685 former communist insurgents in Mukdahan and Yasothon provinces have finally been given financial assistance of 225,000 baht each, as was promised to them when they abandoned their armed struggle some three decades ago.
On 16 June, Maj Gen Chasorn Wayasoka, Deputy Commander of the 2nd Army and Deputy Director of the Internal Security Operations Command Region 2, and Charnvit Wasayangkun, Provincial Governor of Mukdahan, presided over a ceremony to give the grants to the former insurgents, officially termed ‘co-developers of the Thai nation’ at Mukdahan Provincial Hall.
A total of 154,125,000 baht was handed to 608 former insurgents from Mukdahan and 77 from Yasothon.
The financial assistance was promised to them as part of the conditions of their surrender under Prime Minister’s Office’s Order 66/23 when Gen Prem Tinsulanonda was Prime Minister in the 1980s.
The figure of 225,000 baht was calculated by a committee headed by the Deputy Commander of the 2nd Army and the provincial governors to be equivalent to 5 rai of land at 35,000 baht per rai, and 5 cows at 10,000 baht each.
The former insurgents’ filing of their applications and the committee’s verification process took from November 2009 to July 2010.
213 applicants who have failed the verification process are now appealing to the committee for reconsideration.
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