Two men from Thailand’s restive “deep south” have been arrested after being linked to several small bomb attacks that rattled Bangkok yesterday as it hosted an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting, leaving four people wounded, but not disrupting the diplomatic event.
Thailand, which has a grim history of political violence and is fighting a long-running rebellion in the Muslim-majority south, remains deeply divided after a controversial March election returned a junta to power as a civilian government.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led the former junta, told reporters that “there were nine successful or attempted explosions... We haven’t ruled out any motives.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Two men from the far south were arrested after wires and ball bearings were found in an inactive device outside Royal Thai Police headquarters late on Thursday, in what police said was a linked incident.
Royal Thai Police Commissioner General Chakthip Chaijinda confirmed that the men came from the Muslim-majority area bordering Malaysia that is in the grip of a 15-year insurgency.
However, he said that it was “too early” to clearly tie them with the rebellion.
Any connection to the insurgency would cause deep alarm in Bangkok, which has failed to win peace in a conflict that has left more than 7,000 dead.
Occasionally, the shadowy rebel cells take their violence outside their region to mark key anniversaries or fight against specific Thai actions.
Outrage is boiling in the south over the treatment of a 34-year-old rebel suspect who was left in a coma hours after being taken into a notorious military interrogation center in Pattani Province.
The blasts in Bangkok appeared to be symbolic attacks aimed at embarrassing the government during a major summit, but not designed to cause mass casualties.
Small devices — some believed to be so-called “ping-pong bombs” about the size of a table tennis ball — exploded at several locations across the city, none close to the summit venue.
Officials said that four people were wounded.
“Reports are they were ‘ping-pong bombs’ hidden in bushes by the road,” said Renu Suesattaya, director of Suanluang District, where the first blasts were reported.
Two further explosions shattered glass near a well-known skyscraper, police said.
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