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A CAR BOMB exploded in a nightlife district in Thailand’s deep south, killing one and wounding more than 30, in a nation already on edge after a bombing spree that targeted tourist towns.
The latest blast struck late last night outside a hotel in Pattani, one of three Muslim-majority southern provinces battered by a long-running and shadowy rebellion against the Buddhist-majority state.
“So far there is one killed and more than 30 injured,” Major General Thanongsak Wangsupa, Pattani provincial police commander, told AFP earlier today.
The hotel building was considerably damaged.
Pictures showed fires burning on the road outside the hotel’s shattered facade, with police picking through the rubble. Nearby a car was destroyed, and karaoke bars, massage parlours and restaurants were also damaged.
Pattani is not popular with tourists, but analysts said the militants were sending a message after coordinated bomb and arson attacks that struck multiple resort towns on 11-12 August, leaving four dead and 37 injured including Europeans.
Those attacks heightened concerns Thailand’s southern insurgency may have spread north after years of stalled peace talks – a theory the country’s junta has downplayed given the importance of tourism to the economy.
The entertainment district hit by the car bomb is one of only a handful in the restive south, offering bars, a disco and prostitution, said Don Pathan, a security analyst based in the region.
“It’s the type of place that society around here frowns upon,” he said.
The southern rebels focus most of their attacks on security officers and symbols of the state, but they do occasionally strike nightlife venues.
“The campaign against social evil is not very high on the agenda of the insurgents here. Their strategy right now is to make the area as ungovernable as possible,” Pathan said.
Speaking to reporters after the Pattani hotel blast, Thailand’s deputy junta leader Prawit Wongsuwan again dismissed any link between the tourist town attacks earlier this month and the southern insurgency.
He also said any negotiations with the rebels would be shelved until violence subsides.
All violence must first stop before we can set the terms of reference for talks. They need to show their sincerity.
Police said in a statement that the strike on the Southern View Hotel was preceded by a smaller bomb at a nearby bar, a so-called “double tap” tactic often adopted by insurgents. No-one was hurt in that explosion.
A staff member at the town’s hospital said 32 people were injured, five of them critically. All are Thai nationals, the worker added, asking not to be named.
Violent history
Zachary Abuza, an expert on Southeast Asian militant groups, said car bombs are a standard insurgent tactic but Tuesday night’s blast was the largest he had seen in recent months.
“They’re clearly trying to send a signal that with the post-Mothers’ Day bombing spree they are able to hit major urban areas,” he told AFP, referring to the attacks that he believes were the work of the insurgents.
Most embassies warn nationals against all travel to Pattani because of the long-running rebellion.
Thailand annexed the culturally distinct zone bordering Malaysia over a century ago.
Near-daily shootings and roadside bombs have left more than 6,500 dead since 2004, most of them civilians. But the violence has largely remained local and rarely makes international headlines.
The rebels never claim their attacks but factions are known to be frustrated with their lack of progress after more than a decade of fighting.
The region is awash with state troops who rights groups accuse of widespread abuses, including torturing detainees and extrajudicial killings.
After months of relative calm that saw violence dip to a record low last year, there has been a palpable increase in attacks over the past few months, particularly around a recent referendum on a new charter penned by the junta that seized power in 2014.
The charter, which critics say will make Thailand less democratic, was approved by a majority of voters but rejected in the three insurgency-wracked provinces.
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The Gardai refusals I would think have as much to do with the resources they are allocated (ie: available armed Gardai on a given day due to lack of overtime payments) as anything else. But that will never be admitted because it would make the Minister and Government look bad.
Why not do away with the need for armed Gardai. Instead of bringing the prisoners to the hospital, have a doctor and nurse visit each prison once a week. Or have them stationed there permanently, it would be cheaper that transporting them.
The Garda do a good job with limited resources , only for the brave women and men in the Garda the streets would be in anarchy.
We need more of them though
Suzi. That again comes down to finances. As we. Have heard fro the AGSI conference last week the Government are trying to bring in what amounts to “Yellow Pack” Gardai by giving more powers to the Garda Reserve. Similarly they are doing the same in the Prison Service with PASO Grade Officers who are not trained to deal with Prisoners directly.
Mick , I agree , I pity those prison officers and security guards , it’s their lives that are being put at risk .
Hate to agree with Niall Collins – he obviously has a political agenda of knocking present government- but it is quite obvious that this issue comes down to resources/man power. There aren’t enough Gardai so how could there be enough armed Gardai? The second issue here is that these decisions are taken by a Garda desk jockey – probably an Inspector/Superintendent – and a Prison Service desk jockey – neither with a single thought whatsoever for the safety of the Prison Officers. These agencies have an obligation to their employees under the Safety Health & Welfare at work act but surprise surprise – no one to take responsibility for making the decisions and no will to do anything about it. Authorities in both agencies will try to throw a lowly operative under the bus to deflect the blame from the decision makers because we all know that there is no accountability for anyone other than the bottom rungs. Sh*t rolls downhill.
The gardai are too busy collecting tax… I mean, protecting us from bad drivers.
This is a question about the availability of ARMED Gardaí, plain clothes Gardaí.
Traffic Corps etc who deal with Roads/ give out fines etc are not armed or in plain clothes.
And who makes the decision to have so few armed gardai when obviously more are needed? The politicians who are more interested in making the gardai a force for tax collection than a force for protection.
I know perfectly well traffic corps are not the ones who handle this type of requests.
That’s a big army with guns doing nothing but carrying cash around for banks.
They don’t even do that anymore.
Yeah, too busy with deploying overseas to the Middle East and Africa to be worrying about CIT
They do prisoner escorts when requested and subject to certain conditions
Why can’t the prison service have its own in house armed VIP prisoner unit, no messing around ringing/emailing/requesting army/gardai, we bloody love making stuff complicated in this country, send 50 good prison officers to templemore for 2 weeks or whatever and let them do refresher training with eru every 6/12 months as required, problem solved,
Perhaps it is time to arm the prison warders…..It is after all their lives at risk to protect the general public.This almost cap in hand approach to security is shameful. If they request security it would be based on the risk they assess and that should trump any objection /refusal by the Gardai.
This has been high lighed by FF , wht ? are responsible for the state of the public finances or not, I’m confused. …..?
You definitely sound confused alright
Gardai didn’t refuse to take the jobs. Their bosses refused. Big question need asking. When they don’t refuse gardai being used as security for iw but refuse to escort dangerous criminals. They also sent out how many to arrest a TD a 14 year old and a 16 year old. Do not blame gardai they only go where told to go.
Sounds like a “pass the book” job by the prison service to me…..
Maybe you need to manage the requests better. Maybe send 2 prisoners each time with armed guards and the number of refusals virtually eliminates its self
How about the prison service has a specially trained armed unit for transporting prisoners
Connor. That would work if (and it’s a big IF) both escorts were going to the same place at the same time. Unfortunately that is an extremely rare occurance.
Escorting prisoners is not a military task, the task is purely a tasķ of the dept of justce and is primarily a PO job, this is sheer laziness on the part of prison management and the PO association and it should be tackled under H&S. The army has its own tasks to perform and has only recently got rid of cash escorts. POs should have all the legislation and equip to perform this task safely even if it means a prisoner who is assessed as dangerous has his rights infringed( let the whingers whinge ). It would be fairly easy to enable legislation to enable POs to carry firearms for self protection (no power of arrest needed) when deemed necessarry however I doubt it will happen because of vested interests and restrictive work practices. Leave the military authorities out of it unless there is some kind of national emergency.
What does the army do in this country. Surely tasks such as prisoner transport would be ideal ??
A few guys and girls I know in the FCA would be only to happy to give them an armed escort.
In this day and age all Gardai should be armed and provisions for certain security workers to be armed as well. The insistence that only Gardai should be allowed carry out these functions and then not give them sufficient resources to actually do the job is a recipe for disaster.
Armed guards for handcuffed prisoners… three prison officers v one prisoner I would have thought it was an easy job. Armed guards would not have opened fire on an unarmed runner. Are they saying if they had two more prison officers instead he wouldn’t have got away.
HRH. The Armed Gardai are there in case the prisoner has armed accomplice’s waiting to assist in an escape.
And in the Brockwell case would he have used a knife in the presence of an Armed Garda?
What knife?
With knife guards wouldn’t shoot him. To P.C media would hang them out to dry, look at the fuss they made about shooting an armed man in Abbeylara. And by the way they were right to do that.
Prison transfer guards should be armed. It is a brainer.
I once had an unarmed escort, mad craic! She didn’t have an legs either.
Gar
That will be illegal in June… Why armed escorts lol.
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