On overnight and on Friday, a wave of coordinated explosions rattled multiple cities of Thailand. Thai police said that several people were killed and wounded dozens more. 10 foreigners were also injured in the seaside resort town of Hua Hin.
It was not clear that who was behind the attacks. But the timing and scope suggested, these coordinated blasts were carried out by opponents of the Southeast Asian nation’s ruling junta. Last weekend, Junta organized a successful referendum on a constitution that critics say will bolster the power of military for years to come.
The violence took place on the birthday of Thailand Queen Sirikit. The junta has repeatedly said that protecting the monarchy is a top priority. The army and its allies are eager to ensure a smooth succession for ailing King Bhumibol Adulyadej 88 years old. It is the longest reigning monarch of the world.
The first two explosions of the coordinated blasts occurred overnight on a busy street in the tourist city of Hua Hin. On Friday morning, Hua Hin city was hit again by another blast. The city is home to a Royal Palace as well as a swath of beachfront resorts.
Thia Police and Thai media reported that other bomb blasts the southern cities of Surat Thani, Trang and Phuket.
Shane Brett who is a Tourist, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. from his hotel room in Hua Hin that there was panic after the first blast. After the first blast, police said that one Thai woman killed and around 20 people injured, half of them were foreigners.
Brett said that I was at a bar in the main bar district in Hua Hin right outside the Hilton Hotel and at first I heard kind of a bang and everyone panicked in the area.
According to the Police General Sithichai Srisopacharoenrath that On Thursday, the bombs were set off by remote control, half an hour apart.
According to the police that On Friday morning, two more bombs exploded in Hua Hin city. One person killed and four people injured.
Another pair of coordinated bombs exploded in front of the two police stations after an half an hour in Surat Thani in southern Thailand.
According to Thai press reports that Earlier on Thursday, another bomb blast in the southern province of Trang. In this blast one people killed and six people injured.
Trang is on the fringes of deep south of Thailand, where a low-level Muslim separatist insurgency had killed more than 5,000 people since 2004.
Thailand has been destroyed by political violence, including several bombings, since the populist billionaire and former Prime minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted as prime minister in a military coup after demonstrations accused him of insulting king Bhumibol, abuse of power and corruption.
The ouster of former PM Thaksin set off sometimes bloody battles for power between his supporters and opponents, who include the military. The government of his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, who became prime minister in 2011, was also ousted in the country’s last coup in 2014.
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