NARATHIWAT: Seven military rangers were injured when a bomb exploded at a pavilion of a Buddhist monastery in Rangae district of this southern Thai border province on Thursday.
The rangers, attached to Ranger Company 4511, were patrolling the area to ensure security for local officials who were attending an tambon administrative organisation meeting, police said.
An improvised explosive device hidden in the pavilion was detonated when the rangers stopped to rest there, police said. The monastery is located in Chulabhorn Pattana 5 village in tambon Bo Ngo.
Police believed it was the work of southern insurgents targeting security forces patrolling the area.
All seven injured rangers were rushed to Rangae District Hospital for treatment.
The damaged structure was cordoned off as bomb disposal experts and forensic officers moved in to gather evidence.
Separately, in Pattani's Khok Pho district, Pol Sgt Maj Muhamad Muya Heedeen, a crime suppression officer at Khok Pho police station, was ambushed on Khok Pho-Pa Bon road as he was riding home on a motorcycle after his patrol duty on Wednesday night, police said.
Assailants hiding in bushes on the roadside fired three gunshots at him, but he managed to run for cover and escape unharmed, police said. Police are investigating.