Ranger injured as Ramadan violence peaks
A volunteer ranger has become the latest victim in the ongoing unrest in Thailand’s deep South.
An explosion yesterday injured Thanakorn Suandaeng, who was on a team providing security to teachers, near Ban Bang Moo School in Pattani’s Panare district.
Thanakorn suffered a fractured skull, a broken left arm and other injuries. He will be transferred to a better-equipped hospital in nearby Yala province for surgery and further treatment.
Violence has continued unabated in Thailand’s southernmost region for more than one decade, with bloody attacks taking place on almost a daily basis including during the holy month of Ramadan.
Pattani’s police chief Pol Maj-General Tanongsak Wangsupa said attacks seemed to intensify during the last 10 days of Ramadan.
“We will step up security measures,” he said, after several incidents took place in areas under his jurisdiction in the past two days.
On Sunday, a bomb exploded at an ATM in Pattani’s Yarang district at about 7pm. Twenty minutes later, a second bomb detonated at the same spot. Officers cordoned off the area but did not examine the site out of concerns about more bombs.
Another bomb exploded about three kilometres away at 8.15pm the same day, causing minor injuries to a policeman on duty. An arsonist also burnt two vehicles belonging to a construction firm on Sunday night in the province.
Another dud bomb was found in front of a bank in Yarang yesterday morning.
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