ISA extended in Thai far South one more year

BANGKOK, November 30 (TNA) - The government has extended its enforcement of the Internal Security Act (ISA) in some areas in the violence-plagued Thai far South for one more year and is considering whether the Emergency Decree imposed in more than 30 districts in the deep South should also be extended. The decision on the one-year extension of the ISA in four districts of Songkhla province and one district in nearby Pattani province was made at the Thai Cabinet's special meeting on Friday, chaired by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Government Spokesman Tosaporn Sereerak told a press conference that Cabinet members tasked with security affairs resolved that the ISA imposed on the five districts of the two provinces be extended to prevent insurgents in the restive South to use the areas for their personnel or arms hideouts. Premier Yingluck said, meanwhile, that she believed schools in Pattani, which have been closed since last week following the killing of a school director, could, thus, be reopened next week when the situation should return to normal, noting that the government is ready to dispatch security officers to provide protection to schools still concerned over the safety of their teachers and students. On the Emergency Decree, enforced in 33 districts in the Thai far South and due to expire in December 2012, the government spokesman revealed that the prime minister has ordered the National Security Council (NSC) and the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) to consider and to propose whether it should be maintained after it expires. (TNA)