Surat Thani tightens permission for mining explosives, devices
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PROVINCIAL authorities in Surat Thani have put on hold requests for the purchase and sale of six items and chemicals used to make explosives for the mining industry - in a bid to prevent future bomb attacks.
Uaychai Innak, deputy governor of Surat Thani, said as a result of the recent car bomb at a major shopping mall on Samui Island in the southern province, a local committee overseeing the buying, selling, transporting and storing of explosive devices met to discuss how best to deal with such requests.
There is a mining in three districts – Don Sak, Kanchanadit and Wiengsa.
Six requests have been put on hold, subject to engineers and related officials examining the sites and requests. Among those deferred are requests for the purchase of detonation wire used in assembling explosives to blast rocks.
In a related development, national police chief Pol General Somyot Poompanmuang said police are convinced that the bomb in Surat Thani was politically motivated and not linked to the insurgency in the three southern-most provinces. But it was made to appear that way by hiring someone with expertise in the deep South do the job in order to mislead the public.
He said there were six to seven suspects but none had been arrested yet as evidence was still being collected. Military power could be used to detain and interrogate suspects before warrants were issued, if necessary.
