Authorities hunt for car bombers in Thai far South

PATTANI, THAILAND, August 1 (TNA) - Security authorities are hunting for all those who are behind a car bombing attack at a hotel in Thailand's southernmost Pattani province Wednesday evening. Local police inspected the CS Pattani Hotel in Pattani's Muang district Wednesday morning and gathered evidence from the bombing pick-up truck parked at the backside of the hotel. The police found remains of a gas cylinder that contained some 50 kilograms of explosives, a communication radio and pieces of cut steel bars. The bombing impact caused cracks to the kitchen of the hotel, where some sections were burnt and three staffs suffered from chest pain and were later treated at the Pattani Hospital, and also caused damages to nearby houses and buildings. The car bombing attack also injured five people and has now affected the hotel business in Pattani, as the number of guests at two well-known hotels in Pattani, including Tanyong and Imperial Hotels, have plunged. Staffs have now guarded their hotels carefully; while local security officers and volunteers are operating six checkpoints to search all vehicles visiting the heart of Pattani. Meanwhile, Thai Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat told reporters that the CS Pattani Hotel suffered a similar bombing attack in 2008, acknowledging that insurgents launched attacks and killed soldiers to show off their potential, as local soldiers were overloaded with work, namely the suppression of narcotics and smuggled goods. The Thai defence minister urged relevant agencies to assist soldiers in the missions, noting that he has also asked the Royal Air Force to deploy patrol aircraft to protect army troops who escort teachers and patrol roads in the troubled Thai deep South, and that he will also discuss the necessity of a curfew with concerned authorities. (TNA)