Thailand: Deep South Defendants Get Stiff Sentences in Bombing Cases

Thailand’s Criminal Court on Friday sentenced four men from the Deep South to 66 years and eight months in prison, in connection with a 2013 bombing in Bangkok that injured seven.

Affaham Sa-a, Kamphi Latae, and Ilroheng Vaemae, of Pattani province, and Idris Sapator, of Narathiwat province, were found guilty of attempted murder; making, owning and using explosives; and carrying weapons in public places, according to The Bangkok Post.

Each man will serve only 50 years, the maximum under Thai law, according to The Nation.

The blast on May 26, 2013, outside a beauty shop on Ramkhamhaeng Soi 43/1 injured seven people and cause about 402,000 baht (U.S. $12,320) in damage, the Post said. Footage from security cameras showed all four men at the site of the blast shortly before it occurred.

The men confessed to the charges under police interrogation but denied them in court, the Post said.

Roadside bomb

Meanwhile, Thai security forces on Friday stepped up security measure in the southern-most provinces after a criminal court handed a death sentence to a suspected insurgent who took part in a roadside bomb attack three years ago.

On Thursday, a Pattani criminal court sentenced Ahama Hayeebaso to death on grounds of collaborating in an act of terror. He was found guilty of taking part in a January 2012 roadside bomb attack in Pattani’s Mayo district that killed two soldiers.

The defendant has the right to appeal but it was not immediately clear if he would do so.

The forward office of Internal Security Operations Command Region 4 (ISOC), in Pattani’s Yaring district, instructed government security forces personnel and civilians to stay alert in case of retaliatory attacks.

Also on Friday, Lt. Gen. Prakarn Cholayuth, the 4th Army Region Commander, visited Muang district of Narathiwat to give moral support to local residents affected by a Feb. 20 car bomb that injured twelve and damaged nearby structures and vehicles.

Prakarn urged residents to participate in protecting their community.

“You don’t need to go fight but stay unified … learn how to live happily in your community and to prevent the perpetrators from infiltrating to do harm to the community,” he said.