Thai PM’s scheduled visit to Malaysia remains unchanged

BANGKOK, November 25 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha's scheduled visit to Malaysia early next month remains unchanged. Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, after the Cabinet's weekly meeting in Bangkok, new National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Anusit Kunakorn confirmed that the prime minister's planned one-day official visit to Malaysia on December 1 remains unchanged. Regarding the new-round peace talks between Thai government authorities and representatives of insurgent groups in the Thai far South, Anusit stated that the prime minister will appoint the government's negotiators before he leaves for Malaysia. Anusit noted that the Thai government's negotiation team comprises of authorities from NSC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), as well as relevant experts and advisors. The NSC chief said, however, that the prime minister has no plan to visit the violence-plagued Thai deep South yet, but he has ordered all agencies concerned to review their operations and allocate budgets to mostly meet demand of locals. According to the NSC chief, integrated operations of all concerned agencies have gone well, based on clear action plans worked out by the Thai-army led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), also headed by the prime minister. (TNA)