DeepSouth Highways

[GWR]

Samak to deploy army engineers to build four-lane roads deep South


Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej told his TV audience that he would deploy army engineers to build four-lane roads in Yala and other southern border provinces.

An audience called into his Samak's Talk programme to ask him what he would do now that private construction firms dared not resume the constructions of roads in southern border provinces.

Samak said he had talked to the army commander-in-chief who agreed to deploy army engineers to continue the constructions.

"I hereby promise that the four-land road construction in Yala will be complete," Samak said.

The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30066275

[GWR]

I don't know about you, but I haven't been much further East & South-East than Chana District in a long time. Let us know if you have, with your observations:

Safer Pattani-Yala highway nearly finished

Army engineers are on track to finish a 35-km highway that cuts through restive provinces in southern Thailand. The road will link Pattani and Yala, main towns in provinces wracked by Islamist violence, but will bypass areas infested with insurgent gangs.

It's scheduled to open in a few months, a decade since work on it begun. And local residents are looking forward to finally using it.

With the new highway, travelling between Pattani and Yala will be less dangerous because the old road passes through an area where authorities suspect Muslim insurgents have been hiding out.

Construction of the highway was started 10 years ago by private contractors. After two of their construction workers were killed, progress slowed and then stopped. The Army engineers later came in and took over.

When completed, the new highway will cut travel time between towns in Yala and Pattani provinces from one hour to about 20 minutes. But the military hopes they are doing more than just creating a convenient way to commute.

"If we can finish the construction quickly, people will be able to travel this way... And that means the army can win local people's hearts because residents in the four districts will benefit from this road," said Colonel Akara Thiproj, Thai Army Spokesman.

Since former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra left office in 2006, government policy in the strife torn Southern regions has gone from strong arm to helping hand.

The military said they want the local people - both Buddhist and Muslim - to see them as friends instead of intruders, and to help them root out insurgents. But not everyone agrees it's working.

Pattani senator Ausart Suwanmongkol said there is less violence in the area because there are hundreds of armed soldiers working on the highway construction everyday. The senator said that would help the local economy, which would help them capture even more hearts. (Agencies)
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http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=128123