By NNN-Bernama,
Bangkok : Thai Army Chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Friday that the explosion at Bang Bua Thong apartment in Nonthaburi province in suburban Bangkok is not related to the insurgency movement in the southern border region, Thai News Agency reported.
He said initial investigation found that the woman in Muslim dress concealing from head to toe is not Muslim but dresses herself like Muslim women.
A closed circuit television camera at Saman Metta Mansion captured images of a man and a woman in Muslim dress frequently visiting Room 202 of suspected bomb-maker Samai Wongsuwan.
“Personally, I consider that this is not yet linked with insurgency in Deep South,” said Gen Prayuth told reporters before departing for a visit to the violence-torn region.
Four people were killed and nine were injured in an apparent bomb-assembling incident at an apartment in Bang Bua Thong on Oct 5 and the initial investigation found Samai, a native of Chiang Mai who rented the apartment, accidentally killed himself and others.
Reports said that over 4,300 people have been killed in the three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat where Muslims are the majority population, since the insurgency resumed in 2004.
The attacks include bombing, shooting and arsons with more violent and complex methods.
On Thursday’s seizure of military weapons in a rented room in Bangrak district, he said the investigation found the person who rented the room of an apartment has moved out since August and that the weapons do not belong to the army and have not been used in Thailand.
Police found a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher, an assault rifle,four RPGs and 750 AK47 cartridges in a rented room of a commercial building in Bangrak.
Witness said he found the weapons as the building owner had asked him to break into the room, rented by a former employee of the opposition Puea Thai Party since May who disappeared from the building at the end of August.
Gen Prayuth said the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) will from now on step up its searching operations and needs public participation and cooperation on the matter.
Regarding unconfirmed reports that 64 armed black-clad men are now mingling and planning to cause disturbances in the capital, Gen Prayuth said he is now closely monitoring the reports, saying it is still unknown if the group reallydoes exist and how professional their arms use is.
He said if the group exists, these men should have been well-trained to useweapons at a certain level, but the training cannot be conducted easily, as for the army it takes about two years to train soldiers to get ready for thebattlefield.