Road security stepped up in South after bus burning

YALA, Dec 18 (TNA) – Security agencies ordered tightened security in the South after gunmen seized the interprovincial passenger bus and set it on fire in Yala’s Bannang Sata district yesterday. About ten armed men stopped the Betong- Bangkok air conditioned bus of the Siam Dernrod company and forced 16 passengers to leave the bus before they torched the empty vehicle. Pol Maj Gen Kritsada Kaewchandee, commander of the Yala provincial police ordered police investigators to work with local police, soldiers and administrative officials to gather evidence and hunt the gunmen. It is believed that they are suspected insurgents, active in the area and wanted to create disturbance. He also instructed security officials to patrol main and secondary routes for the safety of the bus passengers. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister/Defense Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan said that a similar incident occurred in the past. He told officials to step up security on roads in violence-plagued provinces. (TNA)