Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra offered her condolences today to the families of those killed and injured in the insurgent attack in Narathiwat’s Sungai Kolok district on March 8.
She has assigned the relevant authorities to handle compensation for the two defence volunteers who lost their lives and for those injured in the attack, which took place during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Meanwhile, Radio Thailand’s Sungai Kolok Facebook page reports that a village headman, in a sub-district in Narathiwat’s Sungai Padi district, discovered a vehicle suspected of having been used in the attack.
Security officials have cordoned off the area around the vehicle, pending a forensic investigation.
Meanwhile, Sungai Kolok Hospital, where several patients injured in the attack are being treated, is appealing for blood donors to help the wounded. The announcement, issued this morning, requests donations of blood of all types.
Lt Gen Paisal Nusang, commander of the Fourth Army Region, travelled to the district this afternoon, to oversee the investigation and visit the scene of the attack.
An initial investigation suggests that the assailants used a walkie-talkie signal to detonate 100kg of explosives concealed in gas tanks in a vehicle, which had been parked inside the district office compound. They then fled on a motorcycle.
The explosion caused a fire and severely damaged the office buildings and vehicles parked nearby. Houses of officials located behind the district office were also badly damaged by blast wave.
This latest attack in the region has drawn widespread condemnation, especially as it occurred during Ramadan.
Thai netizens on all platforms have expressed their condolences to the families of two defence volunteers killed in the attack.
Photo by Radio Thailand Sungai Kolok
In the Sai Buri district of nearby Pattani province, three para-military rangers were killed and one other was injured in an explosion near a road intersection late last night.
