Bomb attacks in deep South revive fears

Pattani Governor Thirathep Sriyaphan visits a young bomb victim, Zuhaba Wansulong, at a hospital yesterday. The twoyearold boy was wounded and his mother killed by a blast in front of a department store on Saturday. /Charoon Thongnual

They said the bombs,if better assembled, would have caused much more damage. One,15 kilograms in weight, was placed in front of the Park View Hotel in downtown Yala on Saturday.

Yala had been without a bombing attack for nearly two months and the resumption has caused great frustration for officials and the public in the city, he said.

The Yala bomb was hidden in a pickup truck parked in front of the hotel. Authorities do not know if the vehicle was stolen or the bomb was placed without the owner's knowledge.

Authorities believe the bomb was the work of Malay Muslim separatists looking to carve out a homeland in Thailand's three southernmost provinces.

The bomb attack came on the same day as insurgents shot dead a railway security guard and set off another bomb, killing a woman and injuring 11 people, including two children and two police officers, in the province of Pattani.

The bomb was placed in front of a convenience store in downtown Pattani on Saturday afternoon. The female victim was identified as Seunee Wansulong, 35, a resident of Pattani's Tambon Sabarang. The bomb was tied to a motorbike and was estimated to be about 5 kg in weight.