Businesses remain active in Hat Yai

SONGKHLA, THAILAND, August 4 (TNA) - Trade and other business activities in the commercial district of Hat Yai have remained active although tight security measures have been maintained in the country's southern border region, reflecting confidence in the Thai government’s security arrangements among business operators and international tourists. Police in Hat Yai have established 45 check points at four entrances leading to the bustling town, where a local retailer in front of the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel, the scene of a deadly car bombing on March 31, 2012, told journalists Saturday that the international tourists visiting Hat Yai appear to hold high confidence in security measures mapped out by security authorities. The retailer pointed out that Hat Yai's attractions also include delicious food and cheap goods. Despite the ongoing tightened security in the insurgency-plagued Thai far South, following a renewed car bombing attack at the CS Pattani Hotel in Pattani last Tuesday night, tourists from Malaysia and Singapore have, meanwhile, continued to visit Hat Yai, known as a regional shopping paradise located near the Thai-Malaysian border. A task force in adjacent Narathiwat province has also set up check points at two piers and at the customs office in Tak Bai district located near the Thai-Malaysian border to search people suspected to enter Thailand to create unrest, or even suspected smugglers. Speed boats have also patrolled along the Sungai Kolok River in Narathiwat to prevent and suppress the illegal entry of both suspected people and goods. (TNA)