Two blasts struck Friday at Patong beach on the popular tourist island of Phuket while three more were reported further south – two in the southern town of Surat Thani, killing one, and one more blast in Trang, which also left one person dead.
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It is understood one person was killed in the Trang blast, which occurred Thursday, and another was killed in the Surat Thani attack on Friday morning.
Tourist Shane Brett told Australian Broadcasting Corporation from his hotel room in Hua Hin that there was panic after the first explosion, which police said killed one Thai woman and wounded about 20 others, half of them foreigners. There were four explosions over 24 hours in Hua Hin, where two people were killed.
There were reports of bomb explosions in popular resort town of Phuket in Patong beach injuring a few but no fatalities were reported.
– HUA HIN, 10:15 and 11 p.m.: Two explosions close to each other hit a street popular with tourists in the beach city southwest of Bangkok.
On Friday, Thailand celebrates Her Majesty the Queen’s Birthday.
Prawit said the reason of these incidents remained unclear but he denied that these incidents were spread from the three southernmost provinces, where blasts often happened.
A string of bomb attacks targeting Thailand’s crucial tourism industry have killed four people, authorities said Friday, sending authorities scrambling to identify a motive and find the perpetrators. “Thai tourists will understand the police have the situation under control, but I think European tourists might not be coming”.
The series of blasts come days before the one year anniversary of the Erawan Shrine bombing, which killed 20 people, and five days after the country voted on a new constitution.
Brant Smith, from Canberra in Australia and on holiday in Hua Hin told the BBC people in the idyllic resort were “rattled” and there was tight security around his hotel. But tourism has remained one of the few bright spots, with more than 14 million people visiting through May 2016 compared to almost 30 million in all of 2015. Half an hour later, making his way back to his hotel, he saw “a good few people injured and the whole area just panicking. the whole area was just shut down with police cars, ambulances”.
Edwin Wiek, who has lived in Thailand for nearly 30 years, said one bomb was near the London Bar, not far from the Hua Hin Beach.
“This might be linked to last night’s bombs, as it isn’t far away”, said Police Lt. Col. “There was a loud noise and police were running everywhere, it was awful”, said Michael Edwards, an Australian tourist staying in a guest house close to where the second bomb detonated.
Thailand’s military junta, which seized power in 2014 after a decade of at times violent political unrest, has touted an increase in stability in the kingdom as a major accomplishment of its rule.
“The police spokesperson is saying there is now no evidence for any link between these bombs”, said Al Jazeera’s Pailin Wedel, reporting from Bangkok.
“But one thing is clear: no political aim justifies violence and attacks on innocent people”.
Hua Hin Police have asked the public to stay in their homes to ensure safety.
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Prayuth’s speech was to mark the success of a referendum Sunday that approved his government’s proposed constitution that is supposed to lead to an election next year.
