Thai Army chief visits restive South

Thai Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha made a field trip to Thailand's restive southernmost region on Wednesday for a meeting with Muslim religious and community leaders, Thai News Agency reported. He said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has instructed local authorities to intensify protection for the residents, especially in urban areas. He met with the premier before his departure and was accompanied by the prime minister's adviser Yuthasak Sasiprapa. The army chief is to be briefed by Fourth Army Region commander Sakol Chuentrakul on military operations in the last six months and the army's plan for the next six months. The briefing will be followed by a meeting with military personnel to extend his Thai New Year's wishes for the annual Songkran festival. He will visit the central mosque in Yala province where he plans to meet Muslim religious leaders and community heads. More than 5,000 people have been killed in Thailand's Muslim, ethnic-Malay dominated three southern border provinces -- Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla -- since separatist violence erupted in January 2004, according to Deep South Watch, which monitors the regional violence.