New 4th Army Area chief meets religious, community leaders in Thai Far South

NARATHIWAT, THAILAND, October 19 (TNA) - Newly-appointed Commanding General of the 4th Army Area Command Lieutenant General Wiwat Pathomphak has met religious and community leaders to introduce himself and seek their support for peace restoration in the violence-plagued Thai Far South. General Wiwat met the religious leaders at the Office of the Islamic Committee in Narathiwat Province on Monday morning, after taking his new office early this month. General Wiwat asked the local religious leaders to support peace restoration efforts and acknowledged their important roles in relieving violence in the Thai Deep South. The new commander of the 4th Army Area Command later met representatives of local people at Narathiwat's Provincial Hall, during which he also sought their support for peace restoration to end now 11-year violence in the southernmost Thai region. The new regional army commander said that his priorities are to prevent untoward incidents in seven commercial districts of three southern border Thai provinces, create understanding with local people with different opinions, implement development projects, promote peaceful co-existence of people with different religions and suppress crime. The new regional army commander admitted that solutions to violent unrest in the Thai Far South would take times due to accumulated problems over the past decade. (TNA)