He said information and evidence would be gathered to prosecute anyone who obstructs law enforcement and mobilises mobs against authorities.

He said softened measures, such as the code of monastic discipline, would be applied.

The head of the Buddhist monk administration in Pathum Thani province, where the temple is located, issued an order demanding monks and novices who are nonresidents of the temple leave the facility and its surrounds.

The temple is subject to controls enforced under the allpowerful Article 44 of the interim constitution.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha invoke the article in a bid to arrest the temple’s former abbot Phra Dhammachayo, who is accused of money laundering, embezzlement and forest encroachment.

The move came after the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) held a meeting on Friday to revise the projects’ specifications following an order invoked by junta chief Prayut Chan-o-cha after he received numerous complaints about the projects’ lack of transparency for bidding and procurement.

Anon Luangboriboon, recently appointed acting SRT governor, said before the meeting that the board would revise the projects’ terms of reference.

He said the revisions would be submitted to the super-board recently set up under the Article 44 of the interim charter to scrutinise procurement at state agencies, starting with the double-track rail projects.

The super-board, chaired by former Bank of Thailand governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul, also met on Friday.

‘The [ToR] guideline that was proposed by the SRT today [Friday] is still an alternative,” said Prasarn after the meeting.

He added: “It needs to have a conclusion and the best option. The next meeting is set to be held next Friday to find a solution.”  Prasarn said companies that had submitted their bidding documents for the projects would have to wait until the matter was resolved.

The five projects are the 132-kilometre Map Kabao-Jira Junction section (Bt29.45 billion); the 116-km Lop Buri-Pak Nam Pho section (Bt23.9 billion); the 169-km Nakhon Pathom-Hua Hin section (Bt19.27 billion); the 84-km Hua Hin-Prachuap Khiri Khan (Bt9.99 billion); and the 167-km Pachuap Khiri Khan-Chumphon section (Bt16.5 billion).

The SRT had been set to announce the names of the companies that had qualified for bidding.

Two other double-track rail projects – the Jira Junction-Khon Kaen and the Chachoengsao-Kaeng Khoi sections – are also being closely monitored by the superboard.

Prasarn said the two projects’ construction works would, at this stage, continue pending the findings of an investigative subcommittee.

On February 23, Prime Minister Prayut exercised his overriding powers via Article 44 of the interim charter on the grounds that he had received many complaints about a lack of transparency in the SRT’s bidding and procurement processes.

He ordered the transfer of SRT governor Wutthichat Kalayanamit and the agency’s entire board in response to alleged irregularities.

A new board of directors was formed, with Voravidh Champeeratana, chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission, appointed as the new chairman.

Anon, deputy director general of the Highways Department, was appointed acting SRT governor.

Wutthichat was transferred to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Under Article 44, the super-board was set up to consider the procurement for infrastructure projects worth more than Bt5 billion.

An informed source said Somchai Thongchan, his wife Rustika, his sister-in-law Som and his eight-year-old son Thanakit, might have been slaughtered in retaliation for the extra-judicial killing of leading RKK member Ahama Maeroh.

“The prime suspect behind Thursday’s fatal shooting is the group led by Ahama’s younger brother, Hamdan Maeroh,” the source said. The group has been active in both Rusoh and Si Sakhon districts of Narathiwat.

A taskforce has now been set up to hunt down the killers of defenceless victims. The attackers are believed to have used M-16 rifles and pistols.

The family were taking their children to school when unknown gunmen opened fire on their vehicle. Two other children who were in the pickup van were injured.

“We believe the culprits must have opted for a mountainous path [to escape] and moved towards the Si Sakhon district,” Colonel Pramote Prom-in said in his capacity as the spokesman for the Forward Command of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4. “We will track them down.”

While Pramote condemned the shooting, he emphasised that the military would not use violence against the culprits.

Many years of unrest

“We will bring them to justice. They will have to face legal actions,” he said.

Narathiwat has been faced with raging unrest for about 13 years.

Bloody attacks have taken place almost on a daily basis and thousands of lives have been lost.

Thai authorities have pursued peace talks in the hope of restoring peace.

Mara Patani, an umbrella group representing some rebel factions at the peace talks, has lately agreed to create a limited “safety zone” in the southernmost region of Thailand.

However, the brutal attack on the family has raised questions about whether the safety zone will materialise.

Pramote has expressed confidence that the recent killings would not affect the intention of creating a safety zone, as Mara Patani has also issued a statement to condemn the attack.

According to Superintendent Pol Colonel Ruangsak Buadaeng of Rusoh Police Station, evidence from the site of the shooting showed that the three guns used in the attack had been used in other attacks in the deep South previously.

In a separate incident, Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan – who is also the deputy prime minister overseeing security affairs – said the fatal shooting of three soldiers in Pattani on Thursday might have been related to a personal conflict.

“These soldiers had taken a day off to go to the market where they were shot dead. We are in the process of investigating further,” Prawit added.

JUST A day after sacked Palace official Pol General Jumpol Manmai was brought to court for alleged forest encroachment and building on public land, his wife turned herself in to police yesterday to face the same charges.

Thanakorn Manmai, 59, arrived at the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division in the afternoon, where she met with a number of senior officers, including deputy national police chief Pol General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul.

Thanakorn came with relatives and was later joined by her lawyer. She appeared visibly anxious upon arrival. The media was not allowed to take her photo.

The woman has been charged along with her husband Jumpol, and three others. They are accused of encroaching on Thap Lan National Park in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Wang Nam Khiew district.

Released on bail

Thanakorn reportedly denied some of the charges against her, but allegedly made partial admissions during the police interrogation.

She was released on bail of Bt200,000 requested by police investigators.

The three other defendants had been released on bail after police investigators concluded that they were unlikely to flee. They were identified as Region 5 Police deputy commissioner Pol Maj-General Pongdej Prommijit, his wife Chanasit Pisitwanit, and her relative Manop Plodkhoksoong.

Jumpol, 66, a former deputy national police chief, was sacked by the Royal Household Bureau on Monday from his post as grand chamberlain in charge of security and special affairs. The agency said that he had committed grave misconduct and had political interests deemed detrimental to national security.

On Thursday, Jumpol surrendered to the Crime Suppression Division to face the charges of forest encroachment against him. He later confessed to all the charges relating to his alleged forest encroachment when he appeared before Nakhon Ratchasima Provincial Court, according to Srivara, who added that the defendant did not apply for temporary release.

Meanwhile, Thap Lan National Park authorities have posted a notice for forest encroachers to demolish buildings constructed illegally on forestland, national park’s chief Prawatsart Chantarathep said yesterday.

He explained that officials had exercised their administrative power in issuing the order, after defendants formally acknowledged charges against them. He said defendants still had the right to appeal against the order.

However, he also said that authorities were confident they had strong evidence to prove that the buildings were constructed in the national park, judging from their locations and readings of satellite coordinates.

In a separate case relating to a disgraced former Palace official, the Bangkok Military Court yesterday sentenced Chitpong Thongkum to five years and six months for lese majeste and four other charges including theft at a state office and violations of the Cosmetics Act. He was also fined Bt25,000.

Original punishments were reduced by half as Chitpong admitted all the charges before the court. For instance, the court reduced a five year prison sentence to two-and-a-half years for the charge of violating Article 112 of the Penal Code involving lese majeste.

Chitpong, who served in His Majesty the King’s security detail, was stripped of his military rank of air vice marshal and royal decorations in an order by the prime minister. The order, published in the Royal Gazette on February 19, accused Chitpong of stealing royal property, disclosing His Majesty’s personal health records and failing to report to duty as required.