BANGKOK, Thailand – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Phumtham Wechayachai revealed that Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra recently held discussions with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, reaffirming Malaysia’s continued role as a facilitator in peace talks for the southern border provinces.
Minister Phumtham noted that Malaysia has long served in this role, and Thailand has never rejected support from any party that could help promote peace. Thailand remains committed to creating stability and has been working consistently toward this goal.
The Defense Minister, who directly oversees the issue, said he plans to visit the three southernmost provinces on April 26th–27th to meet with business leaders, district chiefs, police station superintendents, officers from the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4 Forward Command, battalion commanders, and regimental commanders. These meetings will be conducted in separate sessions across the two-day visit. He noted this could be the final round of discussions before strategic conclusions are drawn and presented in a formal report.
Phumtham reiterated that no final decision has been made regarding the Thai committee for peace dialogue. He has previously explained that the direction of the new strategy for the southern provinces will determine the structure of this committee. Additionally, preparations are underway for a meeting to consider revoking martial law in four districts of the three southern provinces, following an earlier resolution from the mobile Cabinet meeting in Songkhla Province. (NNT)
