YALA: Four rangers were slightly injured when a roadside bomb went off in Bannang Sata district of this southern border province on Saturday morning.
Authorities were alerted about the incident at 9.40am. When they reached the site in tambon Ban Wang Hin, they found a bomb-damaged Toyota Vigo pickup truck and a hole on the roadside.
All four rangers in the truck had tinnitus one of them also had chest pain.
The rangers were on the way to their unit after taking flu-stricken officers from Banang Sata Hospital back to their base.
The incident occurred on the same day that Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon was visiting the restive southern province. He was there to follow up on a project promoting multiple cropping and new crops — bamboo and coffee — that would enable local people to earn more steady income year-round.
Coffee growing in the area is the initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. The project is being carried out in cooperation with PTT Oil and Retail Business Plc, operator of the Cafe Amazon chain, which is advising farmers on the production of quality beans.