Crime Police Officer Dies in Bomb Attack While Investigating Murder

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture courtesy of Amarin.

 

A police officer has died and two others were injured following a bomb blast in Narathiwat province on 4 May, in what authorities believe was a targeted attack linked to an ongoing murder investigation.

 

The explosion occurred at approximately 13:30 in the village of Ai Rakho (also referred to as Ban Yoi and Ban Ai Ro So), Moo 5, Chang Phueak subdistrict, Chanae district. The officers, part of the Narathiwat provincial police’s investigative unit, were in the area to retrieve CCTV footage related to a separate, shocking incident in which a blind disabled woman and her son were gunned down on 2 May.

 

As the officers approached an electricity pole to collect surveillance equipment, an improvised explosive device (IED) planted at the site detonated. The blast injured three officers:

 

• Police Sub-Lieutenant Phakaphong Suwannachana, sustained shrapnel wounds to the face and left wrist. Initially reported as conscious but in critical condition.

 

• Police Sergeant Major Satit Khamhaeng, wounded in the head by shrapnel, remained conscious.

 

• Police Sub-Lieutenant Theepakorn Chusing, injured in the right leg, also remained conscious.

 

Sub-Lieutenant Phakaphong Suwannachana, who had been rushed to Narathiwat Hospital in a critical state, succumbed to his injuries at around 16:50.

 

Initial investigations suggest the attack was a deliberate attempt to thwart the investigation into the double murder earlier this week. The explosive was concealed near the power pole, a location the perpetrators may have known would be visited by police collecting surveillance footage.

 

The incident comes amid a renewed wave of violence in Thailand’s deep south, including recent bombings in Pattani and a motorcycle bomb near a military outpost. These events have prompted senior military officials to call for a reassessment of security protocols in the region.

 

The death of Sub-Lieutenant Phakaphong underscores the ongoing danger faced by security personnel working in the restive provinces in the southern, where separatist violence has persisted for nearly two decades.

 

Authorities continue to investigate the bombing and are appealing to the public for any information that could lead to the arrest of those responsible.

 

Related article:

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1359597-violence-flares-again-in-the-deep-south-gunmen-kill-elderly-woman-in-narathiwat-attack/

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Amarin 2025-05-05.

 

 

 

[Gottfrid]

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