Thailand and Malaysia are due to finalize a "master plan" this week to develop their border areas in an effort to deter violence in Thailand's largely Muslim south, Thai officials said yesterday.
The joint development strategy is due to be approved by Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathi-rathai and Malaysian counterpart Syed Hamid Albar in Bangkok tomorrow, they said.
The strategy would cover road links, trade, tourism, agriculture, energy, education, human resources and disaster relief, and would help make the relatively poor Thai south more prosperous to deter the violence which has erupted since January, Thai officials said.
Among the proposals is a bridge across the Kolok River linking Takbai in Thailand to the Malaysian town of Bukit Bunga.
The scheme covers Malaysia's four northern states of Perlis, Kelantan, Kedah and Perak, and Thailand's five southern provinces.
Thai officials declined to give the plan's cost, but Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow said at least 800 million baht (US$19 million) would be spent in the first year.
"We need to jointly develop the region to bring peace and security," he said.
Thailand has said those responsible for the violence in the south, which began with a raid on an army camp in the region and the theft of nearly 400 M-16 assault rifles, take refuge on the Malaysian side of the border.
Thai Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakul is due to meet Malaysian security officials on Aug. 15 and 16 on the Thai island of Phuket to talk about what Bangkok says are two dozen militant fugitives believed to be hiding in Malaysia.
Malaysia says it cannot find any of the people whose names Thailand has passed on, and there has been no lessening of the violence in southern Thailand, where more than 300 people have been killed since the raid on the army camp.
A bomb detonated by a mobile phone injured three soldiers as they escorted teachers to school in Narathiwat, police said yesterday.
The government has pledged to spend US$300 million over the next three years on roads, schools and jobs, and many such projects would be undertaken in parallel with Malaysia, Thai officials said.
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