This series of bombings, however, is perhaps signalling that they need to be taken seriously and that negotiations have to be resumed. This time, the group has operated beyond its ‘normal’ borders as if they have decided to bring their ‘cause’ closer to the capital and targeting tourist destinations.
Just days before the one-year anniversary of the bombing of the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok (17/8/2015) that killed 17 and injured over 100, most of them tourists, and on the eve of a long holiday weekend meant to celebrate the birthday the Queen Sirikit’s birthday and Mother’s Day in Thailand, a co-ordinated string of bombings in six locations shocked the country.
The first bombing took place in Trang, a town in Southern Thailand. The device exploded at around 3:00 pm of Thursday (11/8) outside a market in the town’s central district (Ruenrom Road in tambon Thap Thieng), about 200 metres from the house of the provincial police chief and near the city hall. One person was killed and another seven – mostly traders at the market were injured. The Trang governor said the explosive device was hidden in a bag that was thrown out of a vehicle.
The second bombing took place at the seaside resort Hua Hin in the Prachuap Khiri Khan province some 240 km south of Bangkok. Two bombs with sharpnels, hidden in plant pots about 50 meters apart exploded outside a beer bar at Soi Bintabat, near the Fah Pah intersection at 10:00 pm and then at 10:20 pm. The bombs were detonated by mobile phones. This ‘double tap’ practice involves two bombs exploding in rapid succession at the same target with the same sight picture in order to achieve ‘maximum impact. According to Colonel Sutthichai Srisopacharoenrat, the municipality police chief, 23 people were wounded and a local woman who was selling mango salad (som tam ) from her cart died from multiple wounds.
The third bombing took place at 8:00 am on Friday (12/8) when bombs went off in Surat Thani near the Marine Police Station and the Muang district Police Station. The first bomb was planted in a flowerbed in front of the Marine Police station. The blast killed one person and injured three other bystanders. The second bomb exploded exactly 30 minutes later in front of Muang district police station, about 400 metres from the first blast. No one was injured from this incident. Police said both bombs were triggered by mobile phone.
At the same time, two bombs went off in front of a park and police box near Phuket’s Patong beach, causing at least one injury. One bomb exploded at a police booth at the end of Walking Street Road in Thawiwong Road in Patong district. A motorcycle taxi driver was slightly injured. A second device exploded 300 metres away at Loma Beach on the same road, but caused no injuries. Both bombs were set off by timers, police said. Officers from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit defused a third explosive device in the vicinity.
The fifth bombing took place one hour later at 9:00 am in the Takua Pa district of Phang Nga. The bombs were detonated one after another on the opposite sides of the same street close to a farmer’s market at Ban Nang Niang village in tambon Khuek Khak. One vehicle was damaged but no casualties were reported.
The sixth bombing was around the same time, again in Hua Hin, when two more bombs exploded at the city’s clock tower, killing one woman and injuring three. More explosive devices planted in front of and in back of Hua Hin temple, at a school, and near the clock tower are said to have been defused. Thai Rath TV claimed that one suspect has been apprehended.
A series of suspicious fires broke out at four locations early Friday morning, but it was unclear if they were related to the attacks. Between 2:00 am and 7:00 am, a fire started before the bombs hit the Bang Niang Market in Phang Nga, a three-story supermarket in Trang province, the Aonang Market in Krabi and a Tesco Lotus in Nakhon Sri Thammarat were damaged by fires.
Who is behind these bombings?
It is perhaps too soon to draw conclusions but the evidence indicates that possible perpetrators are Thailand’s Deep South Muslim militants. In the past, the Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO) would be blamed for this violence but over the years it was made clear that the insurgency’s core is a loosely coordinated group of local Thai Muslims frustrated with years of central government neglect. These militants, in their majority, do not have ethnic-Malay roots as many believe and do not seek unification with Malaysia but a degree of autonomy. Their insurgency is a backlash to central government policies that for years have left the Muslim South far behind the rest of the nation. This ‘headless insurgency’ in the Deep South has escalated its violence over the last 5 years but their militancy had been, so far, largely limited to the three southernmost provinces (Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala).
Informal peace talks between them and the Thai government last April in Kuala Lumpur failed to produce any result since the Thai government, through Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha clearly stated that it is not ready to agree even a framework for formal talks and has little interest in negotiating at this point in time. While the government’s lead negotiator was fired a week before the talks were set to begin, Prayuth appointed himself as the top policymaker for the south and filled key regional positions with his ‘own’ people, including his likely successor as army commander Gen. Udomdet Sitabutr.
The loose organisational nature of the insurgents, makes it more difficult to defeat this separatist ‘movement’ which has not shown, yet, any evidence of links with other terrorist groups such as
Jemaah Islamiyah,
Al Qaeda or
Daesh.
Of course, as long as no responsibility will be claimed, there will also be speculation about the involvement of radical supporters of the Pheu Thai Party which was founded by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Indeed, some sporadic incidents, often with IEDs or grenades, have been linked in the past with this political party. However, these incidents were typically carried out in secluded locations, not always with political symbolism and usually late at night to avoid collateral damage. Also attacks of this kind (with many victims) would turn the wider public against the Red Shirt movement and would give the junta the pretext for a more intense political clampdown.
The tactics used in these bombings, i.e., small, mobile phone detonated bombs, in pairs (‘double tap‘) against security forces and civilians as well as the coordination and timings indicate a ‘plan’ which would make more sense to be instigated by the Deep South insurgents.
A Change of Strategy?
This series of bombings, however, is perhaps signalling that they need to be taken seriously and that negotiations have to be resumed. This time, the group has operated beyond its ‘normal’ borders as if they have decided to bring their ‘cause’ closer to the capital and targeting tourist destinations.
Hua Hin, is a popular resort town in southern Thailand and also home to a royal summer palace favoured by King Bhumibol. Phuket is a hugely popular tourist destination, welcoming an estimated 5 million visitors a year. And Surat Thani, although not a tourist destination per se, it is a busy transit point for tourists heading to the popular resort islands of Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan.
The insurgents are signalling that they (now) have the operational and tactical capacity of fomenting coordinated attacks outside their own territory and of targeting tourist areas – perhaps even the capital. The timings of the attacks and the targets were carefully selected to be symbolic (Hua Hin the King’s favoured summer destination, the Queen’s birthday), landmarks (Hua Hin tower clock), authorities’ buildings (Surat Thani), locations with ‘maximum impact’ potential (Patong, Phang Nga). It appears though that they have chosen not to go for ‘maximum impact’ this time, something that it is evident that they could achieve; the casualties from the Mother’s day bombings seem to be mere ‘collateral damage’.
And although it was expected for the national police deputy spokesman
Piyapan Pingmuang to dismiss speculation that this was a terrorist attack, it would be a grave mistake for the authorities not to take this incident seriously. It may only be the start of a new era of terror in the country.
Alexandros Paraskevas is Professor in Strategic Risk Management and Chair in Hospitality Management at the London Geller College of Hospitality and Tourism in the University of West London
He has a diploma from the Higher School of Tourism Professions of Rhodos (ASTER, Greece), a BA in Business Administration with Accounting and Auditing from the Athens University of Economics (Greece), an MSc in International Hospitality Management from Sheffield Hallam University (UK) and a PhD from Oxford Brookes University (UK).
His hospitality industry background includes internal auditing and operations management positions for over a decade with Marriott and Starwood. His academic background includes 15 years of service at the Oxford School of Hospitality Management (Oxford Brookes University).
Alexandros researches the governance and management of risks/crises both in an organisational and tourism destination context. He has led numerous hotel industry projects in the areas of risk, crisis, disaster management and business continuity and authored several academic articles and book chapters on these topics. He is one of the authors of Planning Research in Hospitality and Tourism (2015, Routedge).
A visiting scholar in Austria, Finland, Hong Kong, Mexico, Spain and Taiwan, Alexandros has worked with governments and tourism professional associations on safety and security issues and on crisis communications strategies. He has served as advisor of the International Hotel and Restaurant Association’s (IH&RA) Council on Safety, Security and Crisis Management and is the academic member of the Hotel, Entertainment and Tourism Council of ASIS International (International body of Industrial Security Professionals).
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