One of the most controversial legacies from the 2006 coup and the military appointed Surayud Government was the Internal Security Act (ISA), giving legal status and more money for the military to play a key role in inter-nal-security related matters.

The Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) is currently requesting manpower and a budget, and it recently invit-ed representatives from the media to meet its members to drum up support for the organisa-tion.

I was dispatched by The Nation and the conversations with the generals were wide-ranging. One described how Isoc had been stripped, at the last minute, of the power to legally tap phones after fierce opposition from some human rights activists and media.

"If it were me [making the decision] I would allow phone tap-ping power. You must infringe on an individual's liberty to ensure the nation survives," said Lt General Peeraphong Manakit, who is also an Army radio host.

Discussion turned to the Rohingya illegal boat people, recently subjected to alleged mis-treatment by the Thai military. Some 500 are feared dead after security forces reportedly pushed them back to sea with little food and water.

One female Isoc officer told this writer: "Thais are not decisive... We must first assume that they are terrorists, if not [people] who will exploit Thailand. We were kind and gave them food and water and most likely didn't kill them."

She then went on to say that Thais should remember: "We have the richest natural resources in the world and that foreign states do not want us to develop."

Asked about a recently leaked video of what appeared to be army officers torturing a Thai-Malay Muslim separatist suspect, a senior Isoc officer replied: "It may be an old incident... I don't really know."

Such paranoia and negative thinking prevails as more taxpay-ers' money will likely go into fund-ing the secretive organisation. Although technically led by the prime minister, it's more like the number two, or the Army Chief who will be in charge of Isoc.

The media invited on that day were largely sympathetic if not supportive of Isoc. Many writers provided its members with tips, such as telling Isoc to react and counter CNN's "allegation" about abuses of the Rohingya boat people.

Well aware of such bad press, Lt General Manote Premwongsiri, a senior figure at Isoc who hosted the event, asked the media: "How can we ensure that news will be spread in a way that depicts Thailand in another light, say, Thais [are people who] always love one another?"

Manote urged the media "to help explain" to the public what security is all about.

The general must have forgot-ten there are currently different notions of security which are fiercely debated. One is the newer notion of human security versus older national security. While those in the latter camp sees the military as the main guardian of national security, the former group, comprised of human rights defenders, and some in acade-mia, stress the promotion and protection of individual rights and security from violence, hunger and need.

Clashes between the two world-views broke out most recently when the Working Group on Justice for Peace, a local NGO working on rights issues in the three southern-most provinces, issued a statement on Monday criticising Isoc's southern regional office for "distorting facts" and for alleging that some separatists disguised themselves as human rights defenders in the deep South.

The group urged Isoc to recog-nise that defending human rights work entails criticism of a govern-ment's policy and actions, and those of all other influential groups.

Perhaps it would be good for the Thai media to bear in mind that it ought not be a cheer leader for Isoc and that it has the duty to scrutinise Isoc, make it more transparent, and if need be, oppose and criticise it.