Cho Ai Rong police station chosen as the most outstanding station
Cho Ai Rong police station in Narathiwat’s Cho Ai Rong district was voted by the Crime Reporters Association of Thailand as the most outstanding police station for being the model for the development of police stations.
The last accolade is not the first for this police station among more than 30 stations in the three southernmost border provinces. It was accorded with the best prototype police station some time ago for its sign board which shows the station’s name in Thai, English and Malayu languages.
Having Thai and English names on sign boards at police stations is not unusual these days. But with Malayu name to reflect the identity of the region and the majority Malay Muslim people is something different.
The credit for this initiative at Cho Ai Rong police station was given to Pol Col Prayong Kotesakha, the former superintendent of Cho Ai Rong police, said the incumbent, Pol Col Suchart Sa-ee.
Pol Col Suchart said his predecessor introduced the Malayu-language name of the station in the sign board two years ago in order to create a better understanding with the Malay Muslims who came to the station to file complaints or to seek police help.
He disclosed that most of the people could not speak or write Thai and, therefore, they needed a helper who is normally a religious leader or a village headman. To overcome the language barrier and to make it more convenient for the people, he said Pol Col Prayong also trained some of his men to learn Malayu language so that they would be able to communicate with the people and, at the same time, to forge mutual trust.
Pol Col Suchart said that sign board and the employment of Malayu or Yawi-speaking policemen have been warmly received by the locals and interpreters are scarcely needed now.
These initiatives by Pol Col Prayong which are carried on by Pol Col Suchart are in line with the government’s strategy to use culture in addition to political and military means to deal with the unrest situation in the restive region. The strategy has led to the creation of "Santi Thani" project and Cho Ai Rong district was chosen for being the experiment of the project.
Ms Pityada Dejesus, a wellknown radio DJ, said that the success of Cho Ai Rong police station has inspired several police stations to follow suit and one of them is the Ra-ngae police station, also in Narathiwat.