January 21, 2005

Wongkot moved from post, admits he was in conflict with military

 WASSAYOS NGAMKHAM

 Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot Maneerin was yesterday removed from the job of

overseeing the police force in the deep South, following reports of a

festering conflict with the military.

 The order removing the assistant national police chief from the position

was issued by Pol Gen Kowit Wattana, the national police chief.

 Pol Gen Kowit's decision was said to have the full support of Prime

Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

 Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot is a close associate of the prime minister. They are

both graduates of the Police Academy's class 26.

 Mr Thaksin personally picked Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot to work in the far South

last year, making him deputy director of the recently formed Police

Operations Centre supervising police and police operations in the

Muslim-dominated provinces.

 Mr Thaksin also made him one of the four deputy directors at the Southern

Border Provinces Peace-building Command (SBPPC) led by Gen Sirichai

Tunyasiri.

 Pol Gen Kowit has placed Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot in charge of crime suppression

in Provincial Police Regions 4, 5 and 6 covering the North and upper

Northeast.

 Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot was replaced by Pol Lt-Gen Paisal Tangchaitrong, another

assistant national police chief and former classmate of army

commander-in-chief Gen Prawit Wongsuwan.

 Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot was said to only rarely attend security meetings at the

SBPPC, formed last year to coordinate the operations of various government

security agencies in the far South.

 Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot, whose wife Mrs Sirikorn is a former deputy education

minister, said his conflict with the military was the reason for his

removal.

 He called on the military to be open-minded in tackling the tension in the

far South. All sides should have a role to play in bringing peace to the

region, not just the military, he said.

 A senior member at the SBPPC said he was surprised by Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot's

remark that all senior government officials in the far South were aware

where the problem lay.

 Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot was also known to be in conflict with senior police of

Provincial Police Region 9 who oversee police forces in the southernmost

region. He has declined to comment on that issue.

 Mr Thaksin yesterday met military and police leaders to discuss the

situation in the three troubled southern border provinces. Present at the

meeting were army commander Gen Prawit, Gen Sirichai, Pol Gen Kowit and Pol

Lt-Gen Jumpol Manmai, director of the National Intelligence Agency.

 Gen Sirichai said after the meeting that the prime minister asked about the

violence which he said was almost a daily occurrence.

 Gen Sirichai told him the violence was a reaction to the authorities having

tighter control of the situation and the arrest of more of the militants'

leaders.

 Local people had begun to sympathise with authorities' attempts to maintain

law and order while the insurgents continued to stir unrest.