Nong Chik police station: To move or not to move?
Occasionally, reports emerged about people protesting against policemen and demanding their transfer elsewhere.
Meanwhile, reports about people rallying in support of policemen and demanding that they stay with them are quite exceptional. And Nong Chik district police is one of those exceptional case.
Of late, a large group of Nong Chik district residents staged a rally to protest against the relocation of the district’s police station, an old building which is located on Nong Chik-Pattani road to a new building about ten kilometres away in Ban Thung Naren, Tambon Bo Thong, located on Pattani-Hat Yai highway.
The new police station building was originally scheduled to be officially opened in October. But until today, it is yet to be opened.
Pol Col Manit Yimsai, superintendent of Nong Chik police, has come up with an ingenious way to solve the problem in such a way that will please the residents and, at the same time, make good use of the new station.
He said that only officers responsible for general affairs would be moved to the new home whereas the officers in charge of security affairs and providing services to the people will stay put.
One protesting resident said he didn’t understand why the station had to be relocated to a new site which is not convenient to make a visit as there is no public transport going there. If a new police station is to be built, he suggested that it should be built on the same old site and could be 4-5 storeys high.
He said that the people in Nong Chik felt attached to the police station after 30 years of its existence there.
Another resident who didn’t want to be identified pointed out that police station belong to the people and, hence, the local people should have been consulted.
In light of the upsurge in terrorist attacks by the militants, he said residents felt greater need for policemen to be close to them to ensure their safety.
He disclosed one of the policemen told him he was worried to be moved to the new site because it is far away from the township and can be more vulnerable to militant attacks especially during their travel from home to the station. Besides, travelling expenses will increase too because of the longer distance.
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Caption : The people protested at Nong Chick police station in Pattani.