A family’s life is turned upside down by bomb attacks in Pattani
It should have been the routine of any normal day for the family of Mrs Rohima Seedeh. Her husband, Ishoh Seedeh, would ride a motorcycle and she sat on the pillion to pick up their two sons, one of them 5-year old Isfan, who studied the Koran at a religious school Muang district of Pattani.
On Saturday May 24 when Muang and Nong Chik districts were turned into a war zone with altogether 20 bombs went off, mainly targeting 7-Eleven convenience stores and public utilities, the Seedeh family of four were on one motorcycle was on the way home. The two other children were at home.
Three innocent people were killed and 61 injured, including Isfan who later died of his wounds. Six unexploded bombs were later found at four locations.
Recalling the incident, Mrs Rohima said she felt she was hit by a car and was blurred. She regained consciousness after her family was taken to the hospital and then she started looking frantically for her two sons and husband.
Mrs Rohima said she found out that Isfan was in coma in intensive care unit where he eventually succumbed to his death the next morning. His body was buried in Ban Bueding, Tambon Paknam.
The woman said she had not told her husband about the death of their son as he was still in the ICU and she didn’t want him to feel saddened.
Mrs Rohima has become very worried of the family’s future with the head of the family still in the hospital and the prospect that he will not be able to work for several months to come.
As a housewife, she said her husband who worked as a motorcycle taxi-driver was the only breadwinner and she didn’t know what to do with the family.
Mrs Mana Saree, a member of Pakaharung tambon administration organization , said that the multiple bombing incidents on May 24 were the first of its kind in the province and many people got scared.
On that night, she said the whole town was blacked out and she had to sleep in the dark.
16-year old Ms Nusara Puteh of Tambon Don Rak admitted that she cried on that night because she was very scared. She said she didn’t want to see such a violent night to repeat again.
All the five 7-Eleven convenience stores that were attacked by bombs on May 24 were owned by the Yala Srisamai Company which is affiliated with the Srisamai Group whose warehouse in Yala was firebombed on April 7.
Mrs Waraporn Sirichai, an executive of Srisamai Group, admitted that she felt very demoralized with all the violent incidents targeted against her business. She disclosed that the damage at the warehouse alone was estimated at about 104 million baht.
She wondered why her family’s business had to be targeted every time.
Former senator Anusaart Suwanmongkol pointed out that most of the business in the three southernmost provinces which were attacked by suspected insurgents were owned by Thai or Chinese Buddhists.
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Caption : Bomb attacked in Pattani on 24, June.