13 May, 2017
Thai Army investigators take a close look at the site of where a bomb was detonated in the southern city of Pattani, in southern Thailand on May 10, 2017.
Many see the southern Thai violence as a form of Islamist militancy and Islamic separatism, testifying to the strength of Malay Muslim beliefs and the determination of local people to resist the (Buddhist) Thai state on religious grounds. Most were discharged from hospital after being treated.
The Big C Supercentre in Pattani was targeted for a bomb attack for the first time on Aug 1, 2005 when a home-made bomb hidden in a potted plant was detonated by a mobile phone in the shopping centre's auto park.
"The second blast was a vehicle bomb", said Pattani police commander Major General Thanongsak Wangsupa.
Shortly afterwards, a bomb in a bag inside a pickup truck exploded, the Bangkok Post reported.
Initial reports indicate there were over 50 people injured after a double explosion at a shopping center in downtown Pattani.
Police were on the scene and appeared to be encouraging people to move back when the second blast went off.
"The other three were found dead last night", said Malinda Kosal, spokeswoman for the UN's National Centre for Peacekeeping Forces in Cambodia, adding that they were found by churchgoers about 2km from the location of the initial ambush.
"Minutes after that, I heard the sirens of rescue cars and ambulances".
While this latest attack is unique in its size and audacity, it's not the first time the supermarket has been targeted. "I feel bad about it... it happened at a place where people go to buy things".
For more than a year, Thailand has been engaging in a peace process with Mara Patani (Patani Consultative Council) with Malaysia, acting as the facilitator, to end the conflict which has claimed more than 6,000 lives.
The shadowy network of militants behind the violence nearly never claims its attacks and rarely talks to the media.
