Southern violence seen as backlash against crackdown, says southern army chief

The wave of weekend incidents in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces appeared to be retaliation for the authorities’ continuous crackdown on illegal networks, which had caused financial losses to those involved, according to Fourth Army Region Commander Lt Gen Norathip Poyanok.

Norathip, who is also director of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4, said authorities have been conducting continuous cordon-and-search operations and putting pressure on groups involved in unrest across the southern border provinces since late last month.

The authorities have also been carrying out a 90-day campaign against illegal drugs, resulting in the seizure of large quantities of narcotics and the arrests of numerous suspects, he said.

Fourth Army Region Commander Lt Gen Norathip Poyanok

In mid-August, authorities arrested members of a contraband trafficking network in Yarang district of Pattani province, seizing more than 2 million illegally imported cigarettes and about 18 million baht in cash.

“The scale of the crackdown on illegal businesses could have motivated people who stood to lose financially to retaliate against state authorities,” he said, adding that these enterprises are sources of funding for groups involved in unrest, which also collect protection money. He said the crackdown would continue.

The incidents in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat on Saturday night will be thoroughly investigated to ensure fairness to all sides, he said, while describing as “false” rumours that people had been shot at from helicopters.

He acknowledged that helicopters and drones had been used to patrol various routes and areas during the period in question, but said no weapons had been fired from helicopters towards the ground.

“If weapons had actually been fired automatically from a helicopter, the vehicle or target in question would certainly not have been able to escape,” he said.