Route taken by car used for the Samui bombing examined

The route taken by the car used in the Samui bombing at Central Festival Plaza Chawneg has been tracked on CCTV cameras. The recordings show that the car had left Yala and moved to Songkhla before stopping on the border zone of Songkhla and Nakhon Si Thammarat.

According to reports the car was sighted around 5-30pm on April 9^th on the border of Ranot district Songkhla. Then at 1.05am on April 10^th in the Chien Yai district of Nakhon Si Thammarat. Finding out where and why the car stopped will give vital information and clues as to the motive behind the bomb attack. Officials are now looking into the six hour disappearance of the vehicle from CCTV recordings.

A former leader of the Democratic Party and co leader of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee said that he had received information that those involved in the attack checked into a hotel in the Khanom district of Nakhon Si Thammarat. He believes the explosive device was planted on the vehicle at that hotel. He also insinuated that there was the possibility that a police colonel was involved.

The vehicle was reported stolen on March 31^st, Abdulraza Dumidae, who reported the theft is now in military custody, reports suggest he has made a partial confession. Five security guards from the shopping mill have also been detained at a separate army camp. These men will be handed over to the police after a seven day detention period.

While the general consensus of opinion is that the attack was politically motivated some believe it could be the resoled of a personal/business conflict. The only evidence to suggest the attack was designed to fan unrest in the far south of Thailand is that bombers may have lived in the southern provinces. So far there is little evidence to suggest the bomb was related to a fire at the coop in Surat Thani which broke out at around the same time.

Chatpong Chatraphuti the Surat Thani Governor said that security agencies were stepping up security at some of Samui’s key attractions after the Central Festival bomb. A special task team are closely monitoring Muslim residents on the island.

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