Southern Railway Service Resumes

[george]

Southern railway service resumes

PATTANI: -- Train services in Thailand’s three southern-most

provinces are running normally, although there may be some delays as a result

of the earlier bomb blast in Narathiwat province, the Pattani railway

station manager told TNA.

The service from Bangkok to the upper part of the region and the provinces

of Yala and Pattani is running normally, Pattani's rail chief, Ritthi

Saleephon said.

However, in Narathiwat, trains destined for Sungaikolok district have had to

stop at Tanyongmas station as part of the rail track to Sungaikolok was

badly damaged by the bomb explosion on Sunday morning.

Passengers are being transferred between Tanyongmas to Sungaikolok district

by road instead.

This has meant some trains in Pattani and Yala have been delayed while they

waited for passengers travelling by cars from Narathiwat.

Meanwhile, there has been tightened security for the protection of rail

officials and passengers.

There are no return tickets available for the Pattani-Bangkok train on

Sunday evening, he said.

--TNA 2005-03-27

[sriracha john]

Perhaps a further explanation of events is warranted...

VIOLENCE IN THE SOUTH: 22 injured in train ambush

Published on March 28, 2005

Bombs explode on tracks overturning carriage, before insurgents open fire on police and railway workers

Twenty-two police officers and railway workers aboard a maintenance train were injured early yesterday morning when two trackside bombs exploded in Sungai Padi district, derailing their carriage.

After the blasts, about 10 insurgents hiding nearby opened fire on people who had been blown from the train by the impact of the explosions, police said.

The assailants fled the scene after a 20-minute firefight, said Colonel Toem Inthasara, the superintendent of Sungai Padi police station.

Eleven workers of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) and 11 policemen were injured – nine of them seriously – when the bombs exploded, tearing the track apart and overturning the carriage. The explosions occurred about one kilometre from Sungai Padi railway station.

The bombs, each weighing about 20 kilos, were triggered by wires and blew up almost simultaneously under the train. About four metres of track was destroyed.

Eleven of the wounded remained in hospital yesterday.

The attack appeared to be well coordinated, said local police and authorities. Only moments before the attack, which occurred at 6.15am, another bomb was detonated behind a police officers’ apartment block, just a short distance from the Sungai Padi police station.

Part of the apartment block’s perimeter wall was damaged by shrapnel but there were no reports of injuries.

Police said it appeared the blast was aimed at distracting and confusing authorities before the attack on the track-inspection team.

Police were also delayed from coming to the aid of those under attack after their four vehicles suffered punctured tyres after running over nail spikes apparently left on the road by accomplices of the assailants.

Toem said that a manhunt involving more than 200 officials was ordered but it had yet failed to track down the assailants.

However, he said police had a number of suspects, whom he described only as those with a history of similar attacks in the area.

The officer said several spent cartridges of M-16 and AK-47 assault rifles were found at the scene of attack.

Another explosion took place near a bridge in Rangae district in Narathiwat early yesterday morning. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

Also yesterday morning, a suspicious-looking box was found on a roadside in Sungai Padi district. Police closed the area to traffic while the parcel, which was made to look like a home-made bomb, was examined by a bomb disposal team. It was found to be a hoax.

Two other fake bombs were also found in the district.

Security has been beefed up at six major railway stations in the deep South – Hat Yai, Khok Pho, Yala, Tanyongmat, Sungai Padi and Sungai Kolok – for fear of possible attacks by insurgents, said a source from the Fourth Army Region command.

Following the attack, railway officials called on soldiers to take over from police in guarding rail maintenance trains in the deep South.

The decision was reached at a meeting of southern railway officials and executives, said Virun Sakaekum, secretary of the SRT’s labour union in Hat Yai. He said concern was growing about the safety of railway officials following a series of violent attacks.

SRT governor Chitsanti Dhanasobhon repeated the call for military protection. He said that today he would join SRT union leaders in a visit to the region aimed at offering moral support to local railway officials.

The Nation