The explosion late Friday night in a parking lot at Central Festival Samui resulted in minor injuries to seven people and damaged 10 cars as well as other mall property, bringing down the ceiling a wrecking elevators.
The pickup containing the bomb had been stolen in Yala, leading to early speculation that the incident was linked to the insurgency in the three southern border provinces.
But a government spokesman steered speculation in another direction, saying the attack might be linked to incidents earlier this year in Bangkok.
“Initial reports back the theory that [the Samui bombers] are the same group that [set off bombs] in Bangkok,” said Maj Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd.
He declined to elaborate on the basis for the theory. Police have several people in custody in connection with the two Bangkok incidents: an explosion in a transformer near Siam Paragon on Feb 1, and another in which a grenade was lobbed into the empty parking lot of the Criminal Court building late on March 7.
“As authorities have taken strict precautions [in Bangkok], situations are being created elsewhere. Authorities have found some links with incidents in Bangkok and are tracing suspects from clues in the scene,” Maj Gen Sansern said.
Suspicions about a political motivation have been rife because the Samui blast took place just a half-hour after a major fire began on the Surat Thani mainland on Friday night.
The blaze caused B50 million in damage to the Surat Thani Cooperative founded by politician-turned-monk Suthep Thaugsuban. Mr Suthep led the anti-government protests that culminated in the military coup last May.
It has not yet been established that the cause of the Coop blaze was a bomb. In fact, staff at the Coop said they thought an electrical short circuit was more likely the cause.
Maj Gen Sansern said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had ordered security authorities to maximise their measures in light of Friday’s incidents.
Col Banpot Pulpian, a spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc), said the Samui bombers might be southern insurgents who were hired by another group.
“It is possible that the culprits are members of a violent group in the southern border provinces or experienced car bomb makers in the southern border provinces and they were hired by some party for another purpose,” he said.
He said the Samui blast had some of the hallmarks of an incident in Ramkhamhaeng Soi 43/1 in Bangkok on May 26, 2013. In that incident, a bomb exploded in a pile of garbage in front of a beauty salon, injuring seven people. The bombers came from the southern border provinces of Narathiwat and Pattani.
However, he also noted that Isoc’s intelligence had found no evidence that the southern insurgents wanted to expand their campaign of violence outside their home region.
The Mazda Fighter pickup used in the Samui attack had been reported stolen in Yala on March 31. Eight people had taken the vehicle from an official of the Tambon La-ae administrative organisation in Yaha district.
Thai media reported that the vehicle’s owner was being held at a paramilitary ranger base in Yala for questioning. Authorities were quoted as saying the man had given “contradictory testimony” about the incident and had not provided any useful information.
PM’s Office Minister Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana, a former director of the National Intelligence Agency, said authorities could not conclude yet whether the Samui incident was politically motivated.
Intelligence officials earlier had recommended precautions at tourist destinations, he added.
Col Winthai Suvari, the spokesman for the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), said that Gen Prayut, the NCPO chief, and Gen Udomdej Sitabutr, the army chief and NCPO secretary-general, had ordered soldiers and police to intensify security measures, especially at night.
“I admit that some parties continue to find chances to create disturbance in the society. ... This goes against the will of the majority of people who want social order,” Col Winthai said.
In the South, Central Pattana Plc closed its Hat Yai branch today to wait for an assessment of the security situation by authorities.
Saran Tantichamnan, the general manager of Central Festival Hat Yai, said security cameras at Central Festival on Samui had captured images of a person suspected of involvement in last night’s attack in Samui.
Soldiers and police along with bomb-sniffing dogs were at Central Festival Hat Yai to ensure safety for shoppers, Mr Saran said, adding that the centre would reopen tomorrow if authorities deemed conditions safe.
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