ABHISIT AND NAJIB TO VISIT THAILAND`S SOUTHERN PROVINCES AT YEAR END

BANGKOK, July 15 (Bernama)-- The prime ministers of Thailand and Malaysia
will make a joint visit to the three restive Southern Thai provinces at the end
of the year.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the visit with his counterpart
Najib Razak would likely to take place between October and December.

"I already invited the Malaysian Prime Minister to visit the three provinces
at the Thai-Malaysia border. We agreed to visit schools there," he told
reporters after chairing a Cabinet meeting Tuesday.

Abhisit, who visited Malaysia last month, said the southern trip would
probably be held during the annual consultation between leaders of both
countries.

He said during his visit to Malaysia, he had asked for cooperation from
Najib to help find a peaceful solution to the conflict in the restive region,
where more than 3,500 people have died since separatist groups resumed armed
campaign to seek independence for Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala.

According to him, Thailand had sought Malaysia's assistance in several
issues, including border, intelligence sharing, development as well as the 3E
(education, entrepreneurship and economy).

He also announced that the Government had extended for another three months
the emergency decree in the three southern provinces, which would take effect
between July 19 and Oct 19.

At the same time, the Cabinet also directed the National Security Council to
undertake a study on the need for such act in the four Songkhla districts
bordering the three Muslim-majority provinces.

Abhisit said there were pros and contras to the usage of the emergency
decree, adding that it helped the security forces to deal with insurgency, but
at the same time stepped on human rights and increased sympathy for the
separatist groups.
-- BERNAMA