Or Sor : another soft target for the militants in the far South?
By Abdullah Whangni
The latest newspaper headline screams “Two Or Sor dead and three injured in a bomb blast”. But the unfortunate deaths of this group of people, a uniformed militia force of the Interior Ministry, who have been battling the militants in the far South shoulder-to-shoulder with army troops and policemen are not often mentioned despite the fact that they, like the other security forces, are also targeted by the militants.
Or Sor or the territorial defence volunteers are officials under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior. The Or Sor militia force was created by virtue of the Territorial Defence Volunteer Force Act B.E. 2497 with an aim to help the civilian population and the country during peace time and war time. The concept of the voluntary militia force has its origin in the ancient practice of recruiting people’s volunteers to fight invading foreign enemies as was the case of the Bang Rajan warriors who courageously fought against the invading Burman forces.
Members of the Or Sor militia force are scattered throughout the country and stationed in every province, district and sub-district. Although they are volunteers, they are subjected to regulations, disciplines and training similar to soldiers and policemen.
During the Cold War, Or Sor volunteers were deployed to combat against communist insurgents. Many of them fought courageously and lost their lives in the decades long insurgency war. But with the end of the Cold War, the main roles of the Or Sor have been shifted to natural disasters relief effort, supporting police or other local officials in the maintenance of peace and order and guarding government properties. They also serve as auxiliary force to support troops whenever necessary.
In the far South which include Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla province, there are altogether 5,434 Or Sor volunteers. The numbers are broken down into the followings: 1,459 in Pattani; 1,313 in Yala; 1,907 in Narathiwat and 516 in Songkhla’s four districts plus another 239 for the rest of the province.
Despite the numbers, the Or Sor’s areas of responsibility are huge and dangerous. Thus, it came as little surprise that the Or Sor volunteers suffer casualties almost on daily basis in their peace-keeping role. In December last year, five of them were killed and three others seriously injured in two bombing attacks; the first on December 19 in Bacho district of Narathiwat and the second on December 30 in Panareh district of Pattani.
The followings are the views presented by selected Or Sor volunteers in the far South to Isranews agency:
Mr Viroj Srikwan, commander of the Or Sor company based in Pattani, said that the volunteers’ toughest job was to patrol roads to ensure safety for traveling, provide protection to travelling teachers and to guard important government offices. This job has exposed the volunteers to potential attacks by the militants.
However, he noted that a main problem confronted by the volunteers was the lack of proper refreshing training to update the volunteers of the militants’ tactics and to improve their skills in the handling of weapons and in combat.
“What the Or Sor need most is training, not salary increase or better welfare which are of secondary importance,” said Mr Viroj, adding “we are live out with the pay from the government because we are practicing sufficiency economy but we want better training in order to be able to defend ourselves and to protect the villagers”.
An Or Sor in Panareh district for more than 20 years, Mr Waeyusoh Musuyee, however, has a different problem. He said the 8,000 baht monthly salary plus 2,500 baht per month for risk allowance and another 1,000 baht cost of living allowance were scarcely enough to cover expenses for his family of five people, including his three children. Moreover, he complained that his family members were excluded from health care scheme.
Waeyusoh also complained about the practice of having to return their arms to their units upon on the completion of their daily mission which he described as impractical and inflexible with the situation in the deep South.
He admitted that the job of being an Or Sor was dangerous and stressful. “I feel I am lucky at the end of a day when the teachers under our protection are safe and there is not a violent incident,” said the volunteer.
Like Viroj, the veteran volunteer said the volunteers need more refreshing training courses plus a course in psychological warfare so the volunteers will be able to match the militants’ progapanda campaign to win the hearts and minds of the people.