January 20, 2005
Wongkot under fire in South
PM asked to step in as disunity festers
SERMSUK KASITIPRADIT & WASSAYOS NGAMKHAM
Disunity between the police and the military in the deep South continues
unabated with Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot Maneerin, the assistant national police
chief, under fire for allegedly failing to fully support the Southern Border
Provinces Peace-building Command (SBPPC).
Security sources said Gen Sirichai Tunyasiri, director of the command
formed to forge unity among the various security agencies whose infighting
has been a major cause of the chaos in the South, felt uneasy about the
situation and feared it would undermine his mission to restore law and order
in the southernmost provinces.
The prime minister is being asked to intervene.
Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot, Gen Sirichai's deputy at the command, is close to Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Critics say he has rarely taken part in security meetings held at the SBPPC
headquarters in the compound of Sirindhorn Camp in Pattani.
``Unless the prime minister intervenes to tackle this problem, restoring
peace and stability under such circumstances will be difficult,'' one
security source said.
Gen Sirichai would raise the issue with the prime minister.
Sources said they do not understand why Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot, who is in
charge of police operations in the area, rarely attends security meetings at
the camp. Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot sends his aides instead.
He is supposedly the only senior SBPPC member who did not attend the
meeting last Tuesday when army commander Gen Prawit Wongsuwan spoke.
``All senior SBPPC members were there except Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot,'' said a
source.
The other three deputies _ Gen Sonthi Boonyaratklin, an assistant army
commander; Siwa Saengmanee, deputy permanent secretary for the interior; and
Sirichai Chotirat, deputy director of the National Intelligence Agency _
were there.
Many security officers working in the deep South were said to be frustrated
with the problem.
``How could peace and security in the area be created and maintained under
such circumstances when the military and the police cannot cooperate. The
situation is worrying,'' said a local administrative official.
Asked about the allegations, Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot denied there were any
working problems among senior officials at the SBPPC.
``Who told you this?'' he said, adding he always had his aides represent
him whenever he could not take part in security meetings at the SBPPC.
He declined to discuss the issue further.
Mr Thaksin picked Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot, a former classmate, to work in the
deep South hoping he would cooperate well with the military.
Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot was also made deputy director of the newly formed
Yala-based Police Operation Centre supervising special police operations,
with elite forces from the Central Investigation Bureau, dealing with
violence in the area.
The source said Pol Lt-Gen Manoj Kraiwong, commander of Police Region 9,
was also said to have a working problem with Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot, who sought
to report directly to the prime minister rather than to the SBPPC.
``Police in the area are also at odds. The problem has been left unresolved
for some time.
``If nothing is done the situation will deteriorate,'' said a senior police
officer at Police Region 9.
Meanwhile, Mr Thaksin has called key government figures to a meeting today
to review security strategies for the deep South, after a string of recent
attacks suggest government attempts to stem the violence there are failing
to make headway.
Mr Thaksin, however, denied the situation had worsened.
He said it was a case of elements who had nothing to lose, driven by
desperation to instigate unrest.
He said the insurgents resisted being cornered even as police arrested
their core leaders one by one.
Mr Thaksin vowed to keep arresting them and collect enough evidence to
prosecute the masterminds.
Violence flared in recent days after a string of bombings at busy
restaurants and gunfire attacks on a school bus.
Two students were hurt in the bus attack.