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A powerful bomb hidden in a car parked near the Sungai Kolok police station exploded on Thursday evening, killing two and injuring about 30. The blast killed a Thai Rath reporter and a rescue worker from a local foundation. With the exception of a reporter from Modernine TV, all of the injured were rescue workers and security officials. The deadly blast followed shortly after a bomb built into the body of a motorcycle was detonated in the same area. The second bomb was set off once security officials and reporters had arrived on the scene to investigate the first blast.

Speaking to reporters the following, Army Chief General Anupong Paochinda said he was dumbstruck as to why stricter standard operating procedure had not been employed at the scene of the attack. Naturally, he stated the obvious: individuals with no official business should not have been permitted to enter the area until it was safe and secured.

Needless to say, his instruction came too late. In fact such precautions should have been part of standard operating procedure from the very beginning. Yet they haven't been, despite the fact that militants have employed similar tactics in the past. Indeed, this is not the first time that militants have set off a small bomb to lure security officials into an area only to set off a much more powerful bomb hidden nearby.

In the case of Thursday's bombings in Sungai Kolok, where authorities reported that mobile phone signals were being blocked, it is believed that the militants used a timer to set off the explosives in the car.

Many of these secondary bombs have been set off remotely using a mobile phone by an attacker with a clear line of sight to a specific target.

The magnitude of this latest attack sent a chilling message to the world that the insurgency in Thailand's deep South is alive despite claims by authorities that the situation is improving.

Despite the slight drop in the number of violent incidents, Thursday's blast was testimony to the fact that the insurgents' campaign of violence was progressing towards a new level of sophistication and ruthlessness that has not been seen in the past.

It was not that long ago that PVC pipe-bombs made way for much more powerful explosives packed inside fire-extinguisher canisters, which are often buried at roadsides and used to target moving military and police vehicles. Another advance is the use of timers to set off explosives remotely by mobile phone or other devices.

Attaching a bomb to a motorcycle has long been a common tactic employed by this generation of Malay-Muslim separatists, though they can pack much more into a car.

On at least three occasions automobiles have been employed in bomb attacks. While Thursday evening's explosions may not quite be in the same league as car-bombs in Iraq and Sri Lanka, the devastation has nonetheless sent a big chill throughout the entire security apparatus.

And while the authorities like to take credit for just about anything, they are unfortunately too slow in employing better preventive measures and taking extra precautions. Not only are they slow to adapt; there is little indication that they have learned from the past.

Routine patrols are conducted but they are still not as coordinated as they should be. Moreover, troop movements in general are not made with the same level of precaution taken during patrols. Needless to say, for the militants, this is a war zone, and all security personnel, whether on patrol or not, are fair game.

And yet we continue to fool ourselves that Sungai Kolok, with all its thriving businesses, beer bars and prostitutes, is a commercial hub, as if this is an excuse to be complacent and treat it differently from other hotly contested districts in the deep South.

Thursday's bombs were testimony to the fact that this is a war zone. A person can be hit there the same way they can be hit in traditional hotspots.

Thursday was not the first time a secondary-bomb strategy had been employed, and it won't be the last, but let's hope it will be the last time that the authorities are lax in taking precautionary measures when it comes to securing a crime scene. If they had done so in this case, perhaps the deaths and injuries of people in the vicinity could have been dramatically reduced.