Small bombings have been common during periods of political tension in Thailand, but the recent attacks were unusual as they were aimed at tourists, a mainstay of the economy and not often caught up in the violence.
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Two blasts also occurred in Surat Thani yesterday where one person died, and a blast at a market in Trang two days ago also claimed a life.
Phone photo taken on August 11, 2016 shows the scene of the explosions in Hua Hin, Thailand.
The explosions began on Thursday night in the resort of Hua Hin.
(AP Photo/Penny Yi Wang).
An hour before midnight, Andrea Tazzioli was fetching his own birthday cake, looking forward to celebrating with friends in this balmy beach resort town, a world away from his stressful military work in Afghanistan.
Many shops in the city center closed afterward and normally bustling streets were empty, for good reason: Hua Hin was hit by another two bombs that exploded in quick succession Friday morning near a clock tower, killing one person and wounding four more.
A nationwide investigation is under way and police say they have arrested two men. He did not elaborate, but said that police were gathering evidence and that worldwide militant groups were not believed to be behind the attacks.
Four bombs exploded in the resort town of Hua Hin, while several blasts hit the island of Phuket, a top tourist destination, all within 24 hours. The four who were killed were Thais.
Jehan Ahmed, 37, a Muslim tourist from Bahrain, said she has visited Thailand and other provinces for decades and the blasts would not stop her from coming back in the future.
Pongsapat said the perpetrators are believed to belong to the same networks and were still inside the country.
After the latest bombings, two Swiss travel companies, Hotelplan Suisse and Kuoni Suisse, said clients with trips to Thailand before August 15 could change or cancel their plans for free, according to Swiss public broadcaster RTS. But they failed to explicitly link him to the other attacks.
The embassies of the United States, Britain, Australia and Japan all issued fresh warnings to their nationals to exercise caution when visiting tourist areas. I don’t know what kind of impact that will have on Thai society and tourism’.
Analysts said it would also be a huge embarrassment to Thailand’s coup-installed military government, which has made boosting national security a flagship policy of its regime.
Homemade bombs have previously been used by attackers in Thailand at times of political unrest, but since the military took power in a coup in May 2014 such attacks have been extremely rare.
No group has said it carried out the attacks but suspicion is likely to fall on Islamist separatists.
Speaking at a Saturday event to promote Thai products and handicrafts, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha assured reporters that he was dealing with the situation.
He said most of the southern provinces, which were affected with the violent incidents, had backed the draft constitution during Sunday’s referendum.
“Anyway, I have seen worse”, she said, referring to the July attack carried out by a Tunisian-born man who rammed a truck into a holiday crowd in Nice and a mass hostage taking at a Paris concert hall in November past year in which more than 100 people were killed.
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In 2012 Southern Thailand was rocked by a series of bombings that took place in Yala, Yala Province and Hat Yai, Songkhla Province.
