Two held as bomb kills 3 at Thai festival

BANGKOK, Dec 14 (AFP/BBC): Authorities in Thailand have arrested two men following a bomb blast at a festival near the border with Myanmar that killed three people and wounded dozens, police said on Saturday.

An improvised explosive device went off on a dance floor at a festival in Umphang district in Thailand's northern Tak province on Friday night, according to local police.

Two people were killed instantly and another died later in hospital, police said. The explosion also injured 48 people among approximately 8,000-9,000 attending the event.

Thai police said they had arrested a Thai youth and a man they said was a member of the Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic minority rebel group that has fought the Myanmar military for decades for autonomy in neighbouring Myanmar's Karen state.

Tak police chief Major-General Samrit Ekamol said the Myanmar suspect had thrown the bomb after encountering a "rival gangster" he had previously fought with.

A senior KNU official contacted by AFP, who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak to media, denied any involvement and said the group did not have any members in the area.

The KNU can call on more than 5,000 fighters, maintains close links with Thai police and military, and has extensive business interests on both sides of the border, according to analysts.

Police were alerted to the incident at 23:30 local time (16:30 GMT) on Friday. In a statement, the Umphang rescue team said the explosive was thrown and landed at the foot of an outdoor stage where festivalgoers were dancing.

Some of the wounded were taken to a nearby hospital, it added. Several reports suggest the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED). Images taken in the aftermath, shared by the rescue team, show debris strewn on the ground in an area of the festival strung with lights.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra shared her condolences to the families of those killed and injured in the bombing in a post on X.

She said she had ordered the police and security agencies to investigate the cause of the explosion and help those affected. She also directed an increase in police officers to oversee all festival events.

According to the Bangkok Post, between 8,000 and 9,000 people attended the week-long festival this year, and the attack took place on the penultimate night of the event.

Umphang is the southernmost district in Thailand's northern Tak province, which shares a border with Myanmar to the west.