Security officials on Tuesday rehearsed measures for maintaining security for Prayut trip to the new head office of the SBPAC, which is located in the heart of Yala.

The visit to the restive southern border province will go ahead despite a series of bomb attacks in Bangkok that some have said could be linked to insurgents.

The 500 police, soldiers and rangers will be deployed around the new SBPAC head office while the prime minister is chairing its opening ceremony.

The SBPAC purchased the Chang Lee Hotel building from the Assets Management Committee to renovate as its new head office. The SBPAC spent Bt147.84 million for the procurement, below its estimated price of Bt225.48 million.

After the opening ceremony, the prime minister is scheduled to visit the Yala Rubber Market, which also functions as a market for buying durians from local people, officials said.

Speaking to reporters at the Government House, Anupong said he instructed all agencies to monitor the situation closely and to prepare measures for guarding areas under their control.

He said agencies of the Interior Ministry agencies were instructed to work with other government agencies to protect various places throughout the capital city.

Anupong said the road cleaners of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration had also been instructed to be on alert for suspicious objects.

Malls report no impact on shoppers from bomb blasts

4 bomb suspects arrested so far, police to seek warrants for seven more

The source said two of the four were the first two arrested in Chumphon early on Friday after they allegedly planted two bombs in front of the Royal Thai Police headquarters, but the bombs were detected and destroyed on Thursday evening.

The source said the two other suspects were suspected of being involved in arson attacks in the Pratunam area.

Arson and bomb blasts hit several parts of Bangkok from early to late on Friday morning.

The source added that investigators had discovered that the four suspects had arrived in Bangkok on July 20, staying in rented rooms on Soi Ramkhamhaeng 65.

The source added police investigators have so far interrogated several witnesses, including taxi drivers who drove suspects to destinations. The investigators also interrogated vendors in the Pratunam area, who reported that they had seen the suspects visiting the spots on several occasions.

The source said police sought help from the Marines, who sent their sniffing dogs to check several sites on Saturday to gather evidence. Police are now in the process of seeking arrest warrants against seven more suspects, the source said.

The source said police believe 15 people took part in the operation. Two bombers were in charge of launching an attack on the two shopping malls in Pathumwan, two more at the Chong Nonsee BTS station, two at the Government Complex at Chaeng Wattana, one at the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Defence Ministry, two in front of the Royal Thai Police headquarters , two in a Pratunam-area mall, as well as an additional four arson suspects in the Pratunam area.

Malls report no impact on shoppers from bomb blasts

Interior minister puts all agencies on full alert

The source from a police investigative team said the suspect was arrested just as he was about to cross into Malaysia at the Sungai Kolok border checkpoint. The source identified the suspect only as Hung.

The source said the suspect’s responsibility was to keep the homemade bombs, which were smuggled across the border from Malaysia, in his rented room in Bangkok for the bombers to plant at various spots.

The source said police believe the bombers, who were divided into cells that worked separately from one another, went to Bangkok with the smuggled bombs and left them with Hung before they checked the spots where they would plant the bombs, then return to deep South.

The cells then went up to Bangkok again on July 31 and took the bombs from Hung to plant and fled back to the deep South on Thursday before the bombs went off Friday morning.

The source said investigators believe the bombing was connected to the southern insurgency and that the timing of bombings was close to the celebration of Patani State, which used to include the three southern border provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala and four districts of Songkhla.

Since the case was related to the southern insurgency, Hung would be detained under the emergency law that allows the authorities to detain suspects 30 days without charges.

Party leader Wan Muhammad Noor Matha sent Narathiwat MPs Kamolsak Leewamoh and Kuheng Yaworhasun and party executive Muhammad Shekharoon to file a formal complaint with Muang Narathiwat police against Piyapong Prasatthong.

Kamolsak claimed Piyapong posted on Facebook on Saturday morning that Prachachart was behind the bomb attacks, saying it hired young southern men to carry out the crime.

Kamolsak said Piyapong added the party’s logo to his post minutes later.

Kamolsak gave police print-outs of the post and asked them to charge Piyapong with defamation and violating the Computer Crime Act.

The same day at the same police station, “Thaweesak P”, another executive of the party and a former editor of the journal War Tani, filed a complaint unconnected to the party against another Facebook user, Aruj Panachinbonchon.

Thaweesak said Aruj posted an analysis online in which he accused him of being behind bomb attacks in the southern border provinces and of being linked to BRN and Permas, which the government views as terrorist groups.

The two suspects were identified by their families as Lu-ai Saengae, 23, and Wildun Maha, 29. Both are residents of Narathiwat’s Rusoh district.

The two were arrested on a bus at the Pathomphon checkpoint in Chumphon’s Muang district early on Friday after they were seen on security cameras allegedly planting homemade bombs in front of Royal Thai Police headquarters the day before. They were taken to the police training school under Provincial Police Bureau 9 before they were transferred to the Forward Command.

The mother of Lu-ai and relatives of both suspects came to the Royal Thai Police Forward Command at 10.37am to visit the two suspects, only to be told that the morning visiting hours ended at 10am. They were instructed to come back to visit them in the afternoon, starting at 2pm.

Lu-ai’s mother said she came to visit her son because she would like to find out whether he was safe and treated justly.

“If I see with my own eyes that he is safe, I’ll feel relieved,” she said.

“Whether he committed the crime is a matter of judicial process. But I have not met him for four days since his arrest. I am worried.”

She said she was initially informed by the tambon chief that her son was arrested, but she did not know why. She said she was later informed in a phone call by an official that her son was charged with planting bombs in Bangkok.

“Lately, my son has been staying home all the time because he has just finished his research and will receive a degree soon. He told me he would make a visit to Bangkok to tour the city so I gave him permission.”

The mother said she would like to call on police not to harm her son.

“Please take care of my son and his friend. Whether he was right or wrong, please deal with him according to the law. Please don’t harm him. That’s all I ask,” the mother pleaded.

Pol Lt Gen Sompong Chingduang cited official records and recordings from security cameras at a border checkpoint in Narathiwat, which clearly showed their faces.

The men were arrested in Chumphon early on Friday after allegedly planting two homemade bombs in front of Royal Thai Police headquarters the day before.

The bombs were found and defused before they could detonate.

Sompong declined to disclose the dates on which the pair entered Malaysia or who might have been in their company.

These details had been passed on to Police Commissioner Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda, who might make them public later, he said.

Sompong said Chakthip had instructed immigration officials at all border passes, airports and seaports to carefully check everyone crossing.

Those in the southern border provinces were instructed to pay particular attention to vehicles.

The source from a police investigative team said investigators have obtained information that the 15 suspects divided their attacks into solo missions or working in pairs.

The bomb planters separately planted bombs at various locations at about 3pm on August 1st, with the bombs set to explode from 8am to 9am the next morning.

The source said security cameras at the Government Complex in Chaeng Watthana caught two suspects coming to the area to plant bombs. Two small explosions occurred at a small garden in front of Building B of the complex the next morning.

One of the two suspects was seen wearing new clothes inside a shopping mall in the Chaeng Watthana area, where he apparently changing his outfit after the bomb planting, while another suspect was seen travelling to the Chong Nonsee BTS station to plant two other bombs.

Security cameras caught another team of two suspects planting bombs in front of the Royal Thai Police headquarters. The two bombs were found on Thursday evening and disposed of.

Those two suspects were seen in security cameras at the Mor Chit Bus Terminal where they bought tickets for travelling to Songkhla, but they were arrested in Chumphon.

The source said a suspect acted alone to plant a bomb at a shopping mall in Siam Square. The suspect was seen on camera hiding a bomb among goods.

The source added that four suspects planted bombs at various spots on Soi Phetchaburi 17. The bombs exploded on Friday morning, causing multiple fires.

The source said the two suspects, who planted bombs in front of the Royal Thai Police headquarters were arrested at the Pathomphon road checkpoint in Chumphon’s Muang district.

After they were taken to the Provincial Police Bureau 9’s police training school in Yala for questioning, their statements led to the arrest of anther suspect.

The source said the 15 suspects were from southern border provinces and separately stayed at various locations in the Ramkhamhaeng area and in Pathum Thani’s Thanyaburi district.

The source from an investigative team said today (August 5) that three suspects had so far been arrested and police are now hunting for another 12.

The source said the 15 suspects were divided into teams of two or working alone to carry out the attacks.

The source said investigators had determined that a total of four suspects from the same group had carried out the bomb attacks in front of the Government Complex in Chaeng Watthana and in front of the Office of the Defence Permanent Secretary in Sri Samarn area.

The investigators found that two suspects had worked together to plant bombs in front of the Government Complex, with a third assigned to the front of the Office of the Defence Permanent Secretary, while the fourth suspect delivered the homemade bombs to the two teams.

The source added that the two teams had stayed at the same rented house on Soi Phaholyothin 107 in Pathum Thani’s Thanya Burit district.

They got the bombs from a delivery man at the Makro Rangsit shopping mall and took taxis to the bomb sites.

The bomb delivery man left on a motorcycle, heading in the direction of Pathum Thani after handing bombs to the three other suspects, source added.

The source said police had so far interrogated three taxi drivers who delivered the two teams to the bomb sites and picked up the team at one of the two sites.

The source added that two suspects, who were arrested aboard a bus in Chumphon, were being detained at the Provincial Police 9’s police training school. The two were suspected of planting bombs in front of the Royal Thai Police headquarters but the bombs were detected before they exploded.

The source said police learned that these two suspects had crossed the border to Malaysia and back to Thailand via the Sungai Kolok border checkpoint several times.

They crossed the border to Malaysia in July and later travelled to Bangkok from there, the source added.

Speaking to reporters while attending an event to mark the 132nd anniversary of the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, Prayut said police have arrested two suspects but they have yet to hunt down more than 10 other accomplices.

He said the public should be patient because police have yet to conduct further investigations. “Please be patient. If we pressure the officials, it will be hard for them to work,” Prayut said.

“These kinds of incidents can happen in any part of the world. There are many people with different opinions and I am not saying which group was behind the attacks.”

On Friday, police arrested two suspects in Chumphon while they were travelling on board a bus from Bangkok back to their homes in Narathiwat. Police sources said they were accused of planting bombs in front of the Royal Thai Police HQ on Thursday. The capital was hit by a series of blasts the following day. According to sources, police were focusing their investigations on whether the pair was taking revenge for the death of a suspected insurgent in detention.

Asked to comment on an observation of Army chief General Apirat Kongsompong that the latest blasts were similar to attacks in Bangkok in 2006 when no arrests were made, Prayut said the Army chief simply compared the two events.

“I don’t know whether any political group was behind the attacks or not. Please don’t rush to conclude anything now,” Prayut said.

When asked whether he thought the attacks were linked to the insurgency in the southern border provinces, Prayut said no possible motives have been ruled out yet.

Told by reporters that the mother of a suspect was demanding to know the whereabouts of her son, Prayut replied that it was normal for the mother to worry about her child but police would handle the suspects based on evidence.

Prayut said police have strong evidence against the suspects, including clothes they left behind and footage from security cameras.

Police sources said the suspects were seen near the front of the police headquarters and wearing different clothes.

Prayut condemned the attacks as evil.

“I regard the attacks as evil acts … especially doing these to Thailand now. We can’t yet say who did it but the perpetrators are very cruel and mean to cause turmoil to the country while the nation is moving forward under a democratic government,” Prayut said.

Prayut said it would be up to government agencies concerned whether to integrate all CCTV systems to the same control centre for better prevention of crimes.

He added that he would have police explain the case systematically, noting that this was the first time all agencies were integrating operations to solve the case.

“The intelligence work, the investigation and evidence testing have all been integrated,” Prayut said.

He said he would not set a deadline for police to solve the case because the number of 200,000 police personnel is considered inadequate when compared to a 70-million strong population.

He said he would like to call on the public to help police monitor any suspicious incidents, especially in tourist destination spots.

Asked whether the attacks were made to test his limit now that he is now supervising both the Police and the armed forces, Prayut said he did not think so as he has good ties with both Deputy Defence Minister General Chaichan Changmongkhol and with top police officers.

Prayut also expressed confidence that attacks had nothing to do with election campaigns of the Phalang Pracharat which promised Prayut would be able to keep the same level of peace and order as during the tenure of the first Prayut government if the Phalang Pracharat were elected.

“I don’t think so,” Prayut replied when asked whether the motive was political and aimed to discredit the pre-poll promise of the Phalang Prachrat.

“When the party campaigned, I was the prime minister and chief of the National Council for Peace and Order and I did not get involved in the election campaigns … Don’t cross-link issues. The country is already suffering enough. Don’t you want to see the country peaceful?” Prayut told reporters.

When told that opponents suspected the blasts were linked to government, Prayut replied: “Look at a bigger picture. The government was holding an international meeting of Asean foreign minister and dialogue partner nations. Who would do that kind of things to discredit the kingdom’s credibility in the eyes of the international community?”

Prayut added that as director of the Internal Security Operations Command, he has asked the ISOC to work with other security agencies to prevent more untoward incidents and had also instructed the Anti-International Terrorism Centre to seek cooperation from neighbouring countries for information about possible terrorists crossing the borders to launch attacks in Thailand.