"We cannot control them as they exploit liberty as students to have free movement throughout Bangkok," General Boonrod told reporters.

"We have intelligence units to take care of this matter but they might over come our surveillance," he said.

The ministry admitted to the parliamentarian during a session on the situation in the deep south yesterday that the government remained no achievement to contain the ongoing violence while the militants kept expanding their operation. 

Security officials could not reach out local Muslims in many red zones in the predominantly Muslim region as the military network was destroyed since former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra dissolved the Southern Border Province Administrative Centre in 2002. The centre was revised two months ago but could not enforce full function, he added.

Of the 200 villages in the socalled red zone in the three southernmost provinces Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, authorities could reach out and be able to destroy organised structure of the militants in only 50 villagers, he said.

The militants had deep root in the region as most of them were bred in both religious and secular schools for more than a decade since they were young, he said in parliament. There are some 1,000 schools including Islamic boarding schools which implanted antistate to them, he said.

"The schools teach them the antistate and proPatani ideology since they were 12 years old when they ripped and grow, they would be sworn in the militancy," he said.

There are now in their adult age and some 1,000 people were equipped as main armed forces to operate in remote areas while some 10,000 people were associated fighters and sympathy who have capacity to create troubles in urban areas, he said.

Intelligence information indicated that many key members met to plan in Malaysia's Kelantan state and crossed the border to flare up the deep south, he said.

National Intelligence Agency's chief General Vaipot Srinual who opened the motion in the parliament said there are growing number of towface people in the deep south to help spur fire in the region. "They pretend to be with us when they talk to officials but generate misperception whey they associate with local people," he said.

The Nation