Two blasts were heard in the Thai seaside resort of Hua Hin on Friday, a Reuters witness said, just hours after two bombs killed one person and wounded 21 in the popular tourist destination south of Bangkok.
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A Thai police spokesman said a total of 10 foreign tourists were wounded, including two Italians and one Austrian.
A WOMAN is thought to have died and 12 are injured after two bombs rocked a Thai holiday resort popular with Brits.
However, such attacks have been rare since the military seized power in a May 2014 coup.
Hua Hin is a popular coastal resort, about 145 kilometres southwest of the Thai capital, Bangkok.
The attacks came on a busy weekend for tourism as domestic and global visitors flocked to seaside resorts on a long weekend for a public holiday.
And while numerous Friday blasts took place near seaside resorts – they occurred in the morning before crowds would have hit the beach for a day in the sun.
General Prawit Wongsuwan, a deputy prime minister in Thailand’s military-run government, said the attacks were “absolutely conducted by the same network”.
The kingdom was on edge after 11 small bombs exploded across 5 southern provinces on Thursday night, August 11, and Friday morning, August 12, killing 4 locals and wounding more than 30 people – including foreign tourists.
One bomb exploded on Loma Beach in Phuket city’s Patong district, injuring one person.
But Sunai Pasuk, the Thailand representative for Human Rights Watch, while condemning the attacks, said no conclusions should be drawn over who was responsible until the investigation is complete.
By Friday afternoon, normality appeared to be returning, at least in Phuket, as bars and restaurants near the blast sites reopened and police presence had dissipated, according to Hong Kong-based freelance journalist Andrew Scott. Embassies in Bangkok said four Dutch and three Germans were also injured.
“Don’t go starting a witch hunt yet as we must make our home as peaceful as possible; everyone is panicked and flustered, but I have to remain calm”, he said.
Some analysts have tentatively pointed toward insurgents fighting for greater autonomy in the country’s three Muslim-majority states bordering Malaysia and annexed by Thailand a century ago.
The latest explosions came less than a week after voters approved a new, junta-backed constitution.
“I insist that these incidents were local sabotage in limited areas”, he said at a press conference to give updates on the incidents, here, yesterday.
“No violent incident happened last night and today”, said Pongsapat.
Thailand has been plagued by political violence, including several bombings, since billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted as prime minister in a 2006 military coup after demonstrations accused him of corruption, abuse of power and insulting King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Police are also investigating a spate of fires in several southern provinces that took place in the same period as the bombings. But critics claim that 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.
Former PTP prime ministers Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra are closely aligned with the “United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship” also known as the “Red Shirts”.
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Wendy Herbert, an Australian expatriate who lives in Hua Hin, told the BBC the place was deserted on Friday, adding: “I think it’s unfortunate because it’s Mother’s Day and the Queen’s birthday in Thailand, so it’s a big kind of event day, where everybody would be out and doing things”.
