ONE Thai person was killed and 30 wounded when two bombs exploded late Tuesday near a hotel in the southern Thai coastal town of Pattani, police said, less than two weeks after a wave of unexplained bombings hit the south.

    The first blast in a parking lot behind the Southern View Hotel caused no casualties, Police Lieutenant Colonel Winyu Tiamraj said yesterday. He said all the casualties were Thais.

    “The second explosion came from a truck parked at the hotel entrance, opposite a karaoke bar and a massage parlour, resulting in one death and 30 injuries,” he said.

    The blasts came less than two weeks after a series of explosions targeting high-profile beach resorts hit seven Thai provinces in the south, killing four people and wounding dozens.

    Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan quickly ruled out any link between those attacks and the latest bombings.

    Tourism is one of the only growth sectors in Thailand, and accounts for 10 percent of an economy that has struggled under the stewardship of a military government that seized power two years ago.

    No group has claimed responsibility for the wave of bombings Aug. 11 and 12, but some security experts noted at the time that southern insurgent groups have a track record of carrying out coordinated bombing attacks.

    (SD-Agencies)