Security beefed up in Thai far South after Pattani car bomb attack

SONGKHLA, THAILAND, September 22 (TNA) - Security has been tightened in Thailand’s southern Songkhla province, following Friday's car bomb attack in neighbouring Pattani Province's Sai Buri District which killed at least six people and injured over 40 others. Local military and police forces have set up checkpoints in Chana District, which is a gateway to Hat Yai and Muang districts in Songkhla to prevent any untoward incident. Local police in four districts in Songkhla bordering three restive southern border provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala have also been instructed to work against any, probably, insurgent threat, including preventing their entry into the province. Local private businesses, namely department stores, in Songkhla’s main commercial areas, have also put up signs warning people to beware of suspicious vehicles which might be used by insurgents in a bomb attack; while local vendors have been asked to report to authorities of any suspicious car. Pattani Governor Theera Mintrasak said Satruday that the militants should be the same group which was responsible for the CS Pattani Hotel’s car bomb attack and the arson at the Honda Showroom in Nong Chick District in August. Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Wittaya Buranasiri has dispatched over 10 emergency medical teams to Sai Buri to assist Friday's injured victims. (TNA)