Five held over bomb in Thailand

Five held over bomb in Thailand

BANGKOK (AFP): Thai police have arrested five people suspected of involvement in the bombing of a bridge in the south of the country hours before the new interior minister visited the area, reports said yesterday.

The suspects were "drug-addicted teenagers who wanted to cause a stir," Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart was quoted as saying by the Nation daily.

Police had earlier suspected that Moslem separatists active in the area in Yala province, some 1,100 kilometers south of here had blown up the bridge causing it to collapse Saturday.

But Sanan moved to dispel fears of a new upsurge in the simmering separatist violence in southern Thailand by saying the attack was an isolated incident carried out by junkies. "This group of hooligans has always caused troubles," Sanan said. "They are drug addicts and have police records."