Tak Bai bomb possibly linked to massacre court case: Phumtham

A car bomb in Tak Bai district of Narathiwat could be linked to the mass killing court case that will expire in less than a month, Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Monday.
“It is possible,” he said when asked about the connection. “The Tak Bai case is receiving a lot of public attention as the statute of limitation will end on Oct 25.”
Mr Phumtham, who is also defence minister, said investigators were trying to come up with a conclusion as to whether the two cases were related.
He advised people in the border district to stay away from the blast area for safety as security authorities have stiffened measures in the wake of the blast. They should carry ID cards when they leave home, he added.
The blast near the house of the district chief at 9.50pm on Sunday injured two soldiers and caused the structure to collapse. It also damaged some nearby houses, according to the southern front office of the Internal Security Operations Command.
The bomb went off less than a month before the high-profile court case will expire.
The Tak Bai tragedy on Oct 25, 2004, claimed 85 lives, 78 of them victims of suffocation while being transported on army trucks to the Ingkayutthaborihan camp in Nong Chik district of Pattani. The rest died at the rally site. About 1,000 protesters rallied in front of Tak Bai police station that day demanding the release of six detainees.
The Provincial Court in Narathiwat has taken up the court case filed by residents or their families who are affected by the mass killing. One of the 14 accused is Gen Pisal Wattanawongkiri. He is a former Army Region 4 Commander and now a Pheu Thai Party list-MP.
All were ordered to report to the court to be informed that the case will start on Oct 12. But none of them has appeared at the court, including Gen Pisal, whose whereabouts are unknown amid speculation that he had left the country.
Mr Phumtham said last week that he did not know where Gen Pisal was and said the press should place more importance on the flood crisis than the massacre case.
Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher on Thailand for Human Rights Watch, posted an X message shortly after the bomb expressing worries about the forthcoming situation as the case is close to the end date. “It is a sign warning that #BRN is preparing to step up violent activities as the 20th year of the Tak Bai massacre case nears,” he wrote.
The human rights defender was referring to the Barisan Revolusi Nasional separatists.
A car used for the bomb in Tak Bai district in Narathiwat on Sunday night is completely damaged. (Photo: Internal Security Operations Command via Abdullah Benjakat)