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The blasts were
in Pattani, one of three Muslim-majority provinces in largely
Buddhist Thailand, near the Malaysian border, on Wednesday and
Thursday.
Resistance to central government rule has existed for decades in
the area but violence picked up significantly in 2004. More than
6,500 people, including Buddhist monks, teachers, troops and
separatist insurgents have been killed since then.
At least 10 bombs went off in Pattani's Yaring district,
including two at bank cash dispensing machines, wounding 11
policemen.
A civilian man was killed after being caught in a blast near a
hair-dressing shop, a military spokesman said.
"The people causing the trouble want to show they are still
active," said Colonel Yuthanam Phetmuang, deputy spokesman for
the military's Internal Security Operations Command.
No group claimed responsibility for the attacks which
authorities have blamed broadly on insurgent groups.
In January, the military and conflict analysts said violence in
the south had fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade
because of stepped up security efforts.
The explosions followed multiple gun and bomb attacks this month
in neighboring Narithawat province.
People in the south complain of years of neglect by Bangkok.
The failure of successive governments to quell the violence has
fanned distrust of the state in the region, which was an
independent Malay Muslim sultanate a century ago before being
annexed by Thailand.
Shortly after taking power in a 2014 coup, the military vowed to
bring peace to the south within a year.
(Reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Panarat Thepgumpanat and
Surapan Boonthanom; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by
Robert Birsel)
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