EDITORIAL
Finally, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has ordered Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung to visit the troubled deep South.
This was disclosed to the media by Mr Chalerm himself who also said he was reprimanded by the prime minister for not visiting the region earlier.
Mr Chalerm is in charge of overseeing security affairs down there in his capacity as chief of the Centre for Implementing Policies and Strategies for Solving Problems in the Southern Border Provinces. He has held the post since last year, but has not visited the region to familiarise himself with the issues.
But the deputy prime minister appears in no rush to obey the prime minister's order. He says he will visit the area only after the March 3 Bangkok governor's election is over.
Whatever the excuses for his procrastination, Mr Chalerm appears to have forgotten that his first and foremost responsibility is to try to resolve the bloody conflict in the deep South.
Mr Chalerm made no secret about his reluctance to accept the appointment as the chief of the centre, which perhaps explains his failure to set foot in the region.
His last visit to the region was when he served as interior minister under prime minister Samak Sundaravej. He visited Hat Yai, which is relatively more peaceful. Mr Chlalerm may have entertained the idea that it is not necessary for him to tour the region to familiarise himself with the problems there because he has staff to give him briefings whenever he feels the need. But he is supposed to know the region and the problems and be fully committed to his duty and responsibility.
What is apparent is that he appears to be poorly equipped to do the job. For instance, from day one since assuming the post, Mr Chalerm, apparently influenced by the US's success in hunting down its No.1 public enemy, the late Osama Bin Laden, floated the idea of a Pentagon-like structure for the centre which he is now heading, and which he named Pentagon II. But the idea vanished because it found no supporters other than Mr Chalerm himself.
Later he came up with two other poorly thought-out proposals which were eventually swept under the rug. First, he proposed that kamnans in the deep South be equipped with assault rifles to deal with the Islamist insurgents. The military rejected that idea outright as they fear the weapons would end up in the hands of insurgents rather than protecting local leaders.
The second was his call for a limited curfew which was greeted with resistance from local authorities, religious and community leaders.
More recently, Mr Chalerm's impromptu remark about providing "healing" assistance to families of the 16 insurgents killed in their failed bid to seize a marine camp in Narathiwat's Bacho district on Feb 13 caused widespread misunderstanding and criticism.
And this week Mr Chalerm has appointed nine members of the Wadah political group as his advisers.
The appointment of certain individuals allegedly linked to the insurgents and Mr Chalerm's indication they may be allowed to attend security meetings has caused concern among security officers that classified information discussed behind closed doors might be leaked to the insurgents.
The prime minister has shown her courage by telling Mr Chalerm to visit the region. The next question is how longer can she can put up with a reluctant security boss who seems better at causing controversies than he does making sensible decisions.
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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/02/21/chalerm-put-in-his-place/
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