More than 50 injured in Pattani bomb blasts

PATTANI — More than 50 people, including children, were wounded on Tuesday (May 9) when two bombs exploded outside a supermarket in Thailand’s insurgency-plagued south, said police, the largest attack for months on a civilian target in the troubled zone.

The Muslim-majority border region has been wracked by with violence for more than a decade as ethnic Malay insurgents battle the Buddhist-majority state for more autonomy.

The latest attack hit the town of Pattani at about 2pm, with two bombs going off outside the Big C, a busy supermarket near the town centre.

The first device was packed inside a motorcycle in a car park, said police officers, spreading panic among shoppers. 

“The second blast was a vehicle  bomb,” said Pattani police commander Major General Thanongsak Wangsupa.

Another officer, Captain Preecha Prachumchai, said the second blast was “huge”, adding that more than 50 people had been wounded.

Most of the wounded were discharged after receiving treatment but 21 with more serious injuries were hospitalised, Mr Arun Prasertsuk, deputy director of Pattani Hospital told a local television channel.

Two people were in a serious condition, the provincial governor said. 

The Bangkok Post reported that the pick up truck used bore number plates from Yala, a neighbouring province in Thailand’s deep south. 

Video posted by a witness on Twitter showed the second blast erupt into a large fireball, sending bystanders running for cover. 

Police were on the scene and appeared to be encouraging people to move back when the second blast went off. 

Pictures posted by rescue workers showed a thick plume of black smoke over the supermarket car park and some damage to the store entrance. 

“I heard a very loud explosion,” said a resident who lives close to the supermarket, requesting anonymity. 

“Minutes after that, I heard the sirens of rescue cars and ambulances. I feel bad about it ... it happened at a place where people go to buy things.”

Near-daily shootings and bomb attacks have claimed more than 6,800 lives since 2004. Talks between the Thai junta and an umbrella group claiming to represent the rebel footsoldiers have staggered along for years without resolution. 

Thai negotiators do not believe their rebel interlocutors can stop the violence. The rebels want peace talks to include international observers, discussions on devolving political power and protecting their Malay-Muslim culture.

But shortly before Tuesday's attack, junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha reiterated his opposition to international help in solving the festering conflict. “We must keep this issue away from the reach of the international arena,” he told reporters. AGENCIES