Authorities monitor situation in Thai South

SURAT THANI, THAILAND, April 11 (TNA) - Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha has ordered Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, who oversees national security, to closely monitor the situation in the Thai South, following a bomb explosion at a shopping mall and a fire at a cooperative store on Koh Samui in the southern Surat Thani Province on Friday (Apr 10) night. Deputy Government Spokesman Major General Sansern Kaewkamnerd told journalists on Saturday (Apr 11) that General Prawit has, thus, ordered government forces to cooperate with local civilians to achieve efficiency in dealing with the situation. The deputy spokesman said a preliminary investigation has shown that bombers at the car park of the Central Festival shopping mall on Koh Samui are the same gang as those who planted bombs and created a series of unrest in Bangkok earlier. According to the deputy spokesman, security officers are tracking down the bombers, while the prime minister has ordered concerned authorities to provide security to people who are heading home to celebrate the annual Songkran or the Traditional Thai New Year Festival. Meanwhile, Anusit Kunakorn, Secretary-General of the National Security Council (NSC) told reporters that initial investigation showed bombers at the car park of the Central Festival shopping mall are not insurgents who are creating violence in the Thai deep South, but they appear to be troublemakers who are obstructing the government's national reforms and development. (TNA)