PATTANI: A car bomb exploded in a nightlife district in Thailand’s deep south, killing one and wounding more than 30, in a nation already on edge after a bombing spree that targeted tourist towns.

The latest blast struck late on Tuesday outside a hotel in Pattani, one of three Muslim-majority southern provinces battered by a long-running and shadowy rebellion against the Buddhist-majority state.

“So far there is one killed and more than 30 injured,” Major General Thanongsak Wangsupa, Pattani provincial police commander, said on Wednesday.

“The hotel building was considerably damaged.” Pictures showed fires burning on the road outside the hotel’s shattered facade, with police picking through the rubble. Nearby a car was destroyed, with karaoke bars, massage parlours and restaurants also damaged.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2016