Thai Police Describes Deadly Explosions as 'Local Sabotage'

On Friday, August 12, the Thai police described the deadly explosions that occurred in tourist cities in the south of the country, resulting in the deaths of at least four people, as 'local sabotage.' The police also officially rejected the notion that these explosions, which took place on Thursday night and Friday morning in the tourist cities of Hua Hin and Phuket, were terrorist acts. Hua Hin is a beach resort city located about 200 kilometers south of Bangkok, the capital, and is popular among foreign tourists and wealthy Thais. According to the French news agency, at least 11 bombs have exploded in the past 24 hours across five southern provinces of Thailand. As a result of these explosions, at least four people have died, and several others have been injured, including some foreigners. News sources have pointed out that this series of bombings comes just before the first anniversary of a bombing at a temple in Bangkok that left 20 dead. Reports indicate that seven foreigners were injured in these explosions, but the French news agency states that there were nine foreign tourists among the injured in Hua Hin alone. A police spokesperson in Bangkok stated to reporters, 'This was not a terrorist attack; it was local sabotage and limited to a few areas and provinces.' This police official also added that it is still unclear which group is behind this series of explosions. However, this official dismissed the hypothesis that Muslim insurgents were responsible for these bombings. Previously, several analysts had pointed fingers at Muslim insurgent groups that have been in conflict with government forces in southern Thailand for years. No group has yet claimed responsibility for these explosions. Following the explosions, the Prime Minister of Thailand called for calm and asked security forces to increase their surveillance over urban and tourist areas. The revenue generated from the tourism industry constitutes ten percent of Thailand's GDP.