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Roadside bomb injures 10 Thai rangers
A bomb buried in the road exploded and wounded 10 paramilitary rangers in Yala province. The blast occurred at 1:30pm yesterday. The device was in a gas cylinder and was detonated on a local road when the rangers had left their base to go on patrol. The attack occurred about 1 km from the base and the explosion ripped their pickup in half. Four of the rangers were seriously injured.Meanwhile, Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has warned of an escalation in the southern insurgency if the government does not follow through with its promise to compensate victims. Mr Abhisit said yesterday that while a committee has agreed to pay up to 7.5 million baht in compensation, the cabinet has made no resolution on the issue yet. He added that inconsistency would create confusion. Mr Abhisit questioned the scope of the compensation, claiming many people would wrongly think they were also eligible for compensation. He said a compensation set-up that discriminates between victims could make things worse. Mr Abhisit also urged the government to ensure it could afford the overall compensation. He said compensation for about 5,000 cases would cost the government 30-40 billion baht. More importantly, he pointed out the comptroller-general admitted there was no law to support the payments. Mr Abhisit said, "I would like the government to think seriously. Any decision-making must be done carefully and based on the principle that it is explicable to the public. If a measure is approved only to relax the atmosphere, it will turn out to be a problem." Meanwhile, a report has found violence in the far South has hindered agricultural and industrial growth in the region and the economy now depends on government spending. The government has spent 63 billion baht on development projects in the area, but the benefits are focused on people close to community leaders, according to the report. Posted by: ryuge 2012-02-14 |
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