region significantly.

Colonel Banphot said the Fourth Isoc Area Front Command, as the Area-based Inter-agency Co-ordination Working Group, would follow through on the tasks according to the annual plan, prevent any side from imposing a new condition and create an environment that harmoniously accommodated the dialogue process.

Colonel Banphot quoted Gen.Aksara as affirming that the dialogue process would be carried out according to the joint intentions of the Thai prime minister and his Malaysian counterpart to end the violence and restore peace to the deep South soon.

Blaze Destroys School in Pattani

In Pattani’s Thung Yang Daeng district, a fire broke out at Ban Nam Dam School at 3.30am, burning down the building and destroying all the school equipment. The damage was estimated at nearly Bt3 million.

Police were investigating whether this blaze was caused by an accident, such as a short circuit, or was the handiwork of an arsonist.

This school was among the five that were torched on October 17, 2014, leading Thai authorities to implement the “Thung Yang Daeng” model of peace-building, which instilled nationalism and improved relations among villagers to that they would volunteer to watch out for anything suspicious.

Funeral held for Tambon Official

In Narathiwat’s Sungai Padi district, Panu Uthairat, secretary-general of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre, attended the funeral of Boonlert Jindathananant, 57, an official of the Tambon Romsai Administration Organisation.

Boonlert was shot dead on Tuesday by 10 suspected insurgents in front of witnesses at his office in Sukhirin district.

Panu also presented some cash compensation to the widow and her six-year-old son. He promised to send the son to school until the undergraduate level.

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