Defence minister visits Thai far South

BANGKOK, May 3 (TNA) - Defence Minister Air Chief Marshal Sukampol Suwannathat is visiting the Thai deep South to inspect the situation, following a brutal shooting in Pattani province earlier this week, killing six villagers. Air Chief Marshal Sukampol told journalists, before his departure from Bangkok on Friday morning, that, as his previous trips, he would also boost morale of security officers in the Thai far South, that the government has tried the best to protect the life of all Thais. On Wednesday night, six people, including a 3-year-old boy, were closely gunned down, one by one, at a grocery shop in the Rusamelae locality in Mueang district of Pattani, only two days after the second-round peace negotiations between the Thai government, through the National Security Council (NSC), and the insurgent side, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital. In response to a recent comment of Thailand's opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva that the government should reconsider its peace process with representatives of insurgent groups in the southern border Thai region, led by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) insurgency movement, as it may be raised to an international issue, the defence minister said that the government will make a final decision, but he personally believes whenever there is a negotiation, it should be better. Thai Buddhists in nearby Yala province have, meanwhile, jointly condemned the brutal attack on the innocent villagers, considered vulnerable targets, through leaflets and called for all parties to speed up efforts to restore peace in the southernmost Thai region. Besides, local communities, namely the Kuhamuk Community in the Nakhon Yala Municipality, has intensified security measures, as self defence, to protect their villagers and areas. (TNA)