A new spate of explosions rocked Yala provincial town again early Monday, just one day after attacks resulted in the death of one person and injured at least 28 others.
Firefighters try to control the blaze at a Sri Samai warehouse on Siroros Road in Yala municipality. The fire followed a bomb explosion at the premises. A total of four targets were hit by bomb attacks in Muang Yala district Monday morning. Muhammad Ayub Pathan
Police said although there were no reports of casualties in yesterday's attack, the blasts caused serious damage to private property in the town in which security measures have been tightened for some time.
The first three explosions erupted simultaneously at 6.35am at two 7-Eleven convenience stores and a product warehouse called Sri Samai. The sites of the first blasts are located on Siroros and Siroros 1 roads in Muang Yala district.
The blasts damaged merchandise in the convenience stores and the warehouse, which caught fire, and extensively damaged goods stored for distribution in the far South.
Authorities said they are examining security camera footage to try to identify the perpetrators.
The three explosions were followed by a fourth at 7.05am in front of the provincial branch of the Office of the Non-Formal and Informal Education, also in Muang Yala district.
The bomb was apparently placed in a dustbin in front of the office. The impact shattered the office's glass panels, but no one was injured.
The explosions drew several senior officials to the scene. Pol Col Thawee Sodsong, secretary-general of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre, Pol Lt Gen Yongyuth Charoenwanich, commissioner of the Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre, and Yala governor Dejrat Simsiri oversaw procedures, including attempts to put out the fire at the Sri Samai warehouse.
A dozen fire engines were mobilised to help put out the fire which was finally brought under control about 10am.
Pol Lt Gen Yongyuth said yesterday that police had tried their best to secure Yala's centre, which has been free from insurgent attacks for the past two years until the explosions over the past two days.
He promised that police would review and improve security measures.
Pol Lt Gen Yongyuth said yesterday's bombings were the work of the same group of people who detonated the four bombs in the centre of Muang Yala district on Sunday evening.
He believed that the number of perpetrators was small and that they had deliberately targeted commercial areas for local Buddhists and Thai people of Chinese ethnicity.
He said police were examining security camera footage and should be able to seek warrants for the arrests of suspects soon.
Upatham Sirichai, executive of the Sri Samai warehouse, said the explosion at the 7-Eleven store on Siroros Road in the Jarupattana area went off first and the blast at the adjacent warehouse followed five minutes later.
He said the explosion set the warehouse on fire and damaged all the goods stored inside it. He estimated the cost of the damage at 100 million baht.
"Sri Samai warehouse was built in 2010 and more than 200 people are employed here. From the warehouse, goods were distributed to three southern border provinces and four districts in Songkhla,” Mr Upatham said.
Sunday's four bomb blasts in Yala town centre caused property damage.
The explosion yesterday damaged at least 25 homes. Yala mayor Pongsak Yingchoncharoen said backhoe loaders had to be used to bulldoze fire-damaged homes and clear smouldering debris to prevent the blazes from spreading.
A source who is also a bomb expert said the bomb planted in the Mazda BT-50 pickup truck parked in front of Racha furniture shop had been placed in a 15-kilogramme cooking gas cylinder and actually weighed at least 100 kilogrammes.
The cylinder had been fastened under the lorry so the vehicle could pass checkpoints without the bomb being noticed. It was detonated using a Samsung Hero mobile phone which was found at the scene.
A 30-litre container of oil was also used as an accelerant for fire in the wake of the explosion, according to the source.
The Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre is looking for eight other pickup trucks. Brands include Nissan, Isuzu, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Ford and Mazda.
The pickups were stolen and may be intended for use in future car bomb attacks.
A security source in the far South said yesterday that the series of bomb explosions in Yala were meant to send a message from the local insurgency movement to Lt Gen Walit Rojanapakdi, the newly appointed 4th Army commander supervising the South.
The source also pointed out that murders of innocent people in the far South were becoming more brutal.
He cited the murders of three children in Bacho district of Narathiwat province on Feb 3, 2014, followed by the beheading of a woman.
The source also pointed to the frequent murders of married couples in the far South.
An intelligence source said the repeated bombings were a direct challenge from insurgents to the new 4th Army commander who was personally selected by Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha.
However, the source also said the attacks could be the work of a local political faction who backed red-shirt demonstrators to take revenge on Lt Gen Walit, who was responsible for leading a crackdown on red-shirt demonstrators in 2009 and 2010.
A source close to Lt Gen Walit dismissed this theory, saying that insurgents were likely to escalate their attacks now that soldiers had been mobilised to oversee annual military conscription.
Local Muslims were being told to stay away from the armoured vehicles of soldiers for the time being, the source said.
Lt Gen Paradorn Pattanatabut, former secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC), said there was not enough clear evidence to blame one particular group for the recent spate of bombings.
He pointed out that there were several anniversary dates concerning southern insurgency movements which fell this month.
Lt Gen Paradorn added that as political problems in Bangkok had stalled his peace talks with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional insurgency movement, other insurgency groups might take the opportunity to launch attacks to draw attention to their cause.
Noppong Theeraworn, chairman of Yala's Chamber of Commerce, said the recent bomb attacks were the most serious in a decade.
The attacks have caused about 300 million baht in damage to retail, wholesale and furniture businesses and to private property, he said.
“There have been serious attacks in Yala every year. But these are the most severe ever inflicted on the provincial town's economy.
It will take a good deal of time and effort to repair the damage in these places, said Mr Noppong.