Nonetheless, people are doing their best to cope with this tragic situation. The Kingdom mourns for the victims and condemns the culprits behind these attacks.

Now, the question is whether security officials and those in positions of power and authority have done their best to protect innocent citizens and whether they can prevent similar attacks from happening again.

Top security officials seem not to be totally surprised by the weekend attacks. In fact, according to what Deputy Prime Minister General Yutthasak Sasiprapha ― who is responsible for overseeing security affairs ― was quoted as saying by the press, intelligence reports suggested the attacks were imminent. He also noted that the suspected insurgents had increased the level of their attacks because “the government’s policy towards the South has been successful.”

Unfortunately, these ”successful“ security measures were not sufficient to prevent the horror blasts on Saturday, and 14 innocent people are dead as a result.

The suspected bombers are not complete strangers to the security officials. They are thought to have been involved in previous attacks in the deep South. In fact, their whereabouts should have been better monitored. Instead, they were able to walk into the underground car park of the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel in Hat Yai before a car bomb exploded there.

In the aftermath of these attacks, security officials and people in charge can no longer be complacent. Security measures must be beefed up to prevent Malay-Muslim insurgents from exploiting loopholes to stage another attack. Security officials need to do better in ensuring that this kind of attack does not happen again.

This is easier said than done. The security authorities are always wary of imposing stringent new security measures because of the potential damage this could do to the tourism sector, which is a major source of foreign earnings for Thailand. But that attitude must be changed. Security measures must not be compromised when innocent lives are at stake. Ordinary people will not mind going through extra security measures if they reduce the risk or lethal attacks.

Following this weekend’s incidents and the recent botched explosions in Bangkok by suspected Iranian terrorists, the security intelligence agencies must be overhauled. Information and any useful tips must be shared among these agencies to ensure the effective carrying out of intelligence operations.

The guilty parties must be brought to justice to set an example that the authorities will not tolerate this kind of barbarity. This attack is to be severely condemned. There is no excuse for Malay-Muslim separatists to take innocent lives in order to achieve their vague goals. This horrific act will be universally condemned by all decent people of whatever nationality or religion.

In the meanwhile, the authorities and decision-makers must start to fix the southern problem in a realistic manner by reaching out to marginalised people, understanding them and helping them to achieve sustainable development. Otherwise, no one can ever be convinced that this attack will be the last of its kind.

(The Nation (Thailand) )

(Asia News Network)