Chaos greeted Deputy Prime Minister Anutin's visit to Narathiwat when a backhoe and a road roller were doused with oil and set on fire in Su-ngai Kolok, damaging two vehicles. Meanwhile, in Tak Bai, tires were secretly burned at two separate locations.
At 10:30 p.m. on 16 Apr 2026 GMT+7, Pol. Col. Than Sirikhan, Superintendent of Su-ngai Kolok Police Station in Narathiwat, received reports of arson targeting machinery of Tak Bai Civil Engineering Co. Ltd. parked at a site near the Kolok River in Ban Mue Ba, Village No. 4, Pasemas Subdistrict. Officers were dispatched and found a fire engulfing the vehicles.The backhoe,a Caster brand,Pira model,was parked on the left side, and a rubber-tired road roller was parked in a shelter on the right. Firefighters from the Pasemas Municipality Disaster Relief Unit were called to assist in extinguishing the blaze, which took over 30 minutes to control.
Officers then inspected the scene and found that on the road surface where the vehiclesthe backhoeand the rubber-tired road roller were parked, there were fuel oil stains floating on the water used to fight the fire as well as on the road itself. These were collected as evidence.
Investigation revealed that before the fire, an unknown number of perpetrators covertly crossed the Kolok River from Kelantan state in Malaysia, where during the dry season the water level drops to about 15 meters. They entered the site, which had two workers guarding it, and threatened them to flee. The suspects then separated to pour fuel on the tires of the road roller and beneath the mechanism of the backhoe.the backhoeunder the operator's cabin, and set them on fire before fleeing back across the Kolok River the way they came.
Mr. Saowanan Duksukkaew, Managing Director of Tak Bai Civil Engineering Co. Ltd., said his company has a contract to build the first phase of a flood prevention system for the Pasemas community, covering 2,505 meters from behind the Muno Police Station to opposite the Hino Center. The project is about 43 percent complete. He did not expect such a malicious act to cause the loss of two pieces of heavy machinery valued at over 6 million baht.
Authorities investigating the incident will quickly summon the two site supervisors present during the attack for detailed questioning to expand the investigation toward identifying the arsonists.
Security officials monitoring insurgent movements revealed that the attack appears to be a symbolic act aimed at creating unrest after learning that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Anutin Charnvirakul, as chairman of the Southern Border Provinces Strategic Development Committee, was scheduled to attend a meeting at the Su-ngai Kolok Customs checkpoint to oversee important border development projects. The agenda was abruptly changed to a visit to the Buketa border checkpoint in Waeng district, Narathiwat, instead of the original plan.
Additionally, at 8:00 p.m. on 16 Apr 2026 GMT+7 in Tak Bai district, perpetrators separately set fire to tires at two locations on Chumbok Village Road, Village No. 9, Koh Sathon Subdistrict, about 500 meters apart. Upon receiving the report, officers and local residents worked together to extinguish the fires. Authorities believe this act was also carried out by insurgent group members as a symbolic attempt to stir unrest.