Buried bomb kills 3 volunteers, hurts 4
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A roadside bomb in Pattani yesterday killed three civil defence volunteers and wounded four others while they were on patrol in a pickup truck.
The home-made bomb had 20 kilograms of explosives in a cooking gas cylinder, buried by a local road in Kapho district. It was detonated from a car battery, via a 150-metre electrical cord. No shots were fired at the vehicle or the victims after the blast.
Meanwhile in Yala, a woman was shot in the head and sustained serious injuries, but police did not suspect it was linked to the insurgency. They said Mayuree Sai-uma was a maid at a local government office – but they found hundreds of thousands of baht in bankbooks in the car in which she was shot.
Quoting witnesses, police said two attackers on a motorcycle approached the woman and the pillion rider fired one shot in her head at close range before fleeing. The motive behind the shooting possibly stemmed from a personal conflict the victim had with others, police said. Another theory, not cited by the officer, was that the victim may have been are involved in illegal businesses.
A seven-year-old boy who suffered birth defects after his mother sustained injuries from a bomb blast in January 2005 received assistance from Justice Minister Pracha Promnok during a visit to the boy’s home in Yala’s Muang district yesterday.
The boy, Saharat Kheoya, has not spoken since his birth and is unable to perform many basic tasks, following injuries to his mother, Kaewta, in an insurgent bomb attack at a noodle shop, when she was six months pregnant. The blast killed one person and wounded 59 others.
The boy and his mother were among recipients of government compensation to victims of violence. He was previously given Bt80,000 and she got Bt50,000, as well as Bt203,000 paid for the boy’s rehabilitation and treatment for her injuries. Saharat also receives Bt3,000 in monthly pay and another Bt35,000 from a local disaster prevention office and the Justice Ministry.
Pracha gave Bt10,000 of his money to both victims during yesterday’s visit and promised a new wheelchair for them, as requested by the mother.
He and his entourage visited another violence victim, Preecha Wong-iam, a bulldozer- driver based in Pattani, who lost both legs in an ambush in 2006. Donations for Saharat and his mother are welcome via Krung Thai Bank account 932-0-30451-3. More details are available at 087-2994887.
Officials say 5,251 people are registered for compensation for violence and acts by government officials in the deep South – 1,463 are based in Yala, another 1,768 in Pattani, 1,823 in Narathiwat and 197 in three districts in Songkhla province. Names will be verified to determine qualifications and conditions of payments.
