Thailand tightens border as region grapples with growing threat from Daesh

BANGKOK: Smuggling activities along the 645km ThaiMalaysia border lately has come under closer scrutiny from the Thai authorities, who are determined not to let the problem evolve into a bigger security headache for the country.

The problem of smuggling along the common border between the two countries are not new, but the matter received fresh attention following the disclosure by Malaysian Police of firearms smuggling activities involving a Malaysian suspect with ties to the Daesh ( Islamic State) terrorist group.

Inspector- General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar in a statement last month announced a suspect, Muhammad Muzaffa Arief Junaidi from Rantau Panjang, Kelantan had managed to escape to southern Thailand with a pistol and an M- 4 assault rifle.

The 27-year old Daesh member according to the top policeman belonged to the same Daesh cell which was responsible for smuggling firearms into Malaysia from southern Thailand.

Although it was established by Bangkok authorities later that the suspect exited Thailand on April 21 through Sungai Golok immigration checkpoint and returned to Malaysia, Thailand is determined not to take any risks on the threat posed by Daesh and started taking initiatives to beef up its border security.

According to a source in southern Thailand, Muhammad Muzaffa was a regular traveller with at least nine visits to the provinces along the border with Malaysia, but declined to elaborate on the nature of his visits.

Worried by the possibility of Daesh establishing its foothold in southern Thailand, its Army chief Gen Chalermchai Sittisart travelled to Narathiwat last week to oversee the urgent deployment of troops from the 15th Infantry Division based in Takbai to secure its border with Malaysia.

Malaysia has a problem with Daesh, with more than 230 of its citizen as of February this year being arrested for having links with the terrorist group or supported its deviant ideology.

According to the Home Ministry, the police has also identified 95 Malaysians who joined the terrorist group in Syria and about 30 of them have died in fighting while another eight were arrested as soon as they returned to Malaysia.

Thailand, which has a large Muslim community in southern provinces of the country bordering northern Malaysia, didn’t want the problem to spread into its border and took urgent measures by pouring in more troops to patrol its border.

Meanwhile, fighting in Marawi, Mindanao between Philippine forces and Daesh affliliated groups, the Maute and Abu Sayyaf which has raged for almost a month now has alarmed countries in the regions, forcing them to be more vigilant of any attempt by Daesh and its operatives to establish a caliphate South East Asia.

The prospect of ‘ Katibah Nusantara Lid Daulah Islamiyyah’ spreading its tentacles to countries in the region was something real and needed to be taken more seriously.

Chalermchai ordered its special troops to patrol Narathiwat and Yala side of Thailand’s border with Kedah and Kelantan around the clock, with special attention given to securing the 95km-long Sungai Golok which separates the two southern provinces with Rantau Panjang in Kelantan.

“The patrols are intended to block the smuggling of war materials, including ammunition and explosives,” he reportedly said, adding that the intensified patrols would also monitor illegal crossings by members of southern Thailand’s militant groups.

For years, the narrow and shallow river has not only been a hot bed for smuggling activities but also a popular illegal crossing for fleeing criminals.

Security agencies in southern Thailand had for years alleged that bomb-making materials used in southern Thailand’s conflict were smuggled into the conflict zone using the numerous ‘ rat holes’ or hidden smugglers route at the border, especially along the notorious Sungai Golok.

It claimed illegal boat jetties along Sungai Golok, especially those situated at secluded, difficult to monitor areas have been used by the militants to smuggle weapons and explosives in and out of southern Thailand.

Thailand has long maintained that the southern Thai conf lict which has so far claimed more than 6,000 lives was motivated by nationalist aspirations and not religious or sectarian in nature.

In the wake of Chalermchai’s visit to Narathiwat, local authorities in Sungai Golok, a district in the province of Narathiwat took a bold move to shut down the operations of six illegal boat jetties along the Sungai Golok, to the dismay and anger of local villagers whose livelihood depended on the smooth operations of the jetties.

Only one jetty, Pengkalan Prapa, remained open for operations after the latest move by the Thai authorities.

Stung by the authorities’ move to close down the jetties, local villagers last week held a peaceful demonstration in front of one of the affected jetties asking them to rollback the move, but the jetties remained closed until yesterday.

While Malaysia and Thailand are still continuing their discussions on the proposal to build a wall at the border, other efforts by both countries in making sure their border was more secure from any criminal elements should be intensified. — Bernama