Malaysia has issued a strong warning to its citizens against traveling to southern Thailand following a series of violent attacks over the weekend that resulted in at least five deaths and 13 injuries. The attacks, which included bombings and shootings by suspected insurgents, occurred in the southernmost provinces of Thailand, where a long-standing separatist insurgency has been active since 2004. These areas are primarily ethnic Malay Muslim, while the rest of Thailand is predominantly Buddhist.
The attacks targeted security forces and government officials in the Narathiwat and Pattani provinces, which are popular with Malaysian tourists. In Narathiwat’s Sungai Kolok border town, gunmen fired into a district office and detonated a car bomb, killing two Thai security volunteers. Meanwhile, in Pattani, a roadside bomb killed a volunteer ranger and two government officials.
In response, Malaysia’s foreign ministry advised its citizens to delay non-essential travel to these regions until the security situation improves. Malaysia is one of the largest sources of tourists to Thailand, with around 4.9 million Malaysians visiting the country last year.
Narathiwat Governor Trakul Thotham confirmed that security in the area had been ramped up in response to the violence, though he acknowledged that there were still Malaysians in the region and some disruptions would occur. He also noted that incidents of this nature had not occurred in the area in the past four to five years.
The ongoing violence in southern Thailand highlights the continuing instability in the region, which has claimed more than 7,300 lives since the insurgency reignited in 2004.