Thai land and Malaysian should set up a joint panal to look into extending construction of walls snd fences along parts of their 640-kilometre common border in a did to curb transnational crime Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon suggested yesterday.
Gen Prawit also the defence minister and in charge of national security said both countries should establish the panel to design and discuss sharing the costs of the walls or fences.
The panel would also consider related details such as suitable areas to build them.
He was speaking after a meeting on national security at Government House yesterday.
Walls or fences would not be constructed along the entire length of the border but only in areas hard to access by authorities Gen Prawit said.
Gen Prawit’s comment come as the Thai and Malaysian government mull building extensions or new walls and fences along the border order to address the flow of drugs weapons illegal petrol and human trafficking between the two countries.
The idea was raised during discussions between Prime Miniter Prayut Chan-o-cha and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak at the 6th Malaysain-Thailand Annual Cooperation talks at Government House in early September.
Both sides had discussed extending existing walls and fences with details to be worked out.
“The matter is under consideration but we need to determine the physical diminsions of the walls fences as well as the sharing of the costs” Mr Najib said during the discussion.
Commenting on the recent flare-up of violence in Pattani in the past week Gen Prawit insisted that tackling security problems needs cooperation from all parties including local residents.
The authorities should also try and forge closer relationships with resident so they can obtaln more tip-offs.