BANGKOK, April 2 — Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will travel today to the southern province of Songkha to visit the victims of the weekend car bombing at the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel.
The premier is expected to chair a meeting of agencies concerned to seek improved security measures to prevent future attacks in the southern provinces.
Fourteen people were killed and more than 500 were injured in a string of mid-day car bombings in the southern border provinces of Yala and Songkhla. Two car bomb attacks took place in the provincial seat of Yala and another car bomb was in the basement of the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel in Hat Yai.
Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel owner Wanchai Leelasitorn told reporters that he had not yet assessed the damages from the bombing that caused fire at the hotel and adjacent shopping plaza as he was awaiting the authorities to officially inspect the scene.
He said although the hotel applied strict security measures, it could not deter assailants who found security loopholes to make an attack.
All closed circuit television cameras in the hotel operated normally during the incident and recorded footage that could benefit the investigation, he said.
Mr Wanchai said that he could not specify how long the hotel would be closed, but he was ready to renovate and reopen his hotel as soon as possible.
