Narathiwat: About 500 residents and local religious leaders in Sungai Kolok district staged a rally Thursday to call for an end to violence in the insurgency-plagued South, three days after several motorcycle bomb blasts wounded 13 villagers in the border district.
The rally-goers held various Thai-language placards, including messages calling for peace, as they marched on a road in Sungai Kolok municipality. They ended in front of Sungai Kolok School.
The group called on all parties to strive harder to resolve the ongoing unrest. It urged residents to serve as authorities' eyes and ears, keeping them notified of suspicious behaviour, packages or suspected insurgents.
Among the participants were 250 local Islamic leaders. They also prayed for peace and urged the insurgents to turn their backs on violence and help authorities piece local communities that are being fractured along religious or ethnic lines back together.
District chief Preecha Nualnoy thanked local religious leaders for joining efforts to help address the problems in the region.
Pol Col Prayut Pongsanti, the chief of police in Sungai Kolok, said progress has been made regarding the investigation into Monday's three motorbike bombs.
CCTV footage has been retrieved showing the bomb-rigged motorcycles being put in place and is now being reviewed to help identify the perpetrators, he said.
The bombers were seen to be picked up by people riding other motorcycles, but the licence plates in the footage are unclear, Pol Col Prayut said.
Officers are checking more cameras in the vicinity to read the letters on the plates, he added.
The bombers were likely to belong to the same group that set off a car bomb outside Ban Sungai Kolok School in the municipality on June 25, 2016, which left two people wounded, he said.
Meanwhile, officers are investigating a case in which two suspected insurgents were shot dead by police in a gun battle in tambon Khao Toom of Yarang district of Pattani on Tuesday.
Three police officers were wounded in the incident.
One of the slain suspects was identified as Sobueri Jehe, who police said faced seven arrest warrants in security cases.
Those cases include the fatal shooting of a female teacher in Pattani's Mayo district on Nov 8, 2016 and the killing of three solders at a flea market in the same district on March 2 of last year.
Another dead suspect was revealed to be Yusoh Jehlong, who had three arrest warrants out in his name.
Rusdee Mama, the leader of Ban Namsai in Mayo district's tambon Lubo Yirai, where the funeral for Sobueri was conducted on Wednesday night, said his family and local residents had come to terms with what happened as they accepted Sobueri was involved in the insurgency network.
Mr Rusdee said Sobueri had not been seen in the village for a long time.
The funeral ceremony for Yusoh was held at a cemetery in tambon Sanor of Pattani's Yarang district. Relatives said they were unaware Yusoh had outstanding warrants.
They said they held no grudges and hoped the country would see peace restored soon. The three wounded officers received flowers and gifts bestowed by the King on Wednesday.
