Islamists in southern Thailand don’t seem to be accepting the new Prime Minister’s apology: Karaoke bar bombs wound five in Thailand.

BANGKOK: Militants detonated three small bombs at karaoke bars and at a roadside in Thailand’s rebellious Muslim south, wounding five people including two policemen.

The latest attack in a nearly three-year-old separatist insurgency occurred late on Saturday in the Tak Bai district in the province of Narathiwat, one of three provinces near the Malaysian border where more than 1700 people have been killed.

The 5kg bombs were detonated simultaneously at two karaoke bars and at a roadside in the area. “A bomb in one karaoke bar exploded just after the two policemen walked into the bar,” one police official who declined to be identified told Reuters.

Three civilians were also wounded in the two bar bombings.

“Witnesses saw a teenage boy walk into one bar and placed a paper bag, presumably with a bomb inside, under a couch,” the police official said.

The blast followed arson and shooting attacks in the neighbouring province of Yala, where militants shot a teacher couple and their daughter earlier on Saturday. Four schools were also set on fire in the attacks which came despite the post-coup government beginning a concerted effort for peace.

Previously at LGF:
Thai PM Apologizes to Muslims, Urges Shari’a
Religion of Peace Strikes in Thailand Despite PM’s Apology