In Narathiwat, a perpetrator secretly planted a bomb on a police vehicle at Buketa Police Station. Luckily, a child saw a suspicious man crouching beneath the vehicle during the act and quickly informed villagers, who coordinated with the police, narrowly escaping death. Authorities believe the attack was carried out by members of an insurgent group aiming to assassinate police officers.
At 13:10 on 19 June 2026, Police Colonel Thawisak Sawatsarika, Chief of Buketa Police Station, Waeng District, Narathiwat, received a report that a suspect had placed a suspicious object under a traffic police vehicle belonging to Buketa Police Station. The vehicle was parked by the roadside opposite Darusadah Mosque in Buketa Village, Moo 2, Lo Chud Subdistrict. He ordered officers to inspect the scene, cordon off the area to keep bystanders away, and contacted the Anothai bomb disposal unit to investigate.
While officers secured the area awaiting relevant agencies, a loud explosion suddenly occurred. The blast damaged a bronze Toyota traffic police vehicle with license plate 17369 and a green Kia car with license plate KK292 Betong, parked nearby, which suffered shrapnel damage to its front bumper and a punctured rear right tire.
Later, the Anothai bomb disposal team and a war-dog unit arrived at the scene. Using a detection dog, they confirmed the area was safe. The Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team then conducted a thorough investigation, finding fragments of an improvised bomb assembled inside a rectangular metal container weighing about one to two kilograms, detonated by a timer. The device had been attached to the chassis beneath the police vehicle. Debris had also scattered onto the damaged civilian Kia car nearby.
Investigation revealed that before the incident, Police Sergeant Major Asee Ree Jehngoh, head of the patrol unit at Buketa Police Station, was performing traffic duties and had brought traffic police and community relations officers to the mosque to meet religious and local leaders every Friday. He had parked the police vehicle by the roadside opposite the mosque. A local child saw a suspicious man crouching near the police car and alerted villagers, who noticed the suspicious object under the vehicle. They quickly informed Sergeant Major Asee, who then notified his superiors and secured the area.
About 10 minutes later, the bomb detonated with a loud explosion, startling villagers who had come to pray. Some fled the scene in panic and chaos.
Subsequently, Police Colonel Thawisak ordered officers to review CCTV footage from a camera mounted on a lamppost to the left front of the mosque. They identified a single suspect wearing black pants and a white long-sleeve shirt, concealing an improvised bomb under a white cloak. The suspect ran out from an alley beside the mosque, attached the bomb to the vehicle chassis, then fled the scene the same way.
Authorities believe the attack was carried out by members of an insurgent group aiming to place a bomb under the vehicle to detonate it as officers returned to the police station, intending to cause damage and assassinate police personnel. Fortunately, the child’s alertness to the suspect's behavior allowed the officers to narrowly escape death.