Thailand to build border security fence

Thailand to build border security fence

Boonradom Chitradorn
Agence France-Presse
Bangkok

Thailand will build a security fence along sections of its border
with Malaysia as part of efforts to curb deadly unrest in the
Muslim-majority south, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on
Tuesday.

"I have instructed the Thai Supreme Command (military) to
build a fence at sensitive points, not along the whole
demarcation line," Thaksin said after a meeting with Muslim
leaders.

The premier did not say how extensive the structure would be,
but added that it would cost about 2.0 million baht (US$51,000)
per kilometer to build.

Thaksin has expressed grave concerns over a recent wave of
violence in the five southern provinces bordering Malaysia,
beginning with a raid on an arms depot in Narathiwat province
last month which killed four soldiers.

Since then dozens of attacks have targeted police, government
officials and even Buddhist monks, three of whom were brutally
slashed to death with machetes as they walked the streets seeking
alms.

The troubled provinces are strung along a narrow peninsula and
separated from Malaysia only by a porous border which can be
easily crossed without passing through checkpoints.

Thai authorities have said they believe those responsible for
the violence include separatists with dual nationalities who hide
out in Malaysia before sneaking back into Thailand and launching
attacks.

Some 5,000 people hold dual Thai-Malaysian citizenship, and
they have been allowed to cross the border at will. But both
nations have expressed concern over the issue and the Thai
government is conducting a detailed survey of them which is due
to be completed at the end of March.

Malaysia commended the plan to build the fence, with deputy
defense minister Shafie Apdal saying it would help security
forces from both nations to tackle smuggling, illegal entry and
other cross-border criminal activities.

"They have a right to build the fence on their side. There
should not be any problems. It will be good," he told AFP.

Senior Thai officials, including Interior Minister Wan Muhamad
Noor Matha who is himself a Muslim, have also expressed concern
that Islamic schools in the south could be breeding grounds for
militancy.

Thaksin denied he planned to shut down some of the schools,
saying he would instead focus on bringing them into line with the
rest of the education system by introducing non-secular subjects
to the curriculum.

After rows between the government and Islamic leaders over the
handling of the violence, Thaksin said after a weekend visit to
the region that the two sides now understood each better and
would cooperate more fully.

"Islamic leaders have proposed to the government that they
participate in the government's development plan," he said,
adding that he will also call a meeting of governors of the five
Muslim-majority provinces.

The spiritual leader of Thailand's Muslims, Chulatattamontri
Sawas Sumalayasak, has called for his people to pledge their
loyalty to the kingdom and the nation's much-loved monarch King
Bhumibol Adulyadej.

After the talks with Thaksin on Tuesday, Sawas said he
believed the problems in the south were caused not by separatists
but by gangs involved in illicit trades which flourish there,
including arms and oil smuggling.