KOTA BARU: Police advised Kelantanese to exercise extra caution when visiting southern Thailand in light of coordinated attacks by suspected insurgents in four southern provinces of the country recently.
Kelantan police chief Datuk Muhamad Zaki Harun said other Malaysians should also be on alert following the latest development in the kingdom.
"I believe locals can make their own judgement over the situation in the border country.
""If there is no urgent matter or emergency, I would like to advice locals to postpone their visits to southern Thailand for now," he said.
The state police was also obtaining information from its Thai counterpart on the latest situation in the country, he said.
On Sunday, Malaysian Consul-General in Songkhla, Ahmad Fahmi Ahmad Sarkawi advised Malaysians residing in or visiting southern Thailand to exercise caution in light of the coordinated attacks by suspected insurgents in four southern provinces of the country.
He had said so far, the situation in Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla provinces were under control. He also said the local security authorities were doing their utmost to monitor the situation and to nab those responsible for the attacks.
Ahmad Fahmi also urged Malaysians to follow the advice and latest developments from Thai authorities when they were in these provinces.
He highlighted the rend of attacks in these past years and noted an increase in activities during Ramadan in these provinces.
"One reason for this could be to commemorate past events, but they also want to make people aware," he had said.
He also said such attacks, to some extent, hindered Malaysian investors from going into the provinces and disrupted development.
On March 22, suspected insurgents staged coordinated attacks and committed arson in at least 39 locations across four provinces.
One of the attacks reportedly killed a worker at a popular convenience store in Pattani following explosions caused by homemade bombs.
A total of 20 attacks were reported in Pattani, 11 in Yala, six in Narathiwat, and two in Songkhla.
