Under the NCPO order promulgated in the Royal Gazette on Monday, the prime minister shall appoint no more than 60 members to the board, with each of them having a two-year tenure.

“The board will promote collaboration among all sides. This will help speed up work,” Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday.

The deep South has been struggling with unrest for about one decade already, with the raging violence claiming thousands of lives.

In the southern border province of Yala, a man parked a bomb-packed pickup in front of a firm yesterday morning, before shouting that there were explosives inside. His name has been withheld for safety.

The man and his wife were kidnapped on Monday night and the kidnappers stuffed a 160kg bomb inside before instructing them to drive the vehicle into Yala town yesterday morning. The couple has been released without any injuries and security officials successfully defused the explosives.