Thai PM takes sweeping powers to fight unrest
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra took broad powers from the military yesterday, centralising control of security forces after Islamic insurgents staged a dramatic overnight attack.
At an emergency meeting called after Thursday's raid on Yala town in the Muslim-majority south, the Thai cabinet authorised Thaksin to invoke a range of measures including curfews, wiretaps and the power to close down publications.
"We have to be decisive now," Thaksin said before the emergency cabinet session. "Otherwise the unrest could spill over to other provinces."
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Most of the measures approved Friday were already in effect in large swathes of the Muslim provinces along the border with Malaysia, which have been under martial law since the insurgency broke out in January 2004.
But the executive decree moves decision-making away from southern military commanders to the prime minister's office in Bangkok.
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