Village protection units in far South begin to yield fruit

[Lite Beer]

Village protection units in far South begin to yield fruit
Thanapat Kitjakosol
The Nation

NARATHIWAT: -- In an attempt to adopt better security measures against the ever-present violence in the far South, the public is taking a greater part in looking out for danger through the Village Protection Unit (VPU) project.

Members of the units are local. Working with civil defence volunteers recruited from elsewhere under the Interior Ministry's supervision, Village Protection members offer a tactical advantage - they can instantly identify strangers and keep a watchful eye on them.

The volunteers, on the other hand, need time to verify someone's identity - which in some cases could be too late.

The VPU project is supervised and supported by the military, the police and civilian authorities, with funding mainly coming from the Interior Ministry's Department of Provincial Administration.

The unit's active role with villagers and schools means security officials can be relieved of this routine, which lessens the risk of insurgent attacks.

The involvement of locals in this security task, and their sincerity in keeping fellow residents safe, had prompted separatist sympathisers to provide authorities with inside information about insurgents and planned attacks, according to Haseng Pakasae, the leader of a VPU team at Ban Tanyong in Narathiwat's Bacho district.

This cooperation had resulted in the number of attacks being reduced over the past few years, he said.

He voiced hope that the violence could be reduced drastically if each village was able to operate their own security force.

Tanyong village has three 10-member teams who stay on watch around the clock under the supervision of seven assistant village heads. Each village is given Bt20,000 from the Department of Provincial Administration to customise the operations to local environments.

A teacher at Ban Tanyong school, Yugifee Maha, said they had lost a widely-respected teacher at the school, who was shot, and two arson attacks had occurred a few years ago, before security was provided around the clock by new Village Protection Units.

That was when security was not available at night, when military or police patrols were not around, but once the VPU took charge there were no similar incidents, he said.

"Schoolchildren are now beginning to give a wai to teachers and speak Thai. Before they did not, as told by insurgents," he noted.

Imam Korde Saleh, of Ban Tanyong, which has 1,123 residents in 180 households, said violence did not occur as local operatives were mostly killed or relocated because of pressure by local residents and constant security provided by protection teams.

Korde said he and clerics were spreading correct Islamic beliefs to counter the insurgents preaching false principles.

Saowanee Pawan, a nurse acting as the head of a local government hospital, said public health services were provided to locals more thoroughly when security was made available by the VPU project.

She said residents now had more trust in public health officials, and were giving time-sensitive information about possible attacks. "There had been no such cooperation and help before," she added.

Chief of the district's civil defence service, Chaicharoen Musikim, said the project started as a pilot in four villages, with further cooperation from village heads and kamnan.

Chaicharoen said the heightened security meant that farming could be done again, and in wider areas where insurgents had become inactive.

Bacho police chief Colonel Sonthaya Thoopthong said insurgents found that it was more difficult to initiate violence and the number of incidents had reduced by 30 per cent.

Commander Amorn Khaunhavej, chief of Taskforce Yala 32, said the village units could relieve military personnel and enable them to focus more on proactive counterinsurgency roles.

Maj-General Weera Luewitchana, commander of an Internal Security Operations Command office, said the project had narrowed the gap between the military and civil population through better understanding and that would eventually result in an end to the violence and sustained peace in the long run.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Village-protection-units-in-far-South-begin-to-yie-30242642.html

-- The Nation 2014-09-06

[FangFerang]

"with civil defence volunteers recruited from elsewhere"

How can they know who is a stranger if they're from somewhere else?

[halloween]

"Members of the units are local. Working with civil defence volunteers recruited from elsewhere........"

Seems pretty clear.

[bangrak]

When I read the caption, English not being my mother tongue, and translations from Thai being mostly approximative to say the least, I thought that these guys were helping the villagers harvesting fruit in their orchards... In fact, it could have been a not too bad idea, an M16 carries well in the back and lets your arms and hands free, but the 'working' might be a problem... As for the 'deep South', sadly, it are Thai self-inflicted injuries, after H. M. King Rama V's forced concessions to the British, from the 'relocation' (and elimination?) of many local old Thai families with socialist idea(l)s by the post-WW2 Thai dictatorship(s) (ah, again, the ignorance and stupidity of the Americans...), to Thaksin PM 'throwing a bone to the army to chew on' and pulling out 'his' pretorian guard of, well integrated, but scared, police, with all through that moronic sense of supremacy, and xhenophoby, from the Thai malehood in general... But I've been told it's not sound for Farangs to know about the country's History (more than Thais), so hush...

[Cake Monster]

Great work guys !

Only 18 people died in August

[billd766]

In Malaysia back in the 1950s it was called hearts and minds and it worked quite well there.

[belg]

sad to see those mad men are still killing innocent people

what kind of god allows this

ah yes, the one that says you can kill any infidel

the socalled religion of peace

everywhere in the world, where islam is involved, there are problems