‘I can’t give up,’ owner says after second petrol station attack

An owner of a petrol station in Narathiwat’s Sungai Kolok district says the weekend attack was the second in three years and destroyed large parts of the station, but she will not close the business because her employees depend on it for their livelihoods.

Ploenpit Apibanthanakit said: “I feel terrible and keep asking why it has to be us again. I can’t give up or close the station, though, because my staff need income to support their families. We have to move forward together.”

The bomb attack in the early hours of Sunday, the second in three years, caused extensive damage to fuel pumps, a fuel tanker and the on-site 7-Eleven convenience store.

She was speaking yesterday as she and her employees were cleaning up the debris and assessing the damage.

She said she first learned of the attack at around 1am in a phone call from her father.

Ploenpit said the attack came just as the local economy had started to recover, with Sungai Kolok recently hosting New Year celebrations and the station having just organised a Children’s Day event for employees.

“This doesn’t only affect us as owners,” she said. “It affects everyone who has to stop working and lose income.”

Provincial authorities’ preliminary estimate the damage at about 10 million baht and said compensation will be expedited for payment within 10 days.

In a separate attack on the same morning, Saritpong Mangbunmob, manager of a PTT petrol station in Cho Ai Rong district of Narathiwat, said his station had been open for only 70 days before it was bombed.

Saritpong said the business was established to create jobs for local residents and was staffed entirely by people from the district.

“We are exhausted and discouraged, but we have to keep fighting,” he said. “Our goal has always been to give people in this area work and income.”

Initial assessments put the damage at no less than 20 million baht, after the explosion destroyed fuel facilities and a convenience store, where all the goods were destroyed.

Saritpong said the business was built with bank loans and had not yet turned a profit. He urged the government to provide full compensation, noting that insurance policies generally do not cover damage related to security incidents.

Meanwhile, in Pattani province, Wanchalerm Salaemae, owner of a PTT petrol station in Kapho district, said he is still struggling to come to terms with the bombing of his station.

“Even now, I still feel like I’m in a nightmare and want to wake up from it,” he said.

The explosion severely damaged fuel pumps, station structures and the on-site convenience store, leaving almost nothing intact.

Wanchalerm said he was at home behind the station with his wife, young child and elderly relatives when the first blast occurred, which was followed by several more explosions.

“My two-year-old child used to come to the shop every morning,” he said. “Now, I don’t dare let her see what’s left. She keeps asking why her father’s shop is closed.”

Wanchalerm said he resigned from his job as a teacher to invest nearly 40 million baht of family savings and loans into building the station, which has been operating for just about a year.

He employs nearly 20 local people and spends about 600,000 baht a month to keep the business afloat.

He said he hopes insurance payouts and state assistance will be sufficient to allow his family to continue the business.

“This station represents everything my family has,” he said. “Without support, I don’t know how we can go on.”

Provincial authorities in Narathiwat and Pattani said coordinated relief and compensation measures are under way to help affected operators rebuild and restore fuel services as quickly as possible.