A string of bomb attacks hit popular tourist towns across Thailand, leaving four dead and many wounded, with authorities Friday ruling out terrorism despite suspicions insurgents in the kingdom’s deep south are responsible.
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The attacks occurred south of Bangkok and several of the blasts – including one on Patong beach in the tourist town of Phuket and four in the seaside resort city of Hua Hin – appeared created to strike the tourism industry, which provides vital income to the government.
The spate of bomb and arson attacks in several southern Thai provinces over the past 24 hours could be politically motivated, said National Police Chief Gen Chaktip Chaijinda on Friday.
Bombs have rocked Thailand in a wave of attacks over more than 12 hours that killed at least three people and injured dozens more, including foreign tourists.
Friday was a public holiday in Thailand to mark the queen’s birthday, which is celebrated as Mother’s Day.
After the multiple explosions that struck Thai tourist towns on Friday, police detained two suspects for being involved in the blasts. That came after a blast in Trang, also in the south, on Thursday, in which one person died and seven were wounded.
The second blast killed a Thai woman and injured about 20 people.
An August 2015 bombing at a Bangkok shrine that killed 20 people – mostly tourists – was followed by a sudden drop in visitors but did not stop the kingdom from welcoming a record high of almost 30 million travellers that year.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Friday called for patience and unity to help rid of bad people behind the bomb attacks that killed four and injured 15.
A street vendor’s cart, mangled and twisted from the explosions, lay amid the wreckage, covered in soil from the plant pots where the bombs had been hidden.
Hua Hin is an upscale resort town about 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of Bangkok, popular with both local and foreign tourists. Police ruled out any links to global terrorism, as did Thailand’s Foreign Ministry, which said in a statement yesterday: “The incident is not linked to terrorism but is an act of stirring up public disturbance”. One Thai man was lightly wounded in Patong, police said.
Darren Hilling said: “There’s obviously a heightened threat because there’s now police officers walking about and they’re the first I’ve seen so far since we’ve been here for two days”.
But the choice of Hua Hin as a major target is also symbolic, our correspondent says, being known as a royal city and the king’s favoured residence outside Bangkok.
Australians are being warned to exercise a high degree of caution, with the government saying further explosions in any part of Thailand are possible and local authorities telling people to stay inside.
He said it seemed foreigners were being targeted.
Earlier Thursday, another bomb blew up in the southern province of Trang, killing one person and injuring six, according to Thai press reports.
He asked people to give officials more time to determine who was behind the blasts.
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Thaksin’s ouster set off sometimes bloody battles for power between his supporters and opponents, who include the military. Critics say it is undemocratic and is fashioned to keep the military in control for at least five more years even if a free election is held. His sister Yingluck Shinawatra, who became prime minister in 2011, was ousted in the 2014 army takeover.
