Malaysia’s strict border control benefits Thailand

BANGKOK, Sept 8 (TNA) -- Malaysia’s strict border control is benefiting Thailand, said a southern infantry commander. The border control partly results from a concern on the Islamic State (IS) but he does not think IS has arrived and is behind unrest in the deep South. Col Woradet Detraksa, commander of the ad hoc unit of the 5th Infantry Regiment at the Senanarong Camp in Hat Yai district of Songkhla province, said that Malaysia was intensifying its border patrols to crack down on good smugglers and he thought that the measures were benefiting Thailand. He also said that Malaysia was worried about the movements of IS but the concern had no impacts on Thailand. The IS and insurgency groups in the deep South had different goals and they were unlikely to join forces, he said. According to Col Woradet, security authorities were trying to prevent southern insurgency movements from expanding from Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces to Songkhla province after finding that some southern insurgents were hiding in Songkhla’s Sadao district. Besides, he said that issues along the Thai-Malaysian border centered on illegal workers while the illegal migration of Rohingya people stopped as relevant Thai traffickers were arrested. (TNA)