PATTANI, Apr 13 (TNA) - Security officers had prepared stringent measures to ensure the safety of tourists and residents over the
ongoing Songkran period, but it seemed today as if not even the tightest security arrangements could attract holidaymakers to a province which for over a
year has been plagued by insurgent attacks.
Reporters in the province spoke this morning of quiet roads, with no-one coming out of their houses to
engage in the water-throwing that normally characterises the festival.
Pattani centre was particularly dead, despite the fact that soldiers were
guarding major locations throughout the city.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Phaitoon Phattanasophon, commander of the provincial police force, said that police and
military officers had mobilized reinforcements throughout the province for the Songkran festival, particularly in residential areas.
But even a call
from the public relations office of the 4th Army Area Command for residents of the southern border region to uphold what a spokesman described as an
important Thai tradition could liven the generally dampened mood today.
(TNA)--E006
Travel Centre
