Narathiwat imposes curfew after attacks at 11 petrol stations in Deep South

Narathiwat province is under a nightly curfew following a series of bombings and fires at petrol stations across three Deep South provinces on Saturday, January 10.

Explosions and fires were reported at 11 petrol stations in the provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat late on Saturday night. All of the affected petrol stations belong to the same operator, PTT.

According to Thai PBS, a police officer from Ra-ngae Police Station, Prasit Bamrung, was injured during the attack at a PTT petrol station in Ra-ngae district, Narathiwat.

The officer sustained a wound to his right arm and was rushed to hospital. He is reported to be in stable condition. No other injuries were reported at the remaining locations.

Following the incidents, Narathiwat provincial authorities announced a curfew from 9pm to 5am, ordering residents to remain inside their homes until further notice.

In addition to the curfew, security measures have been tightened across the province, particularly at border checkpoints along the Thai–Malaysian frontier.

The motive behind the coordinated attacks remains under investigation. Authorities have not ruled out any possibilities, including political disruption linked to local or national elections or activities connected to long-running insurgency issues in the region.

Ekkarin Tuansiri, an associate professor at the Faculty of Political Science at Prince of Songkla University, told Thairath that the attacks were unlikely to be related to recent sub-district administrative organisation elections. He also said religious conflict was an unlikely motive, noting that the owners of the damaged petrol stations were local residents.

Ekkarin suggested the attacks may have been carried out by groups opposed to the state as a show of force. He added that the incidents could also be linked to business-related disputes, as the attackers appeared to avoid causing loss of life and did not directly target government buildings or officials.

Despite this, Ekkarin urged the public to wait for official investigation results from relevant authorities. He warned that the violence could further harm tourism and the local economy, which are already struggling following recent flooding in the Deep South.