Published on May 13, 2005

Ten policemen among wounded; officials appear to be the main target

Yala was in a state of turmoil yesterday after four bomb explosions left six people injured, one of them seriously. Five of the injured were police guards protecting a senior local judge.

In the neighbouring province of Songkhla, two bomb blasts raked nerves in the districts of Thepha and Saba Yoi, wounding 10 people, including five policemen.

As the explosions yesterday appeared to target local officials, authorities attributed them to the work of insurgents active in the restive Muslim-majority region in an attempt to undermine the morale of security officials.

Six phoney bombs were also planted at different locations in Yala’s Muang district. Local authorities believe this was an attempt by militants to cause further confusion.

Meanwhile, several local businesses received anonymous phone calls, saying bombs had been planted on their properties. Bomb-disposal specialists found no explosive devices at any of the specified locations, however. Police suspect that some of the explosions were triggered by remote control with mobile phones, a method frequently used by insurgents in the deep South. Measures to clamp down on the practice have led to tougher control on all prepaid SIM cards.

Yala Governor Boonyasit Suwannarat said yesterday that authorities had decided to cut off mobile-phone signals in several areas of the province’s Muang district for half an hour following the multiple bomb attacks. He added that he had called a meeting of relevant agencies to discuss increased security measures.

The orchestrated attacks in Yala began shortly after 8am when a bomb exploded near the entrance to the house of the provincial court’s chief justice, Amorn Silapawiwat, located near the Provincial Hall. Five policemen guarding the premises were slightly injured.

Police investigators said they believed the explosion had been triggered by a mobile phone at the exact moment when the guards took up duty in the morning outside the judge’s house.

About an hour later, another explosion went off, this time at the car park of Yala’s Muang District Office, located not far from the judge’s house. The blast severely damaged a pickup parked nearby. The vehicle’s driver, Phraephan Boonyaman, 53 - the district’s top public health official - was seriously injured in the explosion. She was admitted to hospital with severe injuries to her face, back and legs.

Phraephan’s spleen had to be removed and she remained in intensive care yesterday, Public Health Minister Suchai Charoenratanakul said.

The blast caused a commotion among officials working inside the district office building, with many running for cover. The parking area was later sealed off and bomb experts began searching cars for further bombs.

Meanwhile, suspicious-looking parcels and objects were found abandoned at six locations in Muang district yesterday, including a shopping mall and the local telephone office. Colonel Ekkapop Prasitwattanachai, superintendent of Muang Yala police station, said it had probably been an attempt by militants to cause further confusion among the locals.

Shortly after, a third bomb exploded outside the office of Pithan Panit Co Ltd, a local distributor of Honda motorcycles. A number of motorcycles on display were damaged but nobody was injured in the blast.

Before the explosion, an anonymous caller warned of a bomb planted on the company’s premises. The blast occurred shortly after the office workers had been safely evacuated.

Siripong Jantarasmi, president of the company, said that it was the second time the company offices had been targeted. Last year a bomb planted in a motorcycle exploded outside the company’s head office in Pattani and killed two bomb-disposal experts who were trying to defuse it.

A fourth explosion in Yala occurred last night outside a Honda showroom near Yala Central Hospital.

In neighbouring Songkhla, a bomb believed to have been triggered by a mobile phone exploded in the morning at the Thepha fried-chicken shop in Thepha district, near the local railway station.

Three policemen charged with providing security to the railway line were slightly injured in the blast. The officers were having breakfast at the shop.

In the afternoon, two policemen and five defence volunteers were injured at a teashop in Songkhla’s Saba Yoi district when an explosive device hidden inside a fire extinguisher went off. The suspicious-looking extinguisher had been left outside the shop and the officials were about to examine it when the explosion occurred.

Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya condemned the “attacks that targeted innocent people”. He said increased violence in the region would cause the government to beef up security measures.

General Sirichai Tunyasiri, director of the Southern Border Province Peace-building Command, described yesterday’s multiple bombings as a move by insurgents aimed at eroding the morale of local security officials, particularly those responsible for providing safety to teachers and students when the new school term begins on Monday.

The Nation

Yala/Songkhla

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