Strict security measures ordered during Tak Bai's anniversary

SURAT THANI, THAILAND, October 22 (TNA) - Deputy Prime Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapa has ordered tight security measures in urban areas in the violence-plagued Thai far South during the anniversary of a fatal crackdown on demonstrators in Tak Bai district of Narathiwat province on October 25, 2004. General Yuthasak, who oversees national security, told journalists Monday morning, before the Cabinet's mobile meeting on Samui Island, or Koh Samui, in Thailand's southern Surat Thani province that he believes the intensified security operations will help curb violence in the far South. General Yuthasak acknowledged that violent attacks in the Thai deep South over the past few days followed recent hunts for suspected insurgents by local security forces and some attacks were meant to mark the anniversary of the Tak Bai incident. According to the deputy premier, local people appeared not to cooperate with insurgents in the southernmost Thai region and even local Muslim villagers were among the victims. Regarding repeated bombings in Narathiwat's Rueso and Bajoh districts, Thai Army Chief Prayuth Chan-ocha said, meanwhile, that the incidents appeared to be aimed at showing off insurgents' potential, suggesting that local security officers in the Thai deep South take special precautions. The army chief also urged officials of 66 agencies concerned under 17 ministries to visit the Thai far South, instead of making orders in Bangkok, noting that soldiers can only enforce laws but the creation of public understanding in the southern border region requires actions by officials of the concerned agencies. (TNA)