Bomb explodes in restive southern Thailand
A bomb exploded Friday in front of a crowded teashop in restive southern Thailand, killing one woman and wounding 28 other people.
The bomb was hidden in a bag and placed inside a telephone booth in front of a busy teashop in Yala city, capital of the province of the same name, said police Lt. Col. Jirasit Lomae.
The victims were taken to Yala Hospital, where the names of the wounded were being gathered, said Kallaya Thongthachu, a hospital employee contacted by phone.
The bombing appeared to be the latest attack by Islamic insurgents whose activities have led to more than 2,200 deaths since January 2004.
The dead woman was a 24-year-old Buddhist, said Jirasit. The religions of the other victims were not immediately known.
The bomb exploded at about 8 p.m., a time when many southerners traditionally gather to socialize at tea shops.
"The assailants seized an opportunity to stage an attack when police and soldiers were taking a rest," Jirasit said. Troops had been providing security at trade fair in the province, he said.
Meanwhile, rail service resumed in the three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat Friday, four days after suspected insurgents sabotaged tracks causing a train to derail in Pattani province and injuring nine passengers, the State Railway of Thailand said.
About half the usual number of passengers used trains in the three provinces on Friday, despite an increased police and army presence at stations and junctions along the tracks, said Thanongsak Phongprasert, the railway's southern office director.
Separately, arsonists burned down a government school in Yala's Krong Pinang district Thursday night, said police Lt. Narasak Chiangsuk, blaming Muslim insurgents.
Police say the militants believe the government is trying to indoctrinate students with un-Islamic values at public schools. Teachers in southern Thailand are regularly attacked by suspected insurgents.
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One person was killed and at least 28 injured in a bomb attack today by suspected Muslim insurgents at a crowded tea shop in southern Thailand.

The bomb, placed inside a bag in a telephone booth near the shop in the provincial capital Yala, exploded at about 8 p.m. local time (1300 UTC).

The dead woman was a 24-year-old Buddhist, police said. The religions of the other victims were not immediately known. Among the injured, at least five were hurt seriously.

"Two men on a motorcycle placed a bomb inside the phone booth. Immediately after they left, the bomb exploded," Police Colonel Poompetch Pipatpetchpoo was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.

Another officer said the bombing came at a peak hour for the tea-shop trade in southern Thailand.

"The assailants seized an opportunity to stage an attack when police and soldiers were taking a rest," Police Lieutenant Colonel Jirasit Lomae was quoted as saying by Associated Press. He said security personnel had been standing guard at a trade fair in the province.

===Drive-by shooting, roadside bomb, schools burned===
In neighboring Narathiwat Province, a government official and another man were killed and a third injured in a drive-by shooting.

Hami Wani, 45-year-old deputy headman of Ban Salo village, was fatally shot at around 1 p.m. (0600 UTC) as he was driving home. An assistant was also killed, and another injured.

Also in Narathiwat, two Royal Thai Army soldiers were injured in a roadside bombing. The soldiers were part of a six-man teacher-protection unit.

Overnight in Krong Pinang, Yala Province, a school was burned by a group of around 20 men who came onto the grounds and overpowered 10 volunteers assigned to guard the school. It was the second school burned in an arson attack in a week in Yala.

===Train service resumes===
The State Railway of Thailand resumed train service today on its southern lines after repairs were made to tracks that were sabotaged earlier in the week. Security has been beefed up, with plainclothes and uniformed officers on trains, in stations and patrolling the railbeds and trestles. Railway officials said ridership was down following the attacks.