Thai police on Friday reported 22 attacks, including at least five small bomb blasts, in Muslim-majority southern Thailand only hours after King Maha Vajiralongkorn signed a new constitution on Thursday as a step toward ending military rule.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in the attacks in the region where there has been a recent upsurge in a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency. Parts of the region voted against the new constitution at a referendum last year.

“The incidents are to create disturbances. They want to destroy the government’s credibility and create fear among people,” said Pramote Prom-in, spokesman for local security forces.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility and security forces said they did not know who was to blame.

On Thursday Thailand’s king signed a military-backed constitution into law, an essential step toward an election the junta has promised will restore democracy after the 12th successful coup in little over 80 years.

The new constitution is the Southeast Asian country’s 20th since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932 and critics say it will still give the generals a powerful say over Thai politics for years, if not decades.

Voters in the most heavily Muslim parts of Thailand were among the few to reject the draft constitution in last year’s referendum.

Security forces said five bombs had exploded on electric poles, causing local power cuts, and there had been a number of tire-burning incidents.

Details were not immediately available of all the attacks, and a large number of coordinated attacks in the region is unusual.

A Malay Muslim separatist insurgency in the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat has claimed more than 6,500 lives since it escalated in 2004, according to independent monitoring group Deep South Watch.

On Monday, police reported what they described as the biggest attack by insurgents in the south in years. They said about 30 insurgents had fired more than 500 shots into a police booth.

In February, the government of the Buddhist-majority country struck a deal with MARA Patani, a long-standing umbrella group that claims to speak for the insurgents, but other separatists rejected it.</s>[BANGKOK] Bomb blasts were among 23 coordinated attacks that rocked Muslim-majority southern Thailand early on Friday, a security officer said, just hours after King Maha Vajiralongkorn signed a new constitution as a step towards ending military rule.

Police reported no casualties in the region, site of a recent upsurge in a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency that had voted the most strongly against the new constitution at a referendum last year.

"The incidents are aimed to create disturbances," Pramote Prom-In, a spokesman for regional security forces, told Reuters.

"They want to destroy the government's credibility and create fear among people."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility and security forces said they could not yet identify which insurgent group was to blame.

The attacks were scattered across 19 districts in the southern region, grouping the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, and the nearby province of Songkhla, he said.

A large number of co-ordinated attacks in the region is unusual. Complete details were not immediately available, but they ranged from bomb explosions at 52 electricity poles, triggering widespread regional power cuts, to several tyre-burning incidents, Mr Pramote added.

On Thursday, Thailand's king signed into law a military-backed constitution, an essential step towards an election the ruling junta has promised will restore democracy after the 12th successful coup in little over 80 years.

The new constitution is the South-east Asian country's 20th since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, and critics say it will still give the generals a powerful say over Thai politics for years, if not decades.

Voters in the most heavily Muslim parts of Thailand were among the few to reject the draft constitution in last year's referendum.

The timing of the attacks just hours after the constitution was proclaimed was curious, said defence minister Prawit Wongsuwan, but there was no conclusive evidence it was a motive.

A Malay Muslim separatist insurgency in the three southern provinces has killed more than 6,500 since it escalated in 2004, independent monitoring group Deep South Watch says.

On Monday, police reported what they called the biggest insurgent attack in the south in years, when about 30 people fired more than 500 shots into a police booth.

In February, the government of the Buddhist-majority country struck a deal with Mara Patani, an umbrella group that says it speaks for the insurgents, but other separatists rejected it.</s>BANGKOK (Reuters) - Bomb blasts were among 23 coordinated attacks that rocked Muslim-majority southern Thailand early on Friday, a security officer said, just hours after King Maha Vajiralongkorn signed a new constitution as a step towards ending military rule.

Military personnel stand next to a site of an attack at Yaring district, in the troubled southern province of Pattani, Thailand. REUTERS/Surapan Boonthanom

Police reported no casualties in the region, site of a recent upsurge in a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency that had voted the most strongly against the new constitution at a referendum last year.

“The incidents are aimed to create disturbances,” Pramote Prom-in, a spokesman for regional security forces, told Reuters. “They want to destroy the government’s credibility and create fear among people.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility and security forces said they could not yet identify which insurgent group was to blame.

The attacks were scattered across 19 districts in the southern region, grouping the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, and the nearby province of Songkhla, he said.

A large number of co-ordinated attacks in the region is unusual. Complete details were not immediately available, but they ranged from bomb explosions at 52 electricity poles, triggering widespread regional power cuts, to several tire-burning incidents, Pramote added.

On Thursday, Thailand’s king signed into law a military-backed constitution, an essential step towards an election the ruling junta has promised will restore democracy after the 12th successful coup in little over 80 years.

The new constitution is the Southeast Asian country’s 20th since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, and critics say it will still give the generals a powerful say over Thai politics for years, if not decades.

Voters in the most heavily Muslim parts of Thailand were among the few to reject the draft constitution in last year’s referendum.

The timing of the attacks just hours after the constitution was proclaimed was curious, said Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, but there was no conclusive evidence it was a motive.

A Malay Muslim separatist insurgency in the three southern provinces has killed more than 6,500 since it escalated in 2004, independent monitoring group Deep South Watch says.

On Monday, police reported what they called the biggest insurgent attack in the south in years, when about 30 people fired more than 500 shots into a police booth.

In February, the government of the Buddhist-majority country struck a deal with MARA Patani, an umbrella group that says it speaks for the insurgents, but other separatists rejected it.</s>Thai police on Friday reported 22 attacks, including at least five small bomb blasts, in Muslim-majority southern Thailand only hours after King Maha Vajiralongkorn signed a new constitution on Thursday as a step towards ending military rule. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the attacks in the region where there has been a recent upsurge in a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Otago Daily Times.</s>HAT YAI, Thailand (AP) — Suspected Muslim insurgents have set off dozens of bombs in southern Thailand, bringing down power lines and setting tires on fire to block roads. Security officials said there were no reports of deaths or injuries.

Most of the attacks occurred early Friday in Muslim-majority provinces in Buddhist-dominated Thailand’s deep south, where about 7,000 people have been killed in a separatist insurgency that flared in 2004. Thai media speculated the actions were in response to Thursday’s ratification of Thailand’s new constitution.

Military spokesman Pramote Prom-in said 52 electric poles were damaged by explosives in the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, and Songkhla, causing minor blackouts. He said officials also discovered burnt tires and more explosives but reported no injuries or deaths.</s>PATTANI — Two paramilitary rangers died in the southern border provinces Thursday night in a string of attacks that included bombs, shootings and an assault on the power grid.

The wave of violence came just hours after His Majesty the King enacted Thailand’s latest constitution opposed by separatist groups in the Deep South.</s>Thai Navy rangers examine a bomb site after insurgents damage dozens of electricity poles in the country's restive south (AFP Photo/Madaree TOHLALA)

Nearly two dozen arson and bomb attacks erupted across Thailand's insurgency-torn south shortly after midnight, the army said Friday, causing widespread blackouts but no casualties in the Muslim-majority region.

The violence, which saw tires set alight and dozens of electricity poles damaged by explosives, struck only hours after Thailand's king Maha Vajiralongkorn signed a new military-backed charter into law.

"There are 23 simultaneous incidents in three southern provinces and four districts of Songkhla," said Colonel Pramote Prom-in, an army spokesman for the south.

The region has sizzled with violence for over a decade as ethnic Malay rebels battle Thai troops for more autonomy, claiming more than 6,800 lives.

The border region was one of few areas to reject the ruling junta's constitution in a referendum that saw the document approved last year.

The new charter curbs the power of elected lawmakers and will bolster the army's role in government even after the junta steps down following elections which are expected in late 2018.

However Don Pathan, a Thai analyst based in the far south, said Friday's wave of attacks did not appear to be linked to the charter's signing.

The violence was most likely revenge for the killing of two suspected rebels by security forces last month, he told AFP.

"There has been a small spike of violence since then. My gut feeling is that last night was a retaliation for that alleged extrajudicial killing," said Pathan.

Thailand has been hit by a string of suspected rebel assaults since that fatal shooting on March 29, including one that saw around 30 militants open fire on a police checkpoint in Yala province, injuring 12 officers.

The junta, which seized power in 2014, has held several rounds of talks with a group that claims to represent the insurgents.

But the negotiations have failed to make headway and many doubt the rebel negotiators have clout over fighters on the ground.</s>HAT YAI, Thailand — Suspected Muslim insurgents set off dozens of bombs in southern Thailand, bringing down power lines and setting tires on fire to block roads. Security officials said there were no reports of deaths or injuries.

Most of the attacks occurred early Friday in Muslim-majority provinces in Buddhist-dominated Thailand's deep south, where about 7,000 people have been killed in a separatist insurgency that flared in 2004. Thai media speculated the actions were in response to Thursday's ratification of Thailand's new constitution, but officials said they had no information connecting the events.

Military spokesman Pramote Prom-in said 52 electric poles were damaged by explosives in the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, and Songkhla, causing scattered minor blackouts. He said officials also discovered burnt tires and more explosives but reported no injuries or deaths.

On Monday, men with grenade launchers and other heavy weapons attacked a police checkpoint in Yala, injuring six officers. Three other attacks last week killed an army ranger and a policeman.

Don Pathan, a security analyst specializing in southern Thailand, said he believed Friday's incidents were not related to the new constitution but were meant to discredit the security apparatus in response to a police shooting last week that killed two people whom friends said were unarmed. Police have said the two men in a pickup truck tried to escape a police checkpoint and began shooting at officers, who returned fire. They also said the two men were responsible for an attack in early March that killed an 8-year-old boy and three relatives.
A wave of small-scale terrorist attacks, including tire burning and the bombing of the electric grid, hits the Thai provinces of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat, and Songkhla in response to the new Constitution of Thailand.