Thai police find more unexploded bombs following coordinated blasts

Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) official checks at the scene of a bomb blast in Hua Hin.

The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, better known as the Red Shirts, issued their criticism as Thai authorities said they were keeping security high after attacks Thursday and Friday killed four people – all Thai – and wounded dozens in seven tourist destinations.

Thai Police Deputy Chief, Gen Pongsapat Poncharoen said this when confirming the arrest of a 32-year-old Chiang Mai native for alleged involvement in an arson attack in one of the southern provinces.

He was also interrogated in connection with another arson attack on a supermarket in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat.

A leader of the “Red Shirts” – the grassroots movement supportive of the ousted government and hostile to the junta – expressed concern Sunday his network would be fingered for the attacks.

One person has been arrested so far and many have been questioned about a series of explosions that occurred in southern Thailand, Pongsapat said.

Police said firebombs also triggered blazes at markets and shops in six places, including Phuket, Trang, Surat Thani, Phang Nga and a souvenir shop in the tourist town of Ao Nang, Krabi, a seaside province known for its stunning limestone cliffs.

In Phang Nga, two devices that authorities believe failed to go off were found on Saturday near a market that was torched in an attack early on Friday.

Some analysts said it was the work of Muslim rebels waging a long-running insurgency in Thailand’s southern tip, but Thai officials have dismissed that theory and also ruled out worldwide terrorist groups, insisting the bombings were acts of “local sabotage”.

Southern militants fighting for greater autonomy have carried out sophisticated, coordinated attacks before, but most have hit three provinces in the far south that were not among those targeted last week. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but police have ruled out terrorism and said the campaign was an act of “local sabotage”.

Police investigators are now piecing each incident into a bigger picture.

The junta has cracked down on student activists and opposition political groups who have publicly criticized military generals for intervening in the country’s political process.

The junta has repeatedly said that defending the monarchy is a top priority, and the army and its allies are eager to ensure a smooth succession for King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest-reigning monarch.

He was a member of the panel that drafted the 2007 Constitution following the military coup that overthrew ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

His sister Yingluck swept to power in an election in 2011, before being ousted in another coup led by Prayuth in 2014.