In this December 31, 2015, photo, a Buddhist monk looks out on the beach in the resort town of Hua Hin, 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of Bangkok, Thailand.
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Police have detained two men for questioning over the bombs discovered on Wednesday.
The bombs were hidden inside two potted plants and were detonated by remote control about half an hour apart, said Gen. Sithichai Srisopacharoenrath, the superintendent of police in Hua Hin. Police are investigating a series o. But tourism has remained one of the few bright spots, with visitors rising to 30 million in 2015 and more than 14 million having visited by May 2016, according to official figures.
One bomb exploded on Loma Beach in Phuket city’s Patong district, injuring one person.
(AP Photo/Jerry Harmer). Investigators work at the scene of an explosion in the resort town of Hua Hin, 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Aug. 12, 2016.
In Hua Hin, 51-year-old Italian Andrea Tazzioli said he “saw light, white light” after the second of Thursday night’s explosions, and that he immediately felt pain in his shoulder “like big fire”.
(AP Photo/Penny Yi Wang). “To some extent, it should affect the Thai tourist industry and Thai Airways because confidence may be hit”, he said.
On Friday (AEST) two people were killed in four blasts in the upscale tourist town of Hua Hin, home to the summer palace of Thailand’s royal family.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but police have ruled out worldwide terrorism and said the campaign was an act of “local sabotage”.
The explosions all occurred south of Bangkok and several of the blasts – including one on Patong beach in the tourist town of Phuket, three in the seaside resort city of Hua Hin – appeared created to strike the tourism industry.
The German units of tour operators TUI and Thomas Cook said customers booked on trips to Thailand departing before August 15 could cancel or rebook to other destinations free of charge.
“There have been no arrests yet”, deputy national police spokesman Piyapan Pingmuang told AFP Saturday morning, adding that police have yet to identify any suspects or a motive. He did not elaborate, but said that police were gathering evidence and that worldwide militant groups were not believed to be behind the attacks.
He said the perpetrators are believed to belong to the same networks and still inside the country.
Police said firebombs also triggered blazes at markets and shops in six other places, including Trang and Surat Thani.
On Friday, Prayuth said the government was doing the best it “could to provide security to the country”.
No-one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which followed a referendum held last weekend on a new constitution.
The other main hypothesis is an extension of the Malay Muslim insurgency which has destabilized the three southernmost province of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat for decades, and intensified in 2004, from which over 6,500 people have been killed and more than 11,000 injured.
Ethnic Malay militants fighting for greater autonomy in Thailand’s far south have launched attacks there almost every day for a more than a decade.
In Hua Hin, tourist Shane Brett told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. from his hotel room that there was panic after the first explosion there Thursday. Numerous tourists interviewed Saturday were resuming their vacations while keeping an eye for any sign of trouble.
“We feel pretty safe. At first we had a lot of mixed feelings, because we didn’t know the area well enough”, said Lexus Chlorad, 21, from NY, after arriving in Hua Hin on Friday afternoon.
Carl Suensson, 68, from Sweden, said “today it’s pretty OK, but yesterday was scary”.
“The Region 8 Police informed that they will have good news in one or two days about the suspect in some areas, as the authorities are still gathering evidences and once they complete it, they will issue an arrest warrant later”.
Worst-hit was the upscale resort of Hua Hin which was rocked by two sets of twin bombs in the past 24 hours – one pair on Thursday night and the second on Friday morning. One Thai woman was killed and about 20 people were wounded, half of them foreigners, according to Pol. Lt Chaiyot Tisawong.
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Analysts say it was also no coincidence the attacks came on the eve and 84th birthday of Queen Sirikit. It was for years the favorite seaside retreat of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest reigning monarch.
