Thai police seek Malaysia help in bomb probe

By CS Thana

BANGKOK

Thailand's military government said Monday that it will ask for Malaysian cooperation as it investigates a string of deadly bombings.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters that the government would ask for its southern neighbor’s help after it was revealed that one of the phones used in last week’s bomb attacks was bought in Malaysia.

He, however, insisted that the string of attacks were an internal matter and had nothing to do with a simmering insurgency in Thailand's southernmost Muslim majority provinces despite three overnight bombings in Yala province.

Those attacks targeted local shops and businesses but failed to injure anyone and caused minor damage.

Meanwhile, National Police Chief Chakthip Chaijinda described the incidents as “unrelated".

"The bomb attacks last week are an internal matter and we are focusing our investigation on political motives," he added.

Chaijinda maintained that the bombings were the work of local "saboteurs" and not terrorists.

Four people were killed in the swathe of bombings that rocked towns across the south overnight Thursday and Friday morning.

Officials have steadfastly dismissed the possibility that the Muslim insurgency -- which has destabilized the three southernmost province of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat for decades -- could be behind the bombings.

In the bombing's aftermath, some Thai officials have pointed the finger toward their political opponents, most notably members of Thailand's Red Shirt movement who are in support of junta nemesis Thaksin Shinawatra, a prime minister deposed in a 2006 coup who now lives in exile.