Thai Govt to spend 50 billion Baht on South Thailand

The Southern provinces of Thailand has been suffering from insurgency for quite long now and in an attempt to improve the condition of people in the four southernmost provinces, the Thai government has decided to spend more than 50 billion Baht (1.4 billion U.S. dollars). This will not only develop the infrastructure there but will also resolve violence in the region, a senior official said.

A special committee set up for improving economy in the region declared that this amount was a must if development projects are to be set up in the unrest regions of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat provinces as well as four districts of Songkhla during 2010-2012, Deputy Interior Minister Thaworn Senneam was quoted as saying.

The projects aim that each village in the area should get 228,000 Baht (6430 U.S. dollars). Again the villagers are to cooperate in planning development projects for their village without intervention by the government. For this, more than 100,000 households in the region will be picked up to join an economic self-sufficiency program, with each household receiving 6,000 Baht (170 U.S. dollars) in leading the program.

On Friday, a special cabinet meeting agreed to extend the emergency decree in South Thailand for another three months. This decree was due to expire on April 19.