Before the attacks, Prayut and other junta officials had portrayed the August 7 referendum as a de facto vote for military-imposed stability after years of chaotic political party rule.
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The attackers’ tactics have led to speculation that the bombings were carried out by Muslim separatists in Thailand’s south who have staged a low-level insurgency since 2004.
But political parties, including the Pheu Thai Party, deposed in the May 2014 coup, and its supporters, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), have denied links to the bombings.
It was revealed later that the vehicle used for the Samui bomb attack – in the parking lot of the Central Festival department store – was stolen from Yala, one of the three southernmost provinces most troubled by the insurgency.
The new charter will curb the roles of the leading political parties, including the Pheu Thai and Democrat parties, as well as extend the military’s powers for at least for five years.
The bombs on Thursday and Friday went off in the upscale resort of Hua Hin and beach destinations in the south including Phuket, Phang Nga and Surat Thani, a city that is the gateway to popular islands in the Gulf of Thailand. Numerous crude devices recovered at the attack scenes, including ignition devices that used hard-to-trace Malaysian rather than more tightly controlled Thai mobile SIM cards, were similar to those used in past BRN-C attacks.
Tim Leelahaphan, Maybank Kim Eng Securities’ Thailand economist, said the tourism sector would probably not be severely affected by the bomb blasts that hit seven provinces last week.
But some security experts have noted that southern insurgent groups have a track record for carrying out coordinated bombing attacks.
Thai Airways International, Thailand’s flag carrier, said Monday that the string of bombings last week will have only a “marginal impact” on its business.
Previously, the TAT state governor Yuthasak Supasorn said that the attacks in Southern Thailand could potentially make the country lose over THB10 billion is revenue and 200,000 tourist visits in the upcoming months.
“It is quite clear that these are BRN made bombs. But the thing is, what we can not crack is, whether this [was] for the institutional objectives of BRN (to expand the insurgency) or BRN is collaborating with other elements in Thai domestic politics”, the analyst said.
He said the timing of the bombings an hour after religious ceremonies led to fewer injuries.
With southern insurgents ruled out by the junta, official suspicion has fallen on militants within the so-called “Red Shirt” movement loyal to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Even after the blast at Erawan Shrine in central Bangkok in August a year ago that killed 20 people and injured almost 80, majority foreign visitors, the government still would not use the word “terrorism” – for fear it would hurt tourism arrivals.
“The intelligence agencies should work harder than this because they should receive some information that some place will be the focus of violence, so they can give some warning to the people”, Angkhana said.
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She called on Thai authorities to carry out transparent investigations and respect the legal and human rights of those detained by authorities.
