By Bernama,
Hat Yai : Train services in Thailand’s restive South resumed early Saturday amid tight security, six days after being suspended as a result of an attack in which three people and a police officer were killed, Thailand News Agency (TNA) reported.
Saturday’s first train to the far south, packed with passengers, left Bangkok for Sungai Golok district in Narathiwat province on the Malaysian border, after State Railway of Thailand (SRT)’s staff returned to work as they were satisfied with the security measures.
SRT’s southern center director Thanongsak Pongprasert said that only 80 per cent of train services bound for the deep South would be provided to commuters because some trains were still parked in railyards in Yala province and Sungai Golok at the time the incident occurred.
Thanongsak said that he expected full services in the area will resume Sunday and that tightened security would help stop sabotage from taking place on the railways.
Security, involving military personnel, railway police and volunteers, was also tightened at all southern railway stations.
Train service to the southern border ceased on June 22 after apparent insurgents, who passed themselves off as ordinary passengers, revealed automatic weapons and began shooting inside a train coach while the train was moving in Narathiwat province, killing three railway workers and a police officer.