Security tight as southern train service resumes
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Heavy security has been imposed to protect the Yala to Sungai-Kolok train service, which resumed operation Wednesday after three people were killed and 35 were injured in an insurgent attack last weekend in Narathiwat's Rue Soh district.
Thanongsak Pongprasert, deputy director of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), said officials took three days to repair the carriages from the No 435 train and railway tracks damaged by a buried bomb detonated by insurgents on Sunday while the train was travelling between Rue Soh and Laloh stations.
Army and Air Force security officials were deployed, with helicopters flying overhead to guard the carriages in all risky spots that have experienced insurgent attacks in the past, especially along a 40km stretch between Balaw and Tanyongmas stations.
Although the railway track at the site of the attack in Rue Soh district has been repaired, the train must slow down while passing over it, heightening the security risk. Security officials were stationed there to prevent a repeat attack.
To prevent infiltration by insurgents, all security officials have been asked to provide clear proof of identity, especially from Balaw to Rue Soh station.
The SRT has also asked security officials to check hilly areas or bridges for explosive devices before trains pass and requested that the military’s geographic coordinate system be synchronised with that used by the SRT.
The agency also requested radio devices to allow train staff and military officials to communicate.
Thanongsak said trains from Songkhla to Narathiwat have experienced more than 100 attacks, causing more than Bt100 million in damage and many casualties since 2004, when insurgent separatists in the southern border provinces began their latest campaign.
With five main stations and 22 sub-stations, the 200km stretch of the southern train route from Songkhla to Narathiwat has witnessed many attacks, with most concentrated in the stretch from Balaw to Raman, and the stretch leading to Sungai-Kolok station.
