Police on Friday said they detained some suspects but ruled out worldwide terrorism and said that any links to the southern insurgency were unclear.
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The blasts erupted on the eve of Queen Sirikit’s 84th birthday, which is also celebrated as Mother’s Day in Thailand.
Thai police have confirmed that two more bombs have gone off in another city, killing one person, in the latest in a string of blasts to hit the country, including two in the seaside resort town of Hua Hin that killed one and wounded almost 20 more people – half of them foreigners.
There were four explosions in Hua Hin that killed two people; two in Surat Thani in which one person was killed; two in Patong, which is on Phuket; one in Trang that killed one person; and at least two in Phang Nga, the beach province.
The most devastating explosions occurred overnight in Hua Hin on a busy street filled with bars and restaurants.
While no one has yet claimed responsibilities for the attacks, local authorities suspect that members of a network that trafficked Uyghurs were behind them, reported the Daily Mail.
Analysts said Muslim insurgent groups in the south could be behind the attack, but warned that coordinated bombings targeting tourists would mark an unprecedented escalation in a simmering conflict largely contained in the border region.
A spokeswoman for the Centara Grand Beach Resort Villas, who did not wish to give her name, said the resort had tightened security, amid a climate of unease along the southern tourist provinces.
Thai police said that 10 foreigners were injured.
Thailand’s military seized power in a coup two years ago, enacting sweeping powers to control dissent.
The date is also just days before the first anniversary of a bomb blast at the Erawan shrine in Bangkok that took the lives of 20 people. Most happened before people were on the streets.
Foreign governments issued warnings urging travellers to use caution and avoid affected areas.
Thai police have detained two men for questioning over blasts that hit the upscale seaside resort of Hua Hin in southern Thailand.
But national police chief Chakthip Chaijinda told reporters that it was “not a terrorist attack but local sabotage”.
Suthep Thaugsuban, a pro-military leader of protesters who blockaded Bangkok for months in 2014, said he believes “the perpetrators want to create panic and want people to think the government is incompetent”. On the morning of August 12, one person was killed and two were wounded in two explosions in Surat Thani province’s Muang district.
Earlier this week, voters in Thailand approved a constitution penned by the military junta in charge that would see democratic elections return in 2017.
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Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officers who analysed each scene have concluded that all the explosions were connected as the devices used in every attack were similar and they also used mobile phones to trigger the blasts.
