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He would not reply to unknown numbers calling into his mobile phone. The black walkie-talkie would keep him informed about communications among military officials while he stayed at the Sirindhorn military camp in Pattani. The red walkie-talkie would keep him up to date on what was happening in Yala and the nearby areas. The red walkie-talkie network is at the heart of the "pineapple-eye" project, launched by General Phichet.

Who can provide better protection to a community than the people living in the community themselves? That's the main idea behind General Phichet's project, in which the local people volunteer to form a network of communication. Whenever there are any abnormal incidents, they can immediately alert others and relay the information through the walkie-talkie. The authorities controlling and monitoring the communication network at a centre can then respond with appropriate action. Some 60,000 police and military forces, even including civilians and volunteers, would never be enough to provide complete security to the vast areas of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.

That early morning, we woke up at 4.40am to get ready for the action. General Phichet and his staff would be paying a visit to various points in the Muang district of Yala. Volunteers, each equipped with a gun and a walkie-talkie, took turns providing security to the soft targets vulnerable to unexpected attacks from the insurgents. Fresh markets, banks, shophouses or any government offices were easy targets.

It was quite a feeling to be with a team of military in full combat uniform, who swarmed the city areas in the very early morning to help maintain security and to boost the morale of the officials and civilian volunteers on duty.

We travelled in a caravan of pickups to visit the volunteers, most of whom were in their twenties or thirties. They were quite alert about their jobs. The rifles they were carrying about looked awesome. They also wore yellow scarves around their necks. Any slight incident would not escape their eyes and ears. Then they would communicate into the red walkie-talkie, which would be broadcast to all.

In front of the SME Bank, a security guard was in deep sleep when we arrived. Somebody woke him up. The guard was embarrassed that he was caught sleeping on duty. But General Phichet had some kind words to him, telling him to be on alert when he was on duty otherwise he could be vulnerable to an attack. The security guard could only nod his head.

"Using the walkie-talkie for communication is most effective," said General Phichet. "If you use a mobile phone, at most you can communicate with only one person at a time. If you use the CCTV, you can only see the incidents after they have already happened. This is not useful. But the walkie-talkie can communicate to all the people involved all at once."

Each walkie-talkie costs only Bt3,200. A pineapple-eye network, which implies that the "eyes are everywhere", works effectively with a monitoring centre operated by the officials. The communication can be relayed via the Internet and broadcast anywhere.

A day earlier, we were in Hat Yai, the largest district in Songkhla, where General Phichet started his first pineapple-eye project. We visited a small military unit, called Monthon Thaharnbok 42, in the middle of Hat Yai. There are nine zones in the district, which covers a vast area. Starting with 100 walkie-talkies on June 9, the pineapple-eye project is expanding fast to involve more volunteers. General Phichet held talks with the local community leaders and businessmen and asked them to participate in this project by donating the walkie-talkies. They were all willing to help. Now in Hat Yai's pineapple-eye project, there are volunteers working with 576 walkie-talkies. The number is rising fast as this network of community self-protection has proved to be rather effective in alerting any unusual or abnormal incidents. General Phichet is planning to expand the project to cover Phuket, the country's most important tourist destination.

With this pineapple-eye network, community self-protection or self-defence has come to assume a broader dimension of people's participation. And in the war zone of the delicate areas in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, this is what the community needs the most.