Replies

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=thailand

===
===

NOTE: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1676696/posts

Bombs kill four in Muslim southern Thailand
Reuters ^ | Aug 2, 2006 | Surapan Boonthanom

Posted on 08/02/2006 4:09:48 PM PDT by proud_yank

SONGKHLA, Thailand (Reuters) - Militants detonated a bomb by a bridge on the main railway line through Thailand's rebellious Muslim south on Wednesday, killing three policemen and leaving thousands of travelers stranded, officials said.

A soldier also died in a booby trap left by militants at a temporary camp for engineering troops building a school in the region, where more than 1,300 people have been killed in a two-year Muslim separatist insurgency.

The railway bomb damaged the bridge enough to halt all rail traffic on the mail line running from the Thai-Malaysian border to Bangkok. Thousands of passengers were stranded on five trains forced to stop in nearby stations.

"We hope to finish the repair work this evening and all southern trains should resume service tomorrow morning," southern rail traffic control chief Thanongsak Pongprasert told Reuters.

Militants placed a 5 kg (11 lb) mine by the bridge as a car carrying four rail patrolmen passed by. Three of the officers died instantly and the other was wounded, police said.

"The front wheels triggered the mine and it exploded," police Lieutenant Colonel Sompien Eksomya said. "They have been watching police routine for some time and knew exactly when the patrol car would arrive."

Two bodies were found near the bridge and the other was found 50 meters (yards) away in the river, he said.

(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...

===
===

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1676239/posts

Bomb kills three Thai policemen
BBC News ^ | 08/02/2006

Posted on 08/02/2006 2:41:23 AM PDT by Republicain

Three Thai policemen have been killed in a bomb explosion in the country's restive south. The officers were inspecting railway tracks in Chana district in Songkhla province when the explosion occurred.

The attack is the latest in a string of violent incidents in the Thai south, where more than 1,300 people have been killed since January 2004.

Officials blame Muslim insurgents for much of the unrest, although criminals are also thought to be at work.

In Wednesday's incident, a bomb placed near a bridge was detonated as a car of four policemen passed by. Three of the officers died instantly and the other was wounded.

Electrical wire was later found leading from the tracks to bushes about 100m away.

Co-ordinated

The southern provinces are predominantly Muslim, with a language and culture separate from the rest of Thailand.

The bombing took place after a night of apparently co-ordinated arson, bombing and shooting attacks in the three Thai provinces with Muslim majorities, Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani.

Police booths and a rubber factory were set on fire and small bombs exploded outside karaoke bars, officials said.

In Narathiwat, Thai journalists reported that Molotov cocktails had been thrown at a Buddhist temple, soldiers had been drawn into a gun battle, and rifles had been fired at the homes of police and teachers.

No one was killed in the attacks.

Despite a heavy Thai security presence in the region, attacks such as drive-by shootings or small bombings take place almost daily.