By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE INTERNAL SECURITY Operations Command’s missions can no longer be carried out as in the Cold War era which ended long ago, according to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
The prime minister tweeted on his X page to suggest that the army-led agency give up on the outdated Cold War rationale and instead render its missions more compatible with the changing environment particularly in the restive southernmost region by, he said, stepping up contributions to the implementation of government plans and schemes to stimulate local economy as well as create jobs and better welfare for the people, among other measures.
Meanwhile, the prime minister reconfirmed that the Pheu Thai-led government has had no policy to dissolve the ISOC with respect to the insurgency-infested Deep South region though legislation designed in the opposite direction may be lodged at parliament.
He was apparently responding to the Move Forward currently mustering popular support for the bill to terminate the army-led ISOC on grounds that the agency had evidently failed to restore peace and order among predominantly Muslim villagers in the Deep South provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani over the last decade during which it had allegedly squandered no less than 100 billion baht in the taxpayer’s money, including sums contentiously categorised as “secret funding.”
Move Forward MPs have earlier alleged the agency of even sowing seeds of social conflict among local villagers, many of whom have developed distrust toward government officials, especially those attached to the ISOC, whilst “brainwashing” missions have been conducted with local adolescents only to worsen the situation, they alleged.
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Top and Front Page: Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin attending a meeting at Internal Security Operations Command recently. Photos: Thai Rath
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