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Thai bomb squad officers examine the wreckage of a car after an explosion outside a hotel in Pattani province, southern Thailand. AP Photo/Sumeth Panpetch

1 dead and dozens injured as car bomb explodes in Thai nightlife district

The latest blast struck late last night outside a hotel in Pattani, a southern province battered by a long-running rebellion.

A CAR BOMB exploded in a nightlife district in Thailand’s deep south, killing one and wounding more than 30, in a nation already on edge after a bombing spree that targeted tourist towns.

The latest blast struck late last night outside a hotel in Pattani, one of three Muslim-majority southern provinces battered by a long-running and shadowy rebellion against the Buddhist-majority state.

“So far there is one killed and more than 30 injured,” Major General Thanongsak Wangsupa, Pattani provincial police commander, told AFP earlier today.

The hotel building was considerably damaged.

Pictures showed fires burning on the road outside the hotel’s shattered facade, with police picking through the rubble. Nearby a car was destroyed, and karaoke bars, massage parlours and restaurants were also damaged.

Pattani is not popular with tourists, but analysts said the militants were sending a message after coordinated bomb and arson attacks that struck multiple resort towns on 11-12 August, leaving four dead and 37 injured including Europeans.

Those attacks heightened concerns Thailand’s southern insurgency may have spread north after years of stalled peace talks – a theory the country’s junta has downplayed given the importance of tourism to the economy.

The entertainment district hit by the car bomb is one of only a handful in the restive south, offering bars, a disco and prostitution, said Don Pathan, a security analyst based in the region.

“It’s the type of place that society around here frowns upon,” he said.

The southern rebels focus most of their attacks on security officers and symbols of the state, but they do occasionally strike nightlife venues.

“The campaign against social evil is not very high on the agenda of the insurgents here. Their strategy right now is to make the area as ungovernable as possible,” Pathan said.

Speaking to reporters after the Pattani hotel blast, Thailand’s deputy junta leader Prawit Wongsuwan again dismissed any link between the tourist town attacks earlier this month and the southern insurgency.

Singapore Asia Security Summit File photo of Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan in 2015. AP Photo / Wong Maye-E AP Photo / Wong Maye-E / Wong Maye-E

He also said any negotiations with the rebels would be shelved until violence subsides.

All violence must first stop before we can set the terms of reference for talks. They need to show their sincerity.

Police said in a statement that the strike on the Southern View Hotel was preceded by a smaller bomb at a nearby bar, a so-called “double tap” tactic often adopted by insurgents. No-one was hurt in that explosion.

A staff member at the town’s hospital said 32 people were injured, five of them critically. All are Thai nationals, the worker added, asking not to be named.

Violent history

Zachary Abuza, an expert on Southeast Asian militant groups, said car bombs are a standard insurgent tactic but Tuesday night’s blast was the largest he had seen in recent months.

“They’re clearly trying to send a signal that with the post-Mothers’ Day bombing spree they are able to hit major urban areas,” he told AFP, referring to the attacks that he believes were the work of the insurgents.

Most embassies warn nationals against all travel to Pattani because of the long-running rebellion.

Thailand annexed the culturally distinct zone bordering Malaysia over a century ago.

Near-daily shootings and roadside bombs have left more than 6,500 dead since 2004, most of them civilians. But the violence has largely remained local and rarely makes international headlines.

Thailand Southern Violence Villagers help carry the body of a 68-year old Buddhist monk who was slain by a gunman in a 2014 attack in Pattani. AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

The rebels never claim their attacks but factions are known to be frustrated with their lack of progress after more than a decade of fighting.

The region is awash with state troops who rights groups accuse of widespread abuses, including torturing detainees and extrajudicial killings.

After months of relative calm that saw violence dip to a record low last year, there has been a palpable increase in attacks over the past few months, particularly around a recent referendum on a new charter penned by the junta that seized power in 2014.

The charter, which critics say will make Thailand less democratic, was approved by a majority of voters but rejected in the three insurgency-wracked provinces.

© – AFP, 2016

Read: Four killed as bomb blasts target Thai tourist towns

Read: Thai police hunt ‘mastermind’ network after bombings hit seaside resorts

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    Mute mickmc
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:31 PM

    And if they accepted the original proposal they’d be better off. Once again we have the union bosses leading their member on a merry dance to no where.

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    Mute Soccer T's
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:36 PM

    @mickmc: At least 87% of the union members voted. Compare this to the numbers of teachers who actually voted to give ASTI a “mandate” for industrial action! Usually around 35/40%

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    Mute Soccer T's
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:51 PM

    @Soccer T’s: Correction: I see that on the last Asti ballot it was 77% of members who voted which probably accounted for the very narrow margin of victory for more industrial action (only 52% in favour) Nice of them to actually turn up to vote this time compared to the vote in 2015 when only a handful of members actually voted, meaning the delusional militants got their way. This is our kids future they are destroying while they couldn’t even take the time to vote!!

    Interestingly the kids sitting the junior cert in a few weeks are the kids who should be sitting the new junior cert 3 years after it was supposed to be introduced!!

    https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/teachers-threaten-further-industrial-action-after-split-vote-1.2364660?mode=amp

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    Mute booby sandwiches
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    May 22nd 2017, 4:33 PM

    biggest climbdown in history PMSL

    Leo is going to sort these evil unions out #Leoforleader

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    Mute Adrian™
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:39 PM

    What are the terms they are agreeing to? And compared to what they were first offered? Bit more info wouldn’t go astray in the story.

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    Mute Keith Grant
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:29 PM

    Looks like all those weeks of strike were well worth it ay?? Ahahahah

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    Mute Keith Grant
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:28 PM

    Hahahahahah

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    Mute abcyz
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:39 PM

    The union & some drivers were on Liveline etc saying our OAPS & disabled shouldn’t be allowed free travel even tough it was and is widely used for hospital appointments etc. There wasn’t much challenge by media presenters during the strike about the unfair travel card demonisation stories even by drivers themselves on liveline.

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    Mute dead right
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:30 PM

    @abcyz: thats absolute b@llox your spouting no driver or union representative ever said the people you mentioned shouldn’t be allowed travel for free not once.

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    Mute Soccer T's
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:40 PM

    @abcyz: That’s total bull! They suggested that we should revisit the payments made by the government to the free travel scheme. It’s a fixed amount each year no matter how many actually use the service. They were making the point that a huge number of pensioners never even use the travel pass. With the new travel pass surely they can implement a system of “use or lose”. Why should the taxpayer pay for something that isn’t being used? If a pensioners travel pass is cancelled due to lack of use they should be allowed to reapply but simply making blind payments is ridiculous

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    Mute Soccer T's
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:41 PM

    @Soccer T’s: Or maybe we should just offer giving every adult children’s allowance just in case they have kids

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    Mute dead right
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:56 PM

    @abcyz: there wasnt much media challenge on the issue beacuse it was never said ah well you got 26 likes good try

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    Mute Stouts O Shea
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    May 22nd 2017, 5:25 PM

    @Soccer T’s: your day s of scewing the public are over

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello.
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:04 PM

    Took their sweet time voting, didn’t they.

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    Mute Gerry Carroll
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:57 PM

    Poor mites – already paid more than 40% over the private companies drivers and greed drive them to look for more – diddums. The blatant bleating for ‘all stakeholders’ to get involved was embarrassing; for stakeholders read chequebooks. I’m far from a fan of Transport Minister Ross but in this instance he was right not to dip further into taxpayers’ pockets to transfer their money directly into already overpaid drivers rabid with greed. Looking for a pay rise from a company already trading at a loss? Three weeks on strike and they got a pay cut, redundancies, new rosters, picking litter from buses they never did before, reduced overtime – good work lads.

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    Mute Terry Cahill
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:59 PM

    Scared sitless ! So they were !

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    Mute Paul
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:48 PM

    Shocked they back it and by a high margin.

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:12 PM

    @Paul:
    Didn’t thing that would pass

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    Mute Gavin Redmond
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:17 PM

    And the unions saying there still may be a possibility of strike if the company change the agreement. So who is calling the shots.

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    Mute Paul
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:48 PM

    Shocked they back it and by a high margin.

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    Mute Gerry Carroll
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    May 22nd 2017, 4:39 PM

    Not sure it was the union leaving the charge on this – may have been the drivers driving (no pun intended) the union to enable their fanciful out of touch with reality demands

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    Mute Eric Djemba-Djemba
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    May 22nd 2017, 10:00 PM

    Let it rot and die so it can be privatised and ran properly by a company. Don’t know anybody from Wexford that chooses bus eireann over the Wexford bus service as they are miles apart in quality and reliability best thing to ever happen.

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    Mute Jimmy jones
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    May 22nd 2017, 4:35 PM

    What an overpaid clown Dermot o Leary is . He has made them all look very silly

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