Army chief boosts morale of security forces in Thai far South

THAI FAR SOUTH, January 22 (TNA) - Army Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha visited the Thai far South on Wednesday to boost morale of local security forces in the violence-plagued southernmost Thai region. General Prayuth told reporters before flying to the Thai deep South that he has adjusted operational plans of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), covering realigning troops to strengthen local government offices, setting up new units to provide security and to promote sustainable development, while supporting public participation in local development projects and solutions to problems. In the next phase, if violence in the southern border Thai region relieved, General Prayuth revealed that troops would be returned to their bases and operation centres would be set up at each district to evaluate operations of local security officers and the civil sector. Conceding that violence remains in the Thai deep South, the army chief noted that law enforcement has been carried out in parallel with speeding up development plans to improve locals’ quality of life. Responding to the caretaker government's imposition of the executive decree on public administration in emergency situations in Bangkok and peripheral areas, the Thai army-commander-in-chief warned concerned parties, meanwhile, to enforce the special law carefully, insisting that public safety is his first priority. The Thai army chief assured that soldiers will do their duties at their best and if the situation got out of hand, soldiers would have to solve it.(TNA)