Police believed the bombing, which injured five people, was part of ongoing unrest in the deep South.
Pattani police’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team and forensic police officers yesterday morning inspected the bomb and fire scene where the Piya Moo 3 co-operative shop, a petrol station, the Tambon Piya Mumang Administrative Organisation Office, a drinking water factory and a community financial group office were destroyed.
The blast also shattered glass windows and damaged Ban Piyamumang School and 10 houses.
Police found that suspected insurgents in a pick-up truck went to the co-operative shop when 10 customers were inside and left a small bomb in a spray paint canister at the shop entrance.
Other team members parked a black Honda Accord sedan carrying a time bomb near the shop’s entrance before driving away in the truck, police said.
The sedan carried a fake licence plate (the original number is linked to a Songkhla-based pick-up truck), police said.
Police believe the suspects intended to detonate the small bomb to lure people out of the shop and then detonate the larger car bomb. However, the small bomb didn’t go off and people were still inside when the car bomb exploded at around 6.20pm.
Five people received slight injuries. They are Santi Wangnurak, 31; Suchada Phrompakdee, 33; Yutthakan Chunet, 41; Amornmat Chandee, 40 and Wannapol Rungsuwan, 27.
It took about an hour to put out the fire.
On the same evening at about 6pm, a grenade was thrown from a motorcycle carrying two men at a shop near a temple in Tambon Tuyong of Pattani’s Nong Chik district, but it did not explode.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan yesterday said he would not criticise state officers over |the Pattani car bombing as the |intelligence agency had warned of such an attack.
Prawit said insurgents would |try to do anything to boost their capacity to commit violence.
He said the government’s peace dialogue with separatists had progressed.
He added that Thailand had |submitted a list of people with dual Thai and Malaysian citizenship, which would be helpful in tackling trans-national terrorists and human traffickers.
He also said the government was ready to set up a joint committee to oversee the construction of a Thai-Malaysian border fence at certain areas that could not be patrolled.