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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:09 am Post subject: Bombing near Koh San Road |
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I know a lot of peple here have enjoyed Thailands magic. And I know for most, Koh San Road is the launching pad.
This is yet another sign in a string of troubles for the country.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4788518.stm
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Thai bomb at royal adviser's home
A small bomb has exploded in the Thai capital Bangkok, near the house of an adviser to the king, police said.
The blast injured a 28-year-old British tourist, police said.
The device was hidden in a guard post at the entrance to the home of Prem Tinsulanonda, chief adviser to King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Bangkok is already tense because of a mounting political crisis, with growing calls for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to resign.
Mr Thaksin told reporters the bomb "was the work of people with bad intentions who want to create more and more trouble amid the political crisis".
Thailand's king, who is hugely revered, has taken care to stay above the crisis.
The homemade device was triggered by a timer, according to police, who found a battery at the scene.
Police said no warning was given, and there was no indication as to who was responsible.
Police said flying glass from the blast injured two men, a 28-year-old Briton and an older Canadian.
Mr Prem's house is in Bangkok's royal district, not far from the tourist area of Khao San Road, where backpackers often rent cheap accommodation.
Political tensions
The 85-year-old former general is thought to have been in his house at the time of the attack, at about 1400 (0700 GMT) on Thursday.
He is a key figure in Thai politics, serving as prime minister for eight years in the 1980s.
Defence Minister Thammarak Isarangura told Reuters news agency that Mr Prem was not too perturbed by the explosion, but "just wondered why a bomb was put in front his house".
While bomb attacks are rare in Bangkok, they are a common occurrence in the Thai south, where suspected Muslim militants are waging a small-scale insurgency.
But the capital has been the scene of increasing tension in recent weeks. Mass rallies are now held virtually every day calling for Mr Thaksin to resign.
He has come under mounting pressure in the capital, especially for his family's sale last month of its stake in Shin Corp, the company he built up before he entered politics.
Many urban Thais complained the family avoided paying tax on the sale and passed control of an important national asset to Singaporean investors.
In a bid to silence his critics he has called a snap election for 2 April, but the main opposition parties have decided to boycott the poll.
The last bomb attack in the capital was outside the office of Sondhi Limthongkul in November 2005. No one was hurt. |
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nautilus
Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 4:31 am Post subject: |
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| Whats the point of planting a bomb if you're not going to claim responsibility? |
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Summer Wine
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Location: Next to a River
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 5:53 am Post subject: |
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Whats the point of planting a bomb if you're not going to claim responsibility?
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If the people who are being targeted know the reason, that might be enough. Not every action is determined by wide public knowledge and understanding, sometimes its enough that the person targeted knows and they may not make the reason known. |
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The Bobster
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:14 am Post subject: |
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| Just to plant some fear, maybe ... ? |
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nautilus
Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:08 am Post subject: |
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Muslims.
I doubt the anti -thaksin movement would ever taint itself with something like that. |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:32 am Post subject: |
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| nautilus wrote: |
| Whats the point of planting a bomb if you're not going to claim responsibility? |
The Unknown is one of the greatest of fears... |
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dbee
Joined: 29 Dec 2004
Location: korea
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:50 am Post subject: |
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Reminds me of what a guide we were hiking with in Thailand said about the violence there at the time ... something to the effect of
'they can kill as many policemen and city councillors as they wish. But once they start killing tourists ... then we'll wipe their villages off the face of the earth. The people here need tourists to feed their families'
I guess it kinda puts things in perspective, throughout the violence and unrest I can't remember hearing a story of even one tourist being killed by either side. And tourists here are the 'ultimate' soft target. |
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The Bobster
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:54 am Post subject: |
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| nautilus wrote: |
Muslims.
I doubt the anti -thaksin movement would ever taint itself with something like that. |
Who's to say it wasn't someone on Thaksin's payroll?
His hands are dirty in a lot of places. The name itself sounds like the English world for poison ... |
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nautilus
Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:05 am Post subject: |
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| dbee wrote: |
'they can kill as many policemen and city councillors as they wish. But once they start killing tourists ... then we'll wipe their villages off the face of the earth. The people here need tourists to feed their families'
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The Thais would never be able to crack down on muslim insurgents without a huge international outcry.
There was a big enough fuss when they arrested protesters. |
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Summer Wine
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Location: Next to a River
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:38 am Post subject: |
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That was a recent outcry, look at their history. Plus if it gets too bad elsewhere, then maybe others will be less willing to cry foul. Denmark and Holland are two countries I thought would be the last to go hard and yet here we are.  |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:35 am Post subject: |
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| nautilus wrote: |
Muslims.
I doubt the anti -thaksin movement would ever taint itself with something like that. |
dude, give me a break. Why the hell would they do that? Why would they attack some random gov't official? |
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huffdaddy
Joined: 25 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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| nautilus wrote: |
The Thais would never be able to crack down on muslim insurgents without a huge international outcry.
There was a big enough fuss when they arrested protesters. |
...and killed 78 of them.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3954587.stm |
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jaganath69
Joined: 17 Jul 2003
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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| nautilus wrote: |
Muslims.
I doubt the anti -thaksin movement would ever taint itself with something like that. |
Bro, that is just lazy. Imagine if counter-terrorist forces thought that way. You would be better saying there is a fair chance, although I am not convinced about this one. Given Thaksin's flagrant disregard for the rule of law (can anyone say extrajudicial executions?) over the years, it would not surprise me, especially given the current movement against him, if he engineered this himself as a pretext to tighten law and order. It matches the modus opperandi of PULO but they have not (to my knowledge) brought the war to the capital in a while, preferring to concentrate on agents of the Thai state in the south. Nor does it have the hallmarks of an AQ/JI mass casualty attack against soft targets. Will be interesting to see how this pans out. |
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ajgeddes
Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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| It's too bad that there are so many problems in those (4) states in the south. The muslims in Malaysia are very nice and peaceful. You cross a line and then they turn into terrorists. I guess if we were able to make the best changes, it would be to give those areas to Malaysia and hopefully that would calm them down. However, we all know this would never happen, but one can dream. Especially, since Thailand is a pretty peaceful place as well, concerning general violence. |
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jaganath69
Joined: 17 Jul 2003
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:59 pm Post subject: |
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| ajgeddes wrote: |
| It's too bad that there are so many problems in those (4) states in the south. The muslims in Malaysia are very nice and peaceful. You cross a line and then they turn into terrorists. I guess if we were able to make the best changes, it would be to give those areas to Malaysia and hopefully that would calm them down. However, we all know this would never happen, but one can dream. Especially, since Thailand is a pretty peaceful place as well, concerning general violence. |
The Muslims of the four southern provinces have a long standing historical grievance with the Thai state. Yala, Satun, Pattani and Narathiwat are the seats of Malay culture, but were given over to Thailand by the British in Malaysia in the 1800s. Your assertion that 'over the border they turn into terrorists' doesn't quite ring true as the struggle for independence in the south is more of a national revolution than your classic terrorist campaign. It was only after Thai Muslims coming back from serving in Afghanistan began to feature in the movement that linkages with radical Islamist terror became evident. Thai Muslims have legitimate grievences with the Bangkok government, especially its campaign of assimilation. Thailand has a pretty bad track record of dealing with its minorities, the Hmong in the north are testimony to this. Thaksin has dealt with this issue badly and risks threatening the stability of the whole country if he continues to do so. |
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