HUA HIN: A string of bomb attacks hit popular tourist towns across Thailand, leaving four dead and many wounded, with authorities Friday ruling out terrorism despite suspicions insurgents in the kingdom’s deep south are responsible.
“This is not a terrorist attack. It is just local sabotage that is restricted to limited areas and provinces,” national police deputy spokesman Piyapan Pingmuang said in Bangkok.
No one has claimed responsibility for the 11 bombings, and the seemingly coordinated attack across five provinces does not match common patterns of violence in the turbulent nation which is currently under military rule.
Four bombs exploded in the upscale resort of Hua Hin, about 200 km south of Bangkok on Thursday evening and Friday morning, killing two people and wounding at least 24.
Other blasts hit the tourist island of Phuket, a resort town in Phang Nga province, and Surat Thani, a city that is the gateway to islands such as Koh Samui in Thailand’s Gulf.
In the normally peaceful resort town of Hua Hin, blood-spattered tourists were treated by rescue workers as forensic teams picked through the rubble, with police scrambling to reassure visitors the situation was under control.
Analysts said insurgent groups could be responsible, but that the targeting of tourists far from their stronghold would be an unprecedented escalation in a simmering conflict largely contained to the southern border region.
“This is not a terrorist attack. It is just local sabotage that is restricted to limited areas and provinces,” national police deputy spokesman Piyapan Pingmuang said in Bangkok.
No one has claimed responsibility for the 11 bombings, and the seemingly coordinated attack across five provinces does not match common patterns of violence in the turbulent nation which is currently under military rule.
Four bombs exploded in the upscale resort of Hua Hin, about 200 km south of Bangkok on Thursday evening and Friday morning, killing two people and wounding at least 24.
Other blasts hit the tourist island of Phuket, a resort town in Phang Nga province, and Surat Thani, a city that is the gateway to islands such as Koh Samui in Thailand’s Gulf.
In the normally peaceful resort town of Hua Hin, blood-spattered tourists were treated by rescue workers as forensic teams picked through the rubble, with police scrambling to reassure visitors the situation was under control.
Analysts said insurgent groups could be responsible, but that the targeting of tourists far from their stronghold would be an unprecedented escalation in a simmering conflict largely contained to the southern border region.
