[Benar News] Troop levels in Thailand's far South are at their lowest level since peak deployment nine years ago. The gradual draw-down has been accompanied by the shifting of security responsibility to local armed militias. Current troop strength in the southern border area is just over 20,000, a bit more than half the number of military personnel posted there in 2007, according to a military spokesman.According to Colonel Pramote Prom-in virtually all troops from the nations north, northeast and central regional commands have already left the far South. He said only three battalions of non-local troops remain in the Muslim-majority region.
Pramote said the downsizing is balanced by the use of local armed units such as the Volunteer Defense Corps (Ar Sar - VDC) and the village defense volunteers (Chor Ror Bor - VDV.
The total security presence, including those groups and police, is around 50,000, in an area of 1.7 million residents, 80 percent of whom are Malay-speaking Muslims. Pramote said that about 40% of the remaining 20,000-plus soldiers are Rangers, a significant number of whom are local Malay Muslims. These paramilitary forces are not part of the regular armed forces but are locally recruited and trained by the Thai Army.