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http://www.nationmultimedia.com/

Reminiscent of the first Russian naval visit to Thailand during the reign of King Rama IV, a battle group led by missile-cruiser Varyag from the Russian Pacific Fleet berthed yesterday at Sattahip Naval Base. The group, including the anti-submarine ships Admiral Tributz and Admiral Panteleyev, left Vladivostok in September to participate in Indra 2005 – joint Russian-Indian naval manoeuvres conducted in the Indian Ocean in October.

After conducting Indra-2005, Vice-Admiral and Deputy Pacific Fleet Commander Sergei Avramenko took the group on visits to Jakarta and Singapore before arriving in Sattahip.

“We are visiting Thailand to increase cooperation between our two countries,” said Captain 1st Rank Seigei Ryazanov, commander of the Varyag. Historically, Russia and Thailand have had a warm relationship and have been special companions. The first time a Russian battle group visited Siam was in 1863,” Ryazanov said.

First official contact between the two was when the Russian warships Gaydamak and Novik visited Bangkok on the Chao Phya River.

In 1891, a battle group led by Tsar Nicholas II (then Crown Prince) of the Romanov dynasty visited the country and friendship between King Rama V and the future Tsar was established. The relationship developed to the point that France and other colonial powers relinquished ambitions in regard to Siam.

Russian warships visited the country many times until the Russian Revolution in 1917. Diplomatic relations were severed until 1941, when the Soviet Union and Thailand re-established links.

Last year Thai warships visited Russia’s Pacific Ocean naval base, Vladivostok.

“It is our turn to reciprocate Thailand’s visit,” he said.

This battle group is the most important in Russia’s Pacific Fleet. Varyag is one of the three biggest warships in the Russian Fleet. It was named in memory of the legendary Russian dreadnought built in 1898, which saw action in the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905.

In January 1904, the Varyag and gunboat Koryeyets engaged a Japanese squadron. The battle lasted an hour and saw three enemy cruisers and a torpedo boat sunk. The Russian ships were seriously damaged and withdrew.

The ships returned to the port of Chemulpo (Inchon) to prevent capture. Commander First Class Vsevolod Rudnew decided to scuttle the Varyag and Koryeyets. Surviving crew members were rescued by British, French and Italian cruisers stationed nearby. No Russian sailors were captured.

The original Varyag visited Bangkok, which had good relations with Russia at the time, on the way to fight Japanese forces. The ship needed to re-supply with food, fuel and water.

Varyag became a symbol of bravery for Russian sailors and Tsar Nicholas II ordered a song to be composed called “Varyag”. A second Varyag saw action in World War II. The ship visiting on Tuesday is the third vessel with this famous name.

Varyag has a variety of modern weapons systems including anti-aircraft defences, cruise missiles, reactive-bomb throwers and K-27 helicopters. It has a displacement of 11,000 tonnes and a crew of 500.

The flagship will be open to visitors until Saturday from 2pm to 4pm. From Sattahip, the group will go to Vietnam’s Hai Phong before returning to Vladivostok on December 14.

http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=4435

BANGKOK, Nov 14 (TNA) — Teams of officials from assorted government agencies will be despatched from the capital to carry out anti-insurgency missions in the Far South.

Deputy Prime Minister Pol. Gen. Chidchai Vanasatidya said the working teams will be headed by National Intelligence Agency director Pol. Gen.Chumpol Munmai and have access in-depth intelligence so that they could more efficiently carry out their missions against insurgents in the region.

The Supreme Command Headquarters’ security operations center is in charge of the missions to be carried out throughout the region by Pol. Gen. Chumpol’s teams.

Pol Gen Chidchai, who is concurrently justice minister, declined to go into detail but said intelligence-gathering missions had been improved and areas of operation in the Far South clearly defined.

Officials under the command of Pol. Gen. Chumpon include those from the Department of Special Investigation, the Anti-Money-Laundering Office, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, the Royal Thai Police and the Revenue Department. The working teams will not only confront insurgents but are also charged with seeking out those who may be financially supporting them, such as drug dealers, extortionists and other outlawed influential figures.

The deputy prime minister chaired a meeting of government personnel in charge of security matters at Government House Monday.(TNA)-E008

Focus on ambush, urban combat tactics

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/06Nov2005_news04.php

By Wassana Nanuam

To cope with the ongoing insurgency in the far South, the army will revamp its training for soldiers by switching from conventional warfare to ambush and urban combat training. The move is in line with army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin’s order in the latest strategy review, which has already been applied to paramilitary rangers in the deep South, to engage in guerrilla warfare.

On Friday, the army chief ordered that five more companies of paramilitary rangers, or about 400 men, be deployed in addition to the 20 companies already operating in the three southernmost provinces to counter the insurgency with guerrilla warfare tactics.

The change will also apply to broader training for ground troops.

Deputy army chief Col Thanathip Sawangsaeng said the commander made it clear during Friday’s meeting of unit commanders nationwide that the army’s education department should overhaul training for officers and conscripts in line with the changing situation.

Gen Sonthi, with a strong background in special warfare, said he wanted the training to focus on ambush, urban warfare and swift operations rather than conventional practice. More young officers should also be deployed at warfare units along the border to reinforce security strength, he added.

The deputy chief said the department must study how to modernise training and may have to scrap outdated training techniques using old weapons such as bayonet-fitted rifles because there was no longer hand-to-hand fighting in large-scale combat.

The change would help boost the efficiency of the army’s warfare operations in different locations, especially guerrilla ambush strategies, in line with the global situation.

The army chief also advocated a policy requiring its intelligence department to form mobile units for training intelligence officers attached to army units ranging from battalions to regiments.

This would aim to improve their work efficiency and enhance the analysis of intelligence.

The participating officers would be from infantry, cavalry and artillery regiments.

‘’The training will be for the battalion and regiment levels by focusing on efficiency improvement so the officers of the battalion level can go back to train lower-level officers down to privates,'’ Col Thanathip said.

Rebels adopt strategy from Aceh fighters

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/22Oct2005_news05.php

WASSANA NANUAM MUHAMAD AYUB PATHAN

The separatist movement currently operating in the deep South is a reorganisation of old groups but its leader is still unknown, army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin said. The army chief made his comment in a conference with a group of nearly 100 local and foreign reporters at the army auditorium on Thursday night.

“It [the separatist movement] is a reorganisation of old separatist groups, including the Pattani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo) and Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN). The movement has adopted new strategies. Insurgency groups under it are conducting violent attacks but do not reveal the movement’s identity or its leader. There is still much for us to find out,'’ he said.

Gen Sonthi said it would take a long time before the movement declared itself or revealed its leader _ in a similar fashion to the way the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Indonesia had operated.

“I want them to reveal their identities and tell us if they want to talk,'’ he said.

The army chief recalled the incident at Tanyong Limo in Narathiwat’s Rangae district where two marines were taken hostage and later killed last month. Villagers had requested negotiations with the authorities, but they did not reveal who their leader was.

Earlier, security sources said the separatist movement was made up of a group of religious teachers or ustazes, ponoh students and Muslim graduates aged 30-50 from overseas universities. It had former core members of old separatist groups acting as advisers.

“I want everyone to understand that the ongoing violent incidents in the South of Thailand are aimed at separation of the land similar to what happened in Indonesia’s Aceh.

“But the strength of the separatist movement is less than 1% of the 1.3 million Muslim people in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces where the majority do not support it. So, the insurgents have tried to create conditions to draw the people to support the movement,'’ Gen Sonthi said.

To Gen Sonthi, the violence in the South is linked to the battle for resources and control over the Strait of Malacca involving many countries in the region, but he declined to name them.

The new army chief told reporters they should be aware that the insurgents wanted their activities and attacks published and broadcast in the media worldwide to internationalise the issue.

“I know you have to report facts, but reports can be made in a way not to be a tool for the insurgents,'’ Gen Sonthi said.

In Yala, two people were shot and seriously wounded in a gun attack in Raman district yesterday.

Police said Yako Mama, 37, a beef trader, and Maroyuning Udae, 39, an assistant village chief of tambon Kero, were shot by two men on a motorcycle.

On Thursday night, a village security volunteer was gunned down in Raman district. Police said assailants driving in a pick-up truck opened fire at Madaning Samae, 46, who was travelling on his motorcycle to Ban Kameng School.

Also in Yala, a police officer and his wife were wounded when a bomb planted under their pick-up truck exploded at their house in Muang district.

The bomb, which was triggered by mobile phone, went off while Pol Snr Sgt-Maj Samarn Pukpopsuk and his wife Rattana were leaving their house at around 5pm to go shopping.