Defence minister leads journalists to learn about BRN in Thai far South

BANGKOK, March 21 (TNA) - Defence Minister Air Chief Marshal Sukumpol Suwanatat is leading a group of over 40 journalists to pay a one-day visit to the Thai far South to cover updates and to learn about the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) movement, prior to the first round of peace talks between the National Security Council (NSC) and the BNR insurgent group on March 28. Accompanied by Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Prasopdee and Deputy Education Minister Sermsak Pongpanit, Air Chief Marshal Sukumpol on Thursday morning led the journalists from Bangkok to Yala Province, where the delegation was set to learn about the BRN Coordinate insurgent group's operational plans and to be briefed on security developments in the Thai deep South by Commanding General of the 4th Army Area Command Lieutenant General Udomchai Thamsarorat. The defence minister told reporters, prior to his departure from Bangkok, that he has visited the southernmost Thai region monthly to meet soldiers deployed there, noting that he brought cournalists along this time as he wants them to have first-hand experiences in field operations of local security forces and actual accounts of the situation in the troubled southern border region so that they can report correctly. (TNA)