Phuket the bomb! Pair nicked in plot to deliver deadly cargo
Shady GPS route and ticking timer trigger panic on bypass
Two men from Thailand’s insurgency-hit Deep South have been arrested in a chilling plot to smuggle homemade bombs into Phuket, with a suspicious timer device hidden in their boot sparking a dramatic early morning police sting.
At around 3.30am, today, June 24, officers manning a checkpoint near Phang Nga Provincial Hall stopped a black saloon car with Surin plates after it made a sudden turn towards the bus station. Officers were already in place to intercept the vehicle, acting on a tip-off.
Inside the car, police discovered 29 year old Muhama and 27 year old Sulaiman, both from Pattani province, a region long plagued by separatist violence. Tucked among their clothes and bedding in the back of the vehicle, officers found a clear zip bag containing a suspicious stopwatch wired to a circuit board.
The device, roughly 10cm wide and 20cm long, was immediately treated as a potential bomb. Officers secured the scene and placed the package in a car tyre while waiting for explosives experts.
Bomb disposal officers later confirmed the presence of multiple explosive devices connected to the suspicious mechanism, reported ThaiRath.
Under questioning, the suspects reportedly told police they had been hired to deliver the car and its deadly cargo from Ban Sakom in Songkhla Province to Phuket, using GPS coordinates sent by their mysterious employer.
The pair set off around 7pm yesterday, taking turns behind the wheel as they passed through Songkhla City, Rattaphum, Phatthalung, Trang, Krabi, and Thap Put.
They were also provided with a smartphone and pocket WiFi to navigate the journey.
Police now suspect the explosives were intended for use in a southern-style bombing campaign on the tourist island. Investigators are working to identify the individuals behind the plot.
A host of senior officers arrived at the scene in Phang Nga to inspect the device and coordinate the investigation, including Poliice Lietenant General Surapong Thanomchit, head of Provincial Police Region 8, and his counterparts from Phang Nga and Region 8’s investigative units.
Forensic teams are now examining evidence, while the bomb squad works to trace the origin of the device components. Authorities are also exploring possible links to extremist networks active in the southern border provinces.
Police say further arrests are likely as the investigation expands across multiple provinces.
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