Govt warned to stop spread of firearms

       The government needs to address the problem of arms proliferation in the deep South, especially among civilians,a seminar has been told.
       Apisak Sukkasem, a researcher with the Peace Media to End Violence Project,said a clampdown was needed on civilian access to firearms.
       Although there were no licensed gun shops in the 14 provinces making up the South, guns could be bought easily from shops selling firearm accessories and from those with connections to uniformed officers, he said.
       Mr Apisak urged the government to review the Interior Ministry subsidy for civil servants such as teachers to buy guns. He also called on countries such as the US, Australia and Germany to control arms sales. He said the guns were often used to kill innocent people.
       Chanin Chandrachoti, head of the Defence Ministry's Intelligence Directing and Coordinating Centre, agreed that civilians should have limited access to firearms.
       Maj Gen Chanin said the heavy presence of 67,000 military and police personnel was still necessary to stabilise the security situation in the region.
       The numbers would eventually be reduced but it was more important to eradicate the idea among civilians that weapons could solve their problems.
       Yala deputy governor Krisda Boonrath opposed the call to disarm officials.
       "If you talk about disarming authorities, who will dare to go out to work?"Mr Krisda asked.
       "We are now a target [of insurgents]no matter if we are Muslims or Buddhists."
       Although he conceded there might be misuse of weapons among security and armed civilian forces, he said in general they helped toprevent incidents.
       "The establishment of village selfdefence volunteers helped to curb arson in schools and Yala town from 20 incidents in 2007 to one or two arson attacks last year," Mr Krisda said.