PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN - Prasert Imprarm did not realise that a phone call from his son, SM 1 Piyapong, on Sunday morning would be the last time he would hear his voice.
The body of SM 1 Piyapong Imprarm is taken by his family from an air base in Prachuab Khiri Khan to a temple for a religious ceremony. (Photo by Chiwat Satyaem)
The soldier told his father he would be coming home on Wednesday to take care of him and his mom who is sick with diabetes.
In the evening of the same day, he was killed by a remote detonated bomb planted by insurgents in Rueso district of Narathiwat. He was the driver of the vehicle damaged by the bomb which also injured four others.
The victim had been on duty in the southern region for nine years and told his father that they did not need to mourn if he died in action as the violent insurgency was escalating.
"I am sad but also proud of my son for having served his country," Mr Prasert said.
On Monday, Piyapong returned to his home province in a coffin and his body was taken to Wat Nong Pungpuay in Muang district for a religious ceremony.
Police on Monday identified Mahama Mae-ror and Abdulloh Yu-nu as two of the suspects involved with the attack. Both individuals have an outstanding arrest warrant for endangering national security in the deep South, they added.
Police believed the men are still in Rueso and undercover officers have been deployed to track them down, they added.
SM 1 Piyapong was among soldiers and government officials being targeted by militants in the southernmost region as violence escalated since the National Security Council (NSC) held talks with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional to try to end the insurgency.
NSC chief Lt Gen Paradorn Pattanatabut has said that rising violence was expected as radical militants wanted to show their strength and their position on the peace dialogue.
The latest victims included Jeni Jema, the deputy village chief of Ban Talo Laejae in Bacho district, also in Narathiwat.
He was shot five times by insurgents while he was riding a motorcycle home from a local football match on Monday evening.
Pol Col Pakdi Preechachon, chief of the district police station, said an investigation found that two militants had followed him on a motorbike and pulled a pistol on him about two kilometres before he reached home.
On Sunday seven tambon administration organisation offices were burned, some of them severely damaged, and the Yarang Municipality office was set on fire.