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Thai Army chief orders Internal Security Operations Command to support operations along Cambodian border

BANGKOK: Army chief General Pana Klaewplodthuk on Wednesday (June 25) directed the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) to support the operations of the First and Second Army Areas in maintaining security along the Thai-Cambodian border. The order was issued as Gen Pana chaired a meeting with ISOC and its affiliated agencies at the ISOC headquarters. The army chief serves as the ex-officio deputy director of ISOC, while the prime minister is the ex-officio director. Senior military officials in attendance included Gen Ekkarat Changkaew, assistant ISOC director; Gen Thongchai Rodyoi, ISOC secretary-general; and Maj Gen Thammanoon Maisont, ISOC spokesman. According to Maj Gen Thammanoon, the army chief instructed ISOC to utilise its regional and provincial branches to reinforce and support the First and Second Army Areas, which are responsible for defending Thai territory along the eastern border. Psychological operations and intelligence support ordered Gen Pana also directed ISOC to conduct psychological operations to engage with and gain the trust of local communities, encouraging their cooperation with military security efforts along the border. He further ordered ISOC to mobilise its intelligence network to support security operations on both the eastern and southern borders. This includes efforts to prevent the smuggling of migrant workers and to counteract groups with malicious intent against the state. Community networks to play key role The army chief instructed ISOC to make full use of its community-based mass networks to gather early warning information and support proactive territorial defence by the army. These directives followed briefings from ISOC-affiliated agencies detailing their support for the government's ongoing crackdown on online scam gangs operating from Cambodia. The agencies also reported successes in intercepting drug smuggling operations along both the eastern and southern borders. - The Nation/ANN