Armed forces told to guard against pork, drug smuggling along borders
The commanders-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, Navy and Air Force were told on Wednesday to tighten border security and to watch out against smuggling of pork, drugs, rubber and immigrant workers.
The instruction was conveyed to a meeting of commanders at the Royal Thai Armed Forces headquarters.
The meeting was chaired by General Songwit Noonpackdee, chief of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.
Apart from the chiefs of the three armed forces, the meeting was also attended by the commissioner-general of the Royal Thai Police in his capacity as the adviser to the committee of armed forces commanders, which has been set up under the Defence Ministry Administrative Act of BE 2551 (2008).
After the meeting, Group Captain Jongjet Watcharanan, deputy spokesman of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, told a press conference that the meeting discussed various issues, including the role of the committee of armed forces commanders.
Among the topics of discussions, the supreme commander instructed the armed forces commanders to step up border protection following reports of increase in smuggling of pork, drug and foreign workers.
The armed forces chiefs were told to ensure that they could protect against cyberattacks.
The armed forces chiefs were also instructed to prepare troops and equipment to combat natural disasters, such as cold spell, forest fires and smog.
The Royal Thai Armed Forces would step up more public awareness campaigns to encourage more applications, the spokesman added.
The meeting also discussed the ongoing project to allow landless farmers to farm on unused military land by having the Treasury Department allocate the land to farmers.
The project would allow the poor to lease 12,484 rai (1,997 hectares) of land in Udon Thani, Kanchanaburi, Samut Prakan and Nakhon Phanom provinces. The pilot project will be launched in Nong Wua Sor district of Udon Thani on December 25 and the rest will be launched in January next year.
