Rueso: Officials are working quickly to track down a group of assailants who set fire to a rubberwood factory in Rueso District, Narathiwat Province, causing damage to five vehicles. At 10:30 a.m. on September 20, 2025, Pol. Col. Prayong Kotsakha, Commander of Narathiwat Provincial Police; Pol. Col. Supachai Suphakitjarak, Superintendent of Rueso Police Station; Col. Sittichai Bamrungkhet, Commander of Task Force 46; Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Disposal Unit, Narathiwat Provincial Police Region 4; Narathiwat Provincial Forensic Science Division; and related officials inspected a rubberwood furniture factory in Sao Subdistrict, Rueso District, where five vehicles were damaged by an attack by forklifts and pickup trucks. The incident occurred at 12:30 a.m. on September 20, 2025.
According to Thai News Agency, upon arrival at the scene, the factory was found to be a structure resembling an open gymnasium on all four sides, with equipment and tools arranged in proportions, including piles of processed lumber, a parking lot, and machinery. The damaged area was the parking lot area. Four forklifts were found damaged by a fire in the engine room, and a white single-cab pickup truck with an unknown license plate was damaged by the fire in the engine room. All five vehicles were found unusable.
Officials discovered that the fire originated from two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that the perpetrators had assembled and placed in circular steel pipes, each weighing approximately 2 kilograms, detonated with a remote control. These were tied to fuel bottles and placed on the footrest of the first red forklift, parked on the far left. The perpetrators placed another one on the fourth yellow forklift, parked next to the pickup truck that had caught fire. Fragments of the IEDs were scattered within a 10-meter radius, so officials collected them as evidence.
Factory workers on duty during the night shift reported that no one saw the perpetrators at the time of the incident. Suddenly, two loud explosions were heard, and five large fires erupted near a forklift and a pickup truck. Firefighters used available fire extinguishers to extinguish the blaze. Other workers moved the pickup truck and a 10-wheeler out of the factory building, but the fire was unable to contain the blaze. They notified the village headman and village defense volunteers stationed at the Saowa Subdistrict Administrative Organization (SAO) for assistance. They also coordinated with the Rueso Subdistrict Administrative Organization's disaster relief unit to request fire trucks to extinguish the blaze. It took firefighters approximately 30 minutes to bring the blaze under control.
Later, officials conducted a thorough inspection and discovered that an unknown number of perpetrators had infiltrated through the factory's unlocked rear gate, which is used for employees to enter and exit for work. The factory has not had a guard on duty at this gate. They believe the perpetrators took advantage of the darkness to infiltrate through this gate and separately placed two improvised explosive devices on two forklifts. Upon exiting the factory, they used a remote control to detonate the explosives, causing a loud explosion. The oil bottles tied to the improvised explosive devices splattered onto the forklifts and pickup trucks, causing the damage described above.
However, officials will examine CCTV cameras installed at various locations, including the various routes leading to the factory, to determine whether they have captured the actions of the perpetrators. This will allow them to track down and prosecute the perpetrators according to the law. Regarding the incident, officials believe it was the work of a member of the violent perpetrators.