BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- A car bomb exploded in southern Thailand, killing a local journalist and wounding 17 others, a police official said.
The bomb detonated about 9:10 p.m. (10:10 a.m. ET), moments after an initial explosion that drew in a crowd of local officials and journalists, according to the police chief of Narathiwat province. The attack took place in the Sugaigolok district of Narathiwat, a predominantly Muslim province along the Thailand-Malaysia border.
The car bomb killed a newspaper reporter on the scene, the police chief said.
It is unclear who planted the explosive devices in Narathiwat, one of three Muslim provinces in southern Thailand, a predominantly Buddhist country.
Two people were killed in mid-March when two car bombs struck targets in the other Muslim provinces, Yala and Pattani.
Car bombings, although a relatively rare tactic, are becoming a more frequent tool of radical Muslims waging a years-long insurgency in southern Thailand, authorities say.
From the Blogs: 
Sit tight, we're getting to the good stuff
