Army chief:Peace talks for Thai far South will continue

BANGKOK, September 19 (TNA) - Army Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha insists that peace negotiations between the Thai government, through the National Security Council (NSC), and representatives of insurgent groups in the Thai far South, led by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) insurgency movement, wiill be continued although they will take times. General Prayuth told reporters of the official stance on Thursday morning, before traveling to visit Pattani and Yala provinces to follow up updates and solutions in the troubled Thai deep South, asking the mass media to refrain from reports which may affect the peace talks or put the Thai government side at a disadvantage. The army chief assessed, however, that violent unrest in the Thai far South appears to have been, overall, relieved gradually. The Thai army commander-in-chief acknowledged that international organizations have also understood the situation in the southernmost Thai region more properly. The army chief opined that insurgents have made mistakes by killing innocent people and trying to blame the murder on the government, urging them to stop attacking the innocent people and officials and enter into negotiations. According to the army chief, Thailand's International Security Operations Command (ISOC) is being restructured; so, agencies concerned can improve their teamwork and maximize the use of their budgets, which meet the government's strategy on strengthening local authorities so that forces from other regions can withdraw from the Thai far South in the future. Besides, the Thai army chief asked for a stop in blaming local authorities in the violence-plagued Thai deep South to uphold their morale. (TNA)