A bomb exploded at a busy morning market in Thailand's troubled Muslim-dominated south Thursday, wounding at least 20 people, a police official said. The device hidden in a motorcycle blew up at a market where police and soldiers often stop for breakfast in the Sukhirin district of Narathiwat province, police Lt. Col. Amnuay Pongsawat said. Police believe the bomb was triggered by remote control when a truck carrying security officials arrived. Four soldiers, six police officers and about 10 bystanders were wounded in the attack, seven of them seriously. The blast also damaged motorcycles and trucks parked nearby, he said. The attack came as a once-formidable Thai separatist group, the Pattani United Liberation Organization, posted a message on its Web site warning southern Muslims against frequenting nightclubs, police checkpoints, airports, railways and areas where important Thai officials may travel.
"Stop that unseemly frivolty and mirth!"
I sometimes wonder how Thailand manages to have any Muslims at all. The (Buddhist) Thais' relaxed attitudes toward life, their liking for jokes and puns, the pretty girls and often raunchy conversation must drive proper turbans nuts. But I repeat myself... |
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