Phuket and Krabi on high alert after explosive devices found and destroyed

Phuket police destroyed a third explosive device today, after it was found hidden under a cement block at Laem Promthep, a popular tourist sunset observation site, after three days of extensive searches supported by sniffer dogs.

The explosive device was concealed in a tin can and hidden in a gap between cement blocks. An Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team used a high-powered water jet to destroy the device.

Earlier today, members of an EOD team also used a powerful water jet to destroy an object, thought to contain another explosive device, buried near a tree on Phuket’s Patong Beach.

The EOD team, led by Pol Maj-Gen Sinlert Sukhum, the commander of Phuket provincial police, rushed to the scene, about 200 metres from a public park, after they were alerted to the discovery of a water canteen buried on the beach.

The police cordoned off the area. Then, the EOD team moved in. They took the object away to be examined and destroyed.

A police officer disclosed that two suspects, who were previously arrested in Phang-nga province, claim that they had delivered four unidentified objects to a man in Phuket. Police found a timer connected to a circuit board and some explosives in their car.

Police found the first explosive device hidden in a motorcycle in the car park of Phuket International Airport yesterday. It was destroyed at the scene by an IOD team.

Meanwhile, in neighbouring Krabi province, police found a suspected explosive device by a wood and steel sculpture in Muang district today. The device was later destroyed.

An abandoned motorcycle was also found in the compound of a mosque.