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Southern militants or anti-junta forces behind Thai bombings?
 [Straits Times] Though no one has claimed responsibility for a series of bombings in the past two days in southern Thailand, police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said the bombs found were similar to those used by separatist insurgents in the southern border districts. But General Chakthip said it was too soon to draw a clear conclusion.The bombs that went off in Phuket, Surat Thani, Phang Nga, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Trang provinces were hidden in public places and detonated by mobile phones. At the same time, firebombs were used in arson attacks in Krabi and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces. Security analyst Anthony Davis of IHS Jane's was convinced of a southern separatist link. While the conflict has largely been confined to Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces, in the"deep south", there are signs that the militants are reaching beyond the region. Last year, seven people were wounded when a car bomb went off in the basement of a mall on Samui Island, a tourist haven. Fires were reportedly started at the same time as the blast. Two years before that, police on the resort island of Phuket found and defused an improvised explosive device in a pick-up truck. Thailand held a referendum on Sunday on a draft Constitution that institutionalizes military oversight over the future elected government. The draft charter was endorsed by over 60% of valid voters nationwide - but rejected in the deep south. The period leading up to the plebiscite was marked by an upsurge of insurgent bomb attacks. Chulalongkorn University political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak, however, thinks it unlikely that the southern militants were behind the attacks. He wrote, "If they had wanted to send a message to the junta, the insurgents would more likely have attacked Bangkok, or major cities such as Chiang Mai or Phuket city. Domestic political unrest, a major source of small-scale bomb blasts over the past decade, since the ousting of the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra (in 2006), is therefore the most likely explanation." Since the coup, Thailand has been thrown into political turmoil, with demonstrations by both sides of the political dispute "marred by periodic gunshots and small explosions". "The anti-junta forces who lost out in the referendum have an incentive to show bold defiance and lay down a challenge against the regime," Thitinan wrote. Posted by: ryuge 2016-08-14 |
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