A bomb exploded in front of a crowded teashop in restive southern Thailand, killing one woman and wounding 28, police and a hospital official said.
The bomb was hidden in a bag and placed inside a telephone booth on Friday in front of a busy teashop in Yala city, capital of the province of the same name, police Lieutenant Colonel Jirasit Lomae said.
The victims were taken to Yala Hospital, where the names of the wounded were being gathered, hospital employee Kallaya Thongthachu said by telephone.
The bombing appeared to be the latest attack by Islamic insurgents, whose activities have led to more than 2,200 deaths since January 2004.
The dead woman was identified as a 24-year-old Buddhist, Jirasit said.
The religions of the other victims were not immediately known.
The bomb exploded at about 8pm, a time when many southerners traditionally gather to socialize at tea shops.
"The assailants seized an opportunity to stage an attack when police and soldiers were taking a rest," Jirasit said.
Troops had been providing security at trade fair in the province, he said.
Meanwhile, rail service had resumed in the three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat on Friday -- four days after suspected insurgents sabotaged tracks, causing a train to derail in Pattani Province and injuring nine passengers, the State Railway of Thailand said.
About half the usual number of passengers used trains in the three provinces on Friday, despite an increased police and army presence at stations and junctions along the tracks, said Thanongsak Phongprasert, the southern office director for the railway.
Separately, arsonists burned down a government school in Yala's Krong Pinang district on Thursday night, said police Lieutanent Narasak Chiangsuk, blaming Muslim insurgents.
Police said the militants believe the government is trying to indoctrinate students with un-Islamic values at public schools. Suspected insurgents regularly attack teachers in southern Thailand.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS