The Internal Security Operations Command Region 4’s Front Command said yesterday that people violating the ban would face a criminal charge which carries a penalty of up to two years in prison and/or a Bt40,000 fine.

The ban was issued by Fourth Army commander Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich to prevent insurgents making use of the steel cylinders in bomb-making and to stop violence in the deep South.

Colonel Yutthanam Petchmuang, deputy spokesman for the front command, said yesterday that the ban was in effect from January 13 but did not apply to the steel cylinders which were currently available within these provinces.

The Fourth Army Region had previously coordinated with cooking gas suppliers to use fibreglass composite cylinders in the region instead.