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Suspected Insurgents Ignite a Firestorm in Southern Thailand
Suspected insurgents set fire to many locations in the three border provinces in southern Thailand overnight, Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, police said Friday.
In Pattani, four convenience stores in the Muang, Yaring, Yarang, and Khok Pho districts were set on fire. Car tires were set on fire in three locations: two in Khok Pho and another in Panare.
Pol Col Jeffrey Saimankun, chief of Pattani’s Muang district police, led investigators to examine a 7-Eleven convenience shop in Tambon Puyud after receiving reports of a fire around 1 a.m.
Firefighters and fire trucks were dispatched to the location, and it took nearly an hour to bring the fire under control.
Employees informed police that three armed males arrived at the store, fired bullets into the air, and threatened to murder them if they did not leave. This led everyone to escape. The gunmen then poured petrol over the counter and set it ablaze before departing on a motorcycle.
Police discovered three cartridges and one gunshot at the scene.
Shortly after, an unknown number of assailants set fire to several more Pattani sites, including a convenience shop in Yaring’s tambon Bang Poo and another in Khok Pho’s tambon Makrud. Car tires were torched on the Na Pradu-Sai Khao route as well as another road between Sai Buri and Panare.
To prevent perpetrators from carrying out further assaults, combined teams of police, army, and local officials established road blocks in numerous places to search suspected cars.
According to a local source, rebels caused mayhem in 12 districts across the three southern border provinces.
There were seven arson attacks in Yala. A furniture shop in Bannang Sata district caught fire early Friday morning. A power pole in Raman district and a telephone signal pole in Yaha district were also set ablaze. Car tyres were lit on fire, and metal spikes were thrown across many highways.
In Narathiwat’s Bacho district, car tires were torched.
Col Ekwarit Chobchuphon, spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) Region 4 Forward Command, claimed on Friday that attackers wrecked devastation on over 30 locations in Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala.
According to Col Ekwarit, one guy died at a new petrol station in Pattani.
According to an Isoc source, one of the people killed was a Myanmar woman who worked at a convenience store in the gas station compound in Pattani’s Mayo District. The source reported that 39 attacks occurred between 1 a.m. and Friday morning.
“According to the 11 cycles of the Islamic calendar during Ramadan, security officials believe the incident was planned to cause disturbance to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Tak Bai catastrophe. The date does not match our calendar because the 20th anniversary is on October 25,” stated the official.
He claimed that the militants intended to harm the local economy, weaken public trust in security forces, and cause disturbance in order to interrupt the holy month of Ramadan, which this year runs from March 11 to April 9.
The separatist movement among the Muslim Malay minority is the root cause of the insurgency in southern Thailand. Its epicentre is in the border region with Malaysia, specifically in the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala.
Insurgents and Thai security forces have been at odds since 2004, resulting in the deaths of more than 7,000 individuals. Bombings and drive-by shootings are examples of the guerilla tactics used by the militants in their pursuit of an independent state.
In addition to dealing with surface-level concerns like economic exclusion and cultural difficulties, the Thai government has found it difficult to rein in the violence. Because extremist groups refuse to budge, peace talks have ground to a standstill.
The instability is still going strong and is a huge threat to Thailand’s security.
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