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Blasts rock Thailand

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: A series of explosions rocked the restive provinces of southern Thailand on Thursday, with at least two persons reported killed and 21 injured. Thailand's caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who spoke to journalists in Chiang Mai province, was quoted as saying the security forces did not pay adequate attention to the intelligence alert about the possibility of these bombings. He indicated he would visit the affected region sometime after the departure of all the monarchs and representatives of royal households who had come to Thailand to participate in the just-concluded celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of accession to the throne by King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The explosions lasted about 30 minutes across the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, all theatres of violence blamed variously on Muslim separatists in the predominantly Buddhist kingdom and on the security forces mandated for counter-insurgency operations. Unofficial estimates place the cumulative death toll at over 1,300 since 2004, when the separatist activities gained momentum after several decades of relative dormancy.

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