Ministry denies funds abuse

Govt says budget backs peace in South

The Defence Ministry has rejected claims by the opposition that the ministry abused a budget earmarked for peace-keeping operations in the violence-plagued South.

During the second day of a three-day debate on the 2021 fiscal year budget in parliament yesterday, Deputy Defence Minister Gen Chaichan Changmongkol said the budget of 9.7 billion baht slated for missions in the far South is aimed at reducing violence by 50% this year.

Of the budget, 5.2 billion baht has been earmarked for local development programmes and the rest for security.

The budget will also pay for the improvement of intelligence operations and conflict resolution projects to forge peace in the region.

However, he admitted some of the money to promote projects aimed at bringing peace had been cut and adjusted as it was deemed the projects required fewer funds.

The deputy minister responded to criticism by Rangsiman Rome, a Move Forward Party MP, who accused the government of trying to deceive parliament by slashing the budget to contain the southern unrest by about 900 million baht in the next fiscal year starting in October.

Mr Rangsiman said much of the southern security fund would be used to brainwash people using “attitude adjustment” methods and other propaganda activities.

Only 16.4% of the budget will be spent on funding peace restoration and providing a remedy to parties affected by the violence in the deep South, he said.

Gen Chaichan denied the brainwashing accusation, saying the fund has been allocated to promote peaceful co-existence of people through education programmes jointly conducted by the communities, religious leaders and staff of tertiary institutions.

The deputy minister insisted the programmes were meant to show residents the benefits of positive thinking.

Mr Rangsiman, meanwhile, cited the example of a project called ‘Truth Promotion and Publication’ which was raised at a parliamentary debate last year.

He said the project, which was allegedly intended to indoctrinate people, is still being promoted despite being renamed.

“Is this an attempt to deceive the parliament? Do you think the parliament is a rubber stamp?” said Mr Rangsiman.

The MP added a large chunk of budget worth a billion baht was being injected into another project to “enhance the efficiency of intelligence work”.

Mr Rangsiman said the project was given 17 million baht more than it was designated in the previous fiscal year.

He alleged the project, far from sowing peace, paid informants who pandered to conflict and distrust among people in the far South.

Last year, about 600 students, teachers, elderly people and about 19,000 soldiers in the southern border areas were rounded up and had DNA samples collected by police and soldiers, he said.