Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • Charlie Kirk shot dead
  • Nepal protests
  • Russia-Poland tension
  • Israeli strikes in Qatar
  • Larry Ellison
  • Apple event
  • Sunjay Kapur inheritance row
fp-logo
Thailand bomb blasts: Eight explosions in Hua Hin, Phuket kill four and injure 20
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
  • Home
  • World
  • Thailand bomb blasts: Eight explosions in Hua Hin, Phuket kill four and injure 20

Thailand bomb blasts: Eight explosions in Hua Hin, Phuket kill four and injure 20

Agence France-Presse • August 12, 2016, 10:29:04 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

A string of bomb attacks targeting Thailand’s crucial tourism industry have killed four people, officials said Friday, sending authorities scrambling to identify a motive and find the perpetrators.

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Add as a preferred source on Google
Prefer
Firstpost
On
Google
Thailand bomb blasts: Eight explosions in Hua Hin, Phuket kill four and injure 20

Hua Hin: A string of bomb attacks targeting Thailand’s crucial tourism industry have killed four people, officials said Friday, sending authorities scrambling to identify a motive and find the perpetrators. Twin bombs exploded in the upscale resort of Hua Hin late Thursday, killing one woman and wounding more than 20 others, including nine foreign tourists, and were followed by two more on Friday morning that killed another person. A further two blasts struck Friday in the popular tourist town of Phuket, while two more bombs were reported in the southern provinces of Trang and Surat Thani, in each of which one person was killed. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha called for calm and said he did not know who was behind the attacks. “The bombs are an attempt to create chaos and confusion,” he told reporters. “We should not make people panic more.” [caption id=“attachment_2951140” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] ![In this screen grab taken from video, emergency services at the scene of a bomb attack, in Hua Hin, Thailand on Thursday. AP](https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Thai.jpg) In this screen grab taken from video, emergency services at the scene of a bomb attack, in Hua Hin, Thailand on Thursday. AP[/caption] “Why the bombs occurred as our country is heading towards stability, a better economy and tourism — and who did it — you have to find out for me,” he added. The two bombs that went off in Hua Hin on Thursday evening were hidden in potted plants and went off within 30 minutes of each other in the bar district of the popular beach town. While small bombings are common in the kingdom during periods of heightened political tension, there have been few such incidents in the past year and it is rare for tourists to be targeted. Hua Hin is home to the summer palace of Thailand’s revered royal family and the blast came on the eve of Queen Sirikit’s 84th birthday and just ahead of the first anniversary of a Bangkok shrine bombing that killed 20. Authorities were searching for leads on the attackers and a motive behind the latest blasts. Hua Hin’s district chief, Sutthipong Klai-udom, told AFP that the bombs on Thursday evening were detonated by mobile phone. According to staff at local hospitals, German, Italian, Dutch and Austrian nationals were among the wounded. “It was very shocking. There was a loud noise and police were running everywhere, it was terrible,” said Michael Edwards, an Australian tourist staying in a guest house close to where the second bomb detonated. “I was just surprised that it happened here… now I’m thinking if it’s worth staying,” he told AFP. Record tourism Hua Hin is an upscale resort town about 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of Bangkok, popular with both local and foreign tourists. It is also home to a palace for years favoured by Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest reigning monarch. The 88-year-old is currently hospitalised in Bangkok for a myriad of health complications, a pressing source of anxiety for many Thais and a key factor in the kingdom’s past decade of political turmoil. Thailand’s reputation as the ‘Land of Smiles’ has suffered in recent years from crimes against foreigners and political unrest. But tourists continue to flock to its white, sandy beaches and Buddhist temples. The kingdom is expecting a record 32 million visitors in 2016, with the tourism industry a bright spot in an otherwise lacklustre economy. The latest blasts came just days before the first anniversary of the last major attack on tourists in Thailand — a 17 August bomb that killed 20 people, mostly ethnic Chinese tourists. The blast ripped through a crowded Hindu shrine in the heart of Bangkok and stunned the kingdom as the deadliest assault in recent history. Two Uighur men from western China have been accused of the attack and are due to go on trial later this month. Both deny any involvement in the bombing and mystery continues to swirl around the case, with authorities failing to catch a number of other suspects or offer a thorough explanation for a motive. Thailand’s military junta, which seized power in 2014 after a decade of at times violent political unrest, has touted an increase in stability in the kingdom as a major accomplishment of its rule. Yet the generals have failed to quell a long-running Islamic insurgency in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces — a region far from Bangkok or Hua Hin. The conflict is largely contained to the far south but violence has occasionally spilled into other areas. Zachary Abuza, an expert on militants in Southeast Asia, said it would be “very unusual” for the insurgents to target Hua Hin. If southern rebels were behind the recent blasts, “it is almost definitely a small cell operating on their own initiative”, he told AFP.

Tags
NewsTracker Phuket Surat Thani Thailand bomb blast Thailand bomb attack Trang Thailand tourism
End of Article
Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
End of Article

Impact Shorts

French MPs call for social media ban for under-15s, digital curfew for teenagers

French MPs call for social media ban for under-15s, digital curfew for teenagers

A French committee suggests banning social media for kids under 15 and a nighttime digital curfew for teens 15-18. The report cites concerns about TikTok's effects on minors. President Macron backs the ban, akin to Australia's proposed law.

More Impact Shorts

Top Stories

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports

QUICK LINKS

  • Trump-Zelenskyy meeting
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV