Two bombs exploded in the Thai seaside resort of Hua Hin on Thursday, killing one woman and injuring 20 people, Thai police said. The explosions happened ahead of a public holiday on Friday to mark the birthday of Queen Sirikit.
Hua Hin is a popular upscale Thai resort south of Bangkok and many people will have gone there for the holiday weekend. The second bomb exploded near a bar at about 10.20pm (14.20 Irish time), killing a Thai woman and injuring eight foreigners and one other Thai person, local deputy police chief Samer Yousamran said. The injured are being treated at a local hospital, he said.
The first bomb went off about 20 minutes earlier about 50 metres away from the second bomb, he said. Nobody was injured in the first explosion. Police are investigating and as yet do not know the motive or the identity of the bombers, he said.
Separate incident
In a separate incident earlier on Thursday, a bomb exploded at a market in the southern Trang province in Thailand, injuring six people, police said. Police believe that explosion was related to a local dispute.
Thais voted less than a week ago in a referendum to adopt a military-backed constitution, the first test of prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha at the ballot box since he seized power in a coup in May 2014.
Thailand’s 88 year-old king Bhumibol Adulayadej, the world’s longest reigning monarch, and his wife Sirikit are in hospital in Bangkok but have resided in recent years in Hua Hin at the Klai Kangwon Palace royal palace, which translates as “Far from Worries Palace”.
King Bhumibol has received treatment for an infection over the past month in a Bangkok hospital, the Royal Household Bureau said on August 1st.
Reuters