Thai police: String of bombings ‘not linked to terrorism’
At least 3 dead in wave of explosions at south, central Thailand resorts; Israel, UK, Australia urge nationals to avoid public areas

Thai police said Friday a wave of bomb blasts in the central and southern parts of the country is not linked to Islamic terrorism.
Multiple explosions hit at least four cities in Thailand overnight and on Friday, killing several people and wounding dozens more — including about 10 foreigners in the seaside town of Hua Hin.
Royal Thai Police official Col. Krisana Patanacharoen said it was too soon to say who was behind the attacks, but “we are sure that it is not linked to terrorism.”
Israel, Britain and Australia reacted to the blasts by advising their nationals to avoid public places.
Twin bombs exploded in the upscale resort of Hua Hin late Thursday, killing one woman and wounding more than 20 others, including nine foreign tourists, and were followed by two more on Friday morning that killed another person.
AFP journalists saw injured and bleeding people lying on the pavements shortly after the latest explosions, as emergency workers rushed to the scene and took them away in ambulances.
A further two blasts struck Friday at Patong Beach on the popular tourist island of Phuket, while two more bombs were reported in the southern towns of Trang and Surat Thani, in each of which one person was killed.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha called for calm and said he did not know who was behind the attacks, while analysts tentatively pointed the finger at Muslim insurgent groups in the south who have for years been fighting the Thai state.

“The bombs are an attempt to create chaos and confusion,” Prayut told reporters. “We should not make people panic more.
“Why have the bombs occurred as our country is heading towards stability, a better economy and tourism — and who did it? You have to find out,” he added.
The two bombs that went off in Hua Hin on Thursday were hidden in potted plants and went off within 30 minutes of each other in the bar district of the popular beach town.
While small bombings are common in the kingdom during periods of heightened political tension, there have been few such incidents in the past year and it is rare for tourists to be targeted.

An investigation official collects evidence from the crime scene after a small bomb exploded in Hua Hin on August 12, 2016. (AFP/Munir Uz Zaman)
Hua Hin is home to the Klai Kangwon (Far from Worries) summer palace of Thailand’s revered royal family, and the firsts blasts came on the eve of Queen Sirikit’s 84th birthday and just ahead of the first anniversary of a Bangkok shrine bombing that killed 20.
Hua Hin’s district chief, Sutthipong Klai-udom, told AFP that the first bombs were detonated by mobile phone. Staff at local hospitals said German, Italian, Dutch and Austrian nationals were among the wounded.
“It was very shocking. There was a loud noise and police were running everywhere, it was terrible,” said Michael Edwards, an Australian tourist staying in a guest house close to where the second bomb detonated.
“I was just surprised that it happened here… now I’m thinking if it’s worth staying,” he told AFP.
Paul Chambers, an expert on the Thai military, said rebels from the south were prime suspects in the blasts.
“The culprits are most likely Malay-Muslim insurgent groups fighting the Thai state in the deep south,” he said.
“The attack on Hua Hin seems like a direct affront at the Kingdom of Thailand. Hua Hin is home to a royal palace… also, the bombing comes on the queen’s birthday.”
Zachary Abuza, an expert on Southeast Asian militant groups, said that although the southern insurgents had not carried out coordinated attacks for years, “it’s not that they haven’t or couldn’t, it’s just been a while”.
“Whoever has perpetrated these wants to do serious damage to the Thai economy. That is where the junta is the most vulnerable.”