SONGKHLA - Three people, one a 9-year-old, were injured by two exploding grenades fired into a construction camp for the world’s tallest Guanyin statue in Thepha district on Wednesday morning.
Two more explosions occurred later in the morning on a roadside near the same camp, causing no injuries but scaring students at a nearby scout camp, who immediately returned home to Yala.
The first attack occurred at the statue's construction site in Ban Pak Bang Sakom in tambon Sakom about 6.10am.
Somporn Namkheow, 45, from Chaiyaphum province, suffered shrapnel wounds all over his body and Don Kaewloy, 46, from Kalasin, suffered wounds to her left leg.
The 9-year-old girl, Manthita Withawet, from Kalasin, had wounds to her head and neck.
All were taken to Thepha Hospital.
The explosions started fires in the workers camp and wrecked a pickup truck.
At the scene, police found leaflets in Thai and Myanmar languages with messages threatening the lives of people who dared to continue working at the site and elsewhere in the southern border provinces.
A third bomb exploded on a roadside near the camp about 10.30am, and a fourth about 10.46am, police said. There were no injuries. Security authorities had anticipated it and had already closed the access road.
The loud explosions startled students and teachers from the Demonstration School of Yala Rajabhat University who had just settled into a two-day scout camp at Pang Yang Resort, about 500 metres away. They immediately decamped, returning to Yala.
Security has been stepped up in Thepha, Chana, Nathawee and Saba Yoi districts of Songkhla. Bomb experts were scouring the area where the four explosions occurred, gathering evidence and looking for more bombs.
In 2022, Muslims gathered in Thepha district for a peaceful rally against the Guanyin statue project.
The 65-rai seaside area in Thepha belongs to TPI Polene Power Plc. The company is building a 136-metre-high Guanyin statue, which would make it the world's tallest and a new tourism landmark in the South.
The statue would also serve as a viewpoint tower. Construction started two years ago and is set for completion in 2026.
Currently, the tallest Guanyin statue stands 108 metres high and is on Hainan island in China.
In Chinese Buddhism, Guanyin is female, the bodhisattva of infinite compassion and mercy.
A fire engine arrives at the burning construction camp. (Photo supplied)
The wrecked pickup truck, hit by the grenade blasts that wounded three people. (Photo supplied)