South

UPDATE: Four defence volunteers killed at school by militants

Published

2 months ago

January 10, 2019

The Thaiger

PHOTOS: The Nation | Thai PBS

Disguising themselves as army troops, suspected militants surprised a unit of defence volunteers this morning when they opened fire on them at a school in Yarang district, Pattani. They killed four volunteers and taking away their assault rifles.

The violent incident occurred in the compound of Ban Pukoh school in Village 5, Tambon Prachan, where four defence volunteers were assigned to provide protection to teachers.

Wearing army fatigues, the gunmen approached the four volunteers who mistook them as troops and then opened fire with their automatic weapons.

The four volunteers were killed at the scene and the assailants grabbed their HK assault rifles, ran toward a waiting pickup truck and escaped.

The shooting incident shocked and caused panic among teachers and students who screamed in horror as they scrambled for cover. The school was later ordered closed and all the students sent home.

In Betong district of neighboring Yala province, security was ordered to be stepped up and defence volunteers assigned to protect communities were told to check all vehicles entering the communities as a precautionary measure.

Security officials suspect that the attack was carried out by militants associated with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional, an armed militia which does not take part in the Malaysia-brokered peace negotiation between the government and Mara Patani.

A car bomb was detonated near a Border Patrol Police task force base in Thepa district of Songkhla province on Tuesday, injuring two border patrol policemen and shattering a transformer, causing partial blackout in the district.

Police tracked the wreckage of pickup truck which was used as car bomb to its owner, a retired school teacher, who was murdered and hanged in his house before insurgents stole his pickup for the attack.

SOURCE: Thai PBS

Related Topics:insurgency Pattani Thailand volunteers

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South

Massive petrol smuggling network uncovered in South

Published

2 hours ago

March 20, 2019

The Thaiger & The Nation

Massive petrol smuggling network uncovered in South | The Thaiger

by Krissana Thiwatsirikul

PHOTO: Facebook/Thai News Agency

Thirteen people have been arrested following the largest seizure of smuggled petrol in the South in years.

Soldiers and paramilitary rangers intercepted 290,000 litres of petrol being smuggled at a pier in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Tha Sala district after a stake-out this morning. Customs and excise officials inspected the petrol and vehicles before handing the matter and the suspects over to the police.

Two modified 20 metre vessels, the Ore Feungfa and Khajornlarp, docked at the pier with 290,000 litres of gasoline in their holds. Officials also impounded four 18-wheel trucks and a six-wheel truck parked nearby ready to take on the shipment.

The 13 suspects apprehended included the boats’ skippers and crewmembers and the truck drivers. Several boat crewmembers jumped into the sea and escaped arrest.

Officials claimed that Somsak Narongdech, skipper of the Ore Feungfa, confessed he had received the shipment in international waters and was going to offload it to the trucks, but he didn’t know the final destination. He reportedly said he handled six or seven such shipments a month.

Yothin Pengsawat, driver of one of the 18-wheel trucks, purportedly said he was supposed to take the petrol to a customer in Nakhon Sawan.

STORY: The Nation

South

3 wounded in explosion at Narathiwat border defence unit

Published

4 days ago

March 16, 2019

The Thaiger

Three security officials have been injured in the latest bout of southern violence when armed militants attacked a border defence unit’s base near the Kolok River in the Tak Bai district in the southern province of Narathiwat on the Thai/Malaysian border.

Several houses and cars nearby were also damaged by the powerful IED (improvised explosive device).

Initial reports have revealed that a group of about 6 militants opened fire at the base with automatic weapons, followed by a powerful blast from a device attached to a motorcycle parked in front of the base.

Three suspects have been apprehended by security police and are being questioned.

SOURCE: Thai PBS

South

Boy killed by train while playing on his mobile phone in Songkhla

Published

5 days ago

March 15, 2019

The Thaiger

PHOTOS: Phatong Tredtam Rescue Foundation

A 12 year old boy has died on a railway track near a school in Hat Yai, Songkhla after being crushed by a train while he was playing on his mobile phone on local railway tracks.

The Phatong Tredtam Rescue Foundation report that Thunglung Police in Hat Yai, Songkhla were notified of the incident at 6pm near a school yesterday.

Rescue workers arrived at the scene to find the body of the boy near the railway. He was later identified as 12 year old Watanyoo Dissaroe. The train involved was the Express 46 from Padang Besar to Bangkok.

Locals say they saw the boy playing on his mobile phone near the railway tracks. They then heard several blasts from the horn on the train but say the boy failed to hear the warnings.