Her Majesty the Queen’s confidante Thanpuying Viriya Chavakul after the ambush by suspected southern militants yesterday.

Thanpuying Viriya Chavakul, the confidante of Her Majesty the Queen, narrowly escaped death yesterday when a group of gunmen attacked her convoy, hitting her vehicle and injuring a police officer in another car.

Thanpuying Viriya suffered a minor cut to her eyebrow from a piece of glass that was shattered by bullets hitting her vehicle. The attack took place at Ban Kuan Dindan in Yala's Klong Pinang district.

Eyewitness said the convoy did not stop after it was fired upon but accelerated and continued for another two kilometres until they reached Krong Pinang market where they were out of harm's way, police said.

Authorities dispatched security forces and helicopters to track down the culprits who were said to have quickly retreated into the nearby village.

Viriya was in the deep South in her capacity as the head of a foundation that provides moral support for soldiers and police in the restive region.

She was travelling in a seven-vehicle convoy that was led by two police vehicles, followed by four vans and an army Humvee bringing up the rear. The injured police officer was in the first car. It was not clear which van Viriya was in or whether the attackers knew who their target was.

Separately, suspected militants continued with their violent campaign in other areas in the Malay-speaking region, with an arson attack on a large warehouse containing rubber - the cornerstone of the region's economy.

About 5,000 tonnes of rubber, worth Bt400 million, went up in smoke as fire-fighters took several hours to bring the raging blaze under control in Yala's Tambon Tasab.

Kiart Kittikulserikham, the plant manager, stood by helplessly as he watched the huge cloud of black smoke that blanketed large areas of Yala province as more than 30 fire trucks struggled to douse the flames. Total damage was estimated to be around Bt600 million, Kiart said.

About 80 per cent of the 400 people who worked at the plantation were local Muslims, he said.

In Narathiwat's Tambon Rigo of Sungai Padi district, an insurgent shot dead an Islamic religious teacher, Hamsah Yakariya, 45, who used to serve as the deputy chief of Ban Chue-rae. His body was found on the roadside riddled with five rounds of 9mm bullets. At least 15 casings were found at the crime scene.

Meanwhile, a bomb planted on the side of the Che Ker Yae Road in Pattani's Sai Buri district went off, injuring three of five soldiers who were on foot patrol. The bomb left a crater of three metres wide and one metre deep.

In Narathiwat's Sri Sakorn district, villager Siriwan Taksinit, 42, was shot dead as she was riding on a motorbike with Jirasak Penpatra, her two-year-old nephew, to the local clinic to get a vaccination.

In a separate development, the Government's Savings Bank yesterday announced a Bt300 million package for small business owners from the provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat to tap into.

Yesterday's incident came after a series of co-ordinated attacks that killed eight people and wounded nearly 70 on Sunday and Monday.

Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the Chinese New Year weekend incidents when scores of soft targets and government installations came under bomb and arson attacks, said Lt Gen Viroj Buajaroon, commander of the Four Army Area.

Nakarin Chinnawomkomol

The Nation

Yala