Pubs and bars in the popular seaside tourist town Hua Hin, south of Bangkok, were packed on Thursday night as tourists and locals celebrated ahead of the Queen Sirikit birthday celebrations.
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“This is not a terrorist attack”.
Thai police have said the bombings were acts of “local sabotage” and not the work of either global terrorists or the southern insurgents.
It’s not surprising that the authorities are playing down the terrorism angle, and the danger that more bombings could be on the way from whatever group is responsible for the coordinated attacks.
It said: “August is the tourist low season in Thailand, with the majority of visits taking place in the winter months when the weather is at its best”.
Another bomb exploded in Hua Hin on Friday morning near a clock tower, killing one person and injuring four more.
In that incident, one woman working at a food vending cart in front of the bar was killed and at least 11 people – mostly foreign visitors – were injured.
Friday’s explosions came just hours after one person was killed and almost 20 injured, including foreign tourists, in two explosions in Hua Hin town on Thursday night.
Police said four of the injured tourists were from Germany, two from Italy and one from Austria. Police said they had detained some suspects but ruled out worldwide terrorism.
“It was very shocking”. The two explosions were detonated by a mobile device, police said. “The bar owner called me inside and in that moment the explosion happened inside”.
Police officers on the ground in Hua Hin said they were now searching other parts of the town – including areas of the beach – to try and find other potential devices. Succession to the ailing 88-year-old King is causing concern in Thailand. It set off sometimes bloody battles for power between his supporters and opponents, who include the military. “A military government like this is supposed to be about law and order”.
The attacks came less than a week after the junta saw its draft of a new constitution approved in a referendum, giving the generals a fresh claim to popular legitimacy.
He added that “the culprits are most likely Malay-Muslim insurgent groups fighting the Thai state in the deep south”.
It was not clear who was behind the attacks, but police said the violence was not linked to global terrorism or a low-level insurgency in the country’s Islamic south.
Thai Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said the sector was resilient and would rebound from any impact fast, as it had in the past.
Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd, a junta spokesman, said Prayuth “expressed his sadness over the unexpected and tragic incident (in Hua Hin)” and said ordered police and soldiers in the area to step up security measures.
The country’s reputation as the “Land of Smiles” has suffered in recent years from political unrest, including small-scale bombings, transportation accidents and a number of high-profile crimes against foreigners.
But tourists continue to flock to its white, sandy beaches.
At least 14 explosions have rocked six provinces in Thailand over the past 24 hours taking the lives of four people and injuring 27 others, local police said on Friday.
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Police have not immediately identified the attackers or their motive.
