Backpackers warned to be safe in Thailand, after recent bombings

Wednesday, 4 April 2012 11:00 AM

Backpackers travelling to Thailand are being warned by the FCO to stay safe and avoid areas which were targeted by bombers at the weekend. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have extended travel restrictions in Thailand, after 13 people were killed at 400 injured by bombs in Hat Yai and Yala on Saturday.

Since the attacks happened there has been a Government ‘State of Emergency’ covering the Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces.

Now, the FCO are advising travellers against all travel to the Preah Vihear and Ta Krabey/Ta Moan temple areas on the Thailand/Cambodia border. They are also warning against all but essential travel to the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla.

Attacks consisted of three bombs exploding in two cities 87 miles apart in southern Thailand. Unlike previous explosions in southern Thailand, the scale of destruction was much larger and appeared to target tourists, or areas popular with foreign visitors.

The explosives are believed to have been hidden in pick-up trucks and on motorcycles. Nine people were killed in the blasts, including a Malaysian tourist, and more than 100 were injured in Hat Yai when a bomb exploded in the grounds of the five-star Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel and Shopping Centre.

A further four were killed in Yala and 300 were wounded when two bombs exploded in a busy shopping street.

British nationals requiring urgent consular assistance in Thailand should call 02 305 8333.

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