Second bridge with Malaysia declared open

General News - Saturday December 22, 2007

Second bridge with Malaysia declared open

Abdullah calls off his trip to Thailand

WASSANA NANUAM and AFP

Narathiwat _ Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi yesterday declared at the opening of the second Thai-Malaysian Friendship bridge that another important step in boosting the economy of the three border provinces with Malaysia had been taken.

Mr Abdullah also vowed to further strengthen cooperation with Thailand and take it to another level to build peace in the insurgency-scarred region. The 120m long bridge that spans the Kolok river in insurgency-scarred Narathiwat, links Ban Bu Keta in Waeng district and Bukit Bu-nga in Kelantan state of Malaysia.

It is the second friendship bridge between the two countries. The first one connects Sungai Kolok district with Lata Punyang in Kelantan State.

The two leaders promised to further develop their economic master plans, including the national gas pipeline project under the joint development project in the Gulf of Thailand and the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT).

However, the Malaysian prime minister cancelled his trip to Thailand, reasoning that he was tied up with an important religious function. The two leaders met in the middle of the bridge where they jointly pressed the button to open the 120-million-baht link.

Gen Surayud said Thailand and Malaysia also plan to expand the traffic lanes of the first bridge and build another bridge in Tak Bai district in the future.

In a related development, Mr Badawi recently set up the ''Task Force 2010'' to help Thailand tackle the southern insurgency more effectively in the three Muslim-dominated border provinces, a source said.

The Malaysian premier fears the problem could spread to Malaysia if it lacks timely and effective solutions.

Retired Lt-Gen Wan Abu Baka has been appointed as the commander of the task force.

It has played a major role in the sending home of 11 of the 130 Thais, all Muslims, who fled there and took refuge at the start of the southern insurgency.

They volunteered to return to Thailand after fleeing from Narathiwat to Terengganu state, citing safety concerns on the Thai side, according to the source.

Fourth Army commander Lt-Gen Viroj Buacharoon said he would meet Malaysian Army Field Commander Lt-Gen Zulkifeli Mohamad Zin to discuss further military cooperation between the two countries during their Jan 22-24 joint Regional Border Committee meeting in Songkhla's Hat Yai district.

Yesterday, three Islamic militants were shot dead after a gun battle with security forces in the latest violence to hit the region, police said.

The three were found dead after a brief clash in Yala.

Bangkok Post