EnglishJohn

Big deal. Most American thanks New Mexico is a foreign country and you need a passport to visit.

Most Americans know the difference between 'thanks' and 'thinks.'

Maybe he's talking about Americans from the deep South.

Let's hope they shut up now and the next we hear is in a day or two when the Army raid multiple addresses simultaneously at dawn and recover some equipment used.

If they have any sense, they won't tell the police beforehand otherwise they might find the building empty.

That BBC report is appalling. We get those kind of things regularly in the UK where the 'journalist' has no desire whatsoever to report the actual story - rather they directly focus on their intention, in this case to try and ridicule the state.

I have a feeling they have plenty of ball bearings and bits of metal from inside the bodies. And the real interest will the explosive, detonator and timing mechanism which we do not know if they have.

I'm not defending the Thai police : they are seriously incompetent but this pantomime filming him taking it to the police station and making sarcastic remarks belongs in the tabloid press, not on the BBC.

If that is Mr Head, he is every bit as grubby as I imagined.

I wonder if they are looking greedily at the Heineken price tag and thinking they can edge towards it if they make it as similar as possible.

Thai quality at farang prices is a recipe for disaster.

I think the author has just arrived in Thailand.

Because he seems not to know about the THIRTY people murdered during the last protests and not a single person arrested for any of them. Nor any sign of any investigation.

And now this.

People are sick and tired of having innocent's murdered and nobody held accountable. Up until now there has only been one active terrorist group in Bangkok and hence people are right to suspect they are behind it. This is an escalation for sure - but given the circumstances (most notable being that police cannot be trusted to help any more) one can appreciate it might happen given the increasing desperation of those who might have done it.

Pacifism and burying your head in the sand would be great if they worked. Trouble is, they only ever make things worse.

The clip from the BBC was quite damning about the way the investigation is being handled although Richard Head (as he has been known in the past) has produced many one sided reports previously.

Yes indeed.

In his latest report he states that it may be one of two groups : Muslim's from the South or "the work of a Thai group". Ho goes on to describe the Muslims in more detail but never mentions the Thai group or who they might be again. And considering this is the most likely possibility, the omission is astonishing.

Lies by omission are lies just the same. He did exactly the same during the protests. I wish the BBC would replace him with someone who has journalistic ethics and no big chip on his shoulder - although I suspect Asia is a dumping ground for staff they don't want somewhere important.

Sound more like the company is running down as opposed to being ready to take over the world.

The little 'kick' the 6% Chang had made it interesting. The latest stuff is a bit bland. And constantly making the bottle a bit smaller for the same price is annoying enough to make me choose something else. In the UK, they are down to 300ml in many bottles now.

I look forward to this 'perfect liquid' they are able to make. I wonder why they don't.

the reds are more than capable of killing innocent people as we saw last year when they used grenades to kill children on 2 separate occasions and then the ptp and reds all cheered this fact at a red get together but this time it is different. While I have little trust in anything the reds or their compatriots say this does not look like one of their terrorist acts, they are usually not well planned and performed by idiots , this was well planned and done in a very controlled manor. A red would not have simply got up and walked slowly away under full control of what they were doing,with only 1 minute till the explosion, they would have ran. At this stage it would be impossible to pin it on any one group unless they can get hold of the one that did it or one of the accomplices and until such time this is going to be simply hearsay and innuendo as the different supporters try to point the finger at each other.

Fat has got it right, no one can point the finger as they have no idea who did it but they can try to suggest their opposition in the hope to gain some better footholds. Much better for everyone to wait till there is definite evidence before starting all the sh*tfights.

These idiots have out thought, out witted and won every vote in the past 15 years or so, does not say much for any intellect the opposition may have.

Ha ha ha - as does your own post about your own. That is just a rant of nonsense !.

Honestly, you people would do your cause a much greater service if you quit posting.

Why is Sky News interview this thug - particularly when their paying master is top of the suspect list ?. It stinks.

I wonder if the interviewer reminded Jatuporn about people firing grenades into crowds of civilians and killing 30 people - including several children - in the process.

Why do I think not ?.

I reckon this is above Jatty's pay grade and he knows nothing about it. Just the very select trusted circle.

On another matter, anyone know if Chalerm has been away for a break recently ?.

10 would be a very large number for a simple pipe bomb, just put down and leave, hardly an Oceans Eleven job, plus more people in a group = more loose lips and someone gets picked up.

This makes no sense, they refuse help from the US. Oz, the UK for terrorist experts and forensics but ask interpol for help even though they dont suspect foreigners but one did place the backpack..

This is ridiculous, why wouldnt you want this solved asap and save your tourist industry ? its almost as if someone is deliberately muddying things and acting like keystone cops on purpose.

They dont have a scooby or they do and are deliberately spreading many theories and rumours whilst refusing international professional help for a reason.

One thing is for sure, in front to the world yet again Thailand has shown itself to be woefully incompetent and unwilling to put security before its paradise safe in our hands image... an image they dont even have anymore... thats long gone.

"10 would be a very large number for a simple pipe bomb, just put down and leave"

How to let people know you have no clue what you are talking about in one simple sentence.

Why, I have pipe bombs laying around everywhere. Complete with fuses and timers. I might go set one off in front of dozens of innocent civilians.

NEVER HAPPENS. This is the work of someone with a higher level strategy. If it was just one guy, he would go shooting with an AK47.

And don't forget another similar bomb was dropped into some water : only luck prevented a lot more deaths. Was this the same man who had left his other backpack at the bus station ?.

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Huh? They said 10 minutes ago the suspect was a foreigner? Dear oh dear,. Thailand really has the govt it deserves now

Goodness me : what is wrong with you people ?.

Quite a few of the shooters in 2010 were foreigners as well.

Go look up "Mercenary' in the dictionary. To help a little : they are foreigner who will come and do the real dirty work you don't want to do yourself and have messy things like lackeys knowing what you did. It keeps the whole affair contained within your most trusted circle.

Please try to put some thought and intelligence into your comments : I'm having hard time holding any respect for people who support terrorism as it is.

I am surprised that very few TV posters have mentioned the possibility that it could be ISIS-related. I think it is a likely and very scary possibility of ISIS or ISIS-inspired person's or small cell's having carried out this attack. I think this is more likely than the possibility of it being the work of Thaksin supporters or Uighurs.

There is also the possibility that we'll never find out who did it; if the guy/s never get/s caught

I don't think ISIS (or any other country) take Thailand seriously enough to make an attack like this. They prefer to direct their violence against the infidels who believe in a false God or Muslims who they see as betraying Allah with their particular flavour of worship. I don't think they will start on Buddhists until there is nobody else left to murder.

But I agree with your second statement. Nobody plausible ever gets caught. Those that do make instant confessions to the whole thing and then we get presented with a story which does not make sense. This incompetence in Thai officials is what gives the country some of it's 'charm' but it comes home to roost in situations like this while we watch another keystone cop movie unfold.

Paul Chambers of Chiang Mai University was interviewed by CNN yesterday, and discredited the theories of both the Uighurs and southern separatists. Apparently, high level peace talks between the gov't and the major separatists groups in the south have been underway since June. He repeated emphatically that the most likely culprits are factions within the police and military, unhappy with the reshuffle or for other domestic political reasons, with which we are all already too familiar.

In the past 10 years, there have been innumerable bombings in Bangkok connected to the political conflict-- no one disputes this. Even though the recent bombs were bigger and more deadly, it's more plausible that they are a continuation of what has been. Plus, in the political bombings no one ever takes credit.

It's like a dangerous stretch of beach where shark attacks occur often. One day, a swimmer's leg gets chomped off, though he didn't see a shark. Giant squid? Maniac seal? Terrible tuna? Shark is more likely.

My fear is that, if the bombings are linked to internal conflicts in the police or military, the resolution might be a negotiated settlement among them, kept secret from the public. The case goes unsolved and no justice gets done.

If it's true that the guy took a motorcycle taxi from the scene, then it's most likely not a very organized attack. Probably just one person. That person could be a Muslim from abroad recently angered by how Thailand treated the Chinese minority, especially the PM calling them animals. Perhaps Indonesia, where his t-shirt is from.

So he is a lone muslim who had has just arrived in country, found his way round the city, picked his targets, bought a disguise, procured explosives built a few bombs, attacks a shrine one day and then detonates another device in another part of the city the next day !!!!

My response...... Too much Rambo, Jason Bourne and lack of medication dear boy......maybe stick with UFO's and contrails

Shows that you are the one who hasn't got a clue about Terrorist TTP's and your constant referals to Thaksin being behind this are becoming mundane. Either provide 100% proof, or quit with your conspiracy theories.

I wonder what Thaksin and the UDD actually have to do before some people will finally admit who is behind virtually all of the violence here outside the South. Did you sleep through the intimidation mobs and death threats to the courts ?. Were you snoozing when Newspaper offices got grenades after running stories red-shirts didn't like ?. Were you napping when the 2010 MIB started shooting ? (or do you actually believe the Army started firing on unarmed civilians ?) and lastly - but by no means leastly - were you having a doze when 30 protesters got murdered recently ?. And just who precisely do you think tells them what to do ?.

I often enjoy reading posts by obvious low-IQ people who think they are the opposite - but it's your weak dismissals of anything against your biased viewpoint which are mundane. Face up to it : Thaksin is No.1 suspect right now and so people are right to focus in that direction. This 'provide 100% proof' line is as ridiculous as much of the other stuff you write. It means you think nobody should say a single word until they personally have 100% proof ?

Everyone seems to be missing a very obvious possibility behind this : foreign mercenaries hired to plant bombs then flee the country. Plenty of them for hire these days. Not the way the Muslim's work. Any thoughts who that points at ?

This is interesting:

So half the people think that it is Thaksin because this bombing will hurt the military government and the other half says that it was the Military Government because it will help them retain power.

Great logic boys.

Oh dear half say Thaksin and the other half say military government ? I hope you don't teach English as your comprehension skills are defective

More like 93% say Thaksin and the other 7% ? - well, we've all seen their level often enough here to take anything they say with a very large pinch of salt.

Mad dogs foaming at the mouth is the closest approximation I can think of. This must be the start of the communist revolution they have been sputtering at us for the last few months.

Come on boys : get it over with so this dog can be put down once and for all.

Now wholly in belief of what the red shirt activists were all about, there is no doubt in my mind that they are not responsible for such attacks c'mon it's about religion not politics.

Nope. It's about bringing down the economy by scaring away tourists.

The shrine just happens to be the place where lots of Chinese gather. If it had killed 20 Americans, we would be seeing a very different international reaction.

If it was about religion, surely they would put the bomb somewhere with a lot more Thais and buddhists. You should always allow some doubt in your mind - especially in Thailand.

"The fact that a powerful explosive device could be planted at a major Bangkok landmark points to serious flaws in security."

Another very poor - yet typical - piece of Thai journalism by someone who has a very narrow field of view but are blissful in their own ignorance. Perhaps they could have told us just how to prevent an attack like this : search every single tourist with a bag ?. And does he/she think those terrorists will queue up at a checkpoint to let them find his bomb ?.

The West realised a long time ago is that the only way is to get the terrorists 'at home' while they prepare using intelligence (the information kind, not the type the author lacks). Expect to see more raids by the Army (like the ones they already did and caught red-shirts with weapons).

And someone should let them know that Mr Thaksin has NO problems at all saying one thing to his gullible audience whilst doing the opposite behind the scenes. EVERYBODY knows this. The only difference is that some people don't care and some do. It marks the difference in ethics which separates Thai society.

The point is that if this attack was political, we know exactly who did it. Let's hope it was something else because if it was, it signals a new level of desperation in their leader. Time is running out and if the reforms are passed into law and new elections are held, he isn't EVER going to get back home.

I don't see why Red shirts would do something that would sign their political death warrant, unless they're ready to go to civil war. An angry fanatic individual perhaps.

I wouldn't be surprised we have a new culprit every 2 days.

You must be new in Thailand.

The red-shirts never decide what they are going to do.

The big man decides, then coughs up for the expenses (coaches, vans, venues and a bit of spending money for each of them). Then the loyal, local red-shirt leaders (where all the billions of baht lost in the rice scheme went) drum up support and get the locals out for a free holiday and a bit of a party.

Then the paid UDD thugs join in with all the innocents and carry out the real agenda - which always involves violence and intimidation against any opposition.

This is why they cannot be reasoned with and why reconciliation can never happen until the slate at the top is wiped clean.

When you don't allow people a valid space to "voice" discontents and grievances, they do so anyway but in a manner that is unacceptable!

Utter nonsense. The people planting these bombs are not doing it because they feel aggrieved, they are doing it because some Mr Big has paid them a few thousand baht to do it.

These are terrorist scum murdering people for money. I haven't seen anything from red-shirts in 10 years which gives me any reason to think they have any principles or ethics other than money. We have seen it all before so save the 'noble cause' crap for your comrades.

Ah yes, an embryonic conspiracy theory pokes it's head out of the womb!

Well, the possibility was mentioned in one of the articles that the junta could have incentive to justify an extended period of "happiness measures and laws" without elections by orchestrating something like this, and I feel that keeping one's eyes open to and thinking about all the motives of interested parties is probably a good thing rather than just always accepting what those in power and the media tells us to. I figure it doesn't cost me anything to entertain those other possibilities and get more information then apply some critical thinking to see what makes sense.

Do you really believe that all conspiracy theories are truly only theories? Just interested -- not looking for a battle with you.

Anyone who has watched the Junta do their best to remove violence and conflict from society must be ignorant in the extreme if they think they would do something like this in order to extend their stay. After all, they can just do it anyway if they really want.

There are few possibilities, but that isn't one of them.

And happening just after the walking ego Mr T got a very public slap in the face after the decision to remove his police rank. Coincidence ?. He must be getting desperate now because if the reforms get enshrined into law and elections follow, he's not coming back in this lifetime.

Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world's prestigious religious institute, condemned the apparent killing, calling it a "demonic act of which all religions and human traditions are innocent." The statement also said Islamic law stipulates that it is forbidden to shed the blood of foreigners.

Please detail the text in doctrine expressly forbidding to shed the blood of "foreigners"

I'm being specific about what I seek, because they are being specific in their assertion.

I wouldn't bother. The Koran seems full of statements which these hypocrites can pick-and-choose to match whatever suits them.

When that fails, they say the extremist's are "Interpreting the Koran too literally"

And when that fails they say "It doesn't matter what we do because Allah knows our heart"

Basically it seems that if you are non-muslim, killing you is OK because you are an infidel. I know for sure you are sentenced to death for even drawing a picture of their precious prophet. I don't see how that matches up with what he said.

Every press report I read is trying to assassinate his campaign - and given my complete disgust at the bias and one-sided reporting in the World's press these days, it only draws me towards him.

The BBC are doing the same thing at Jeremy Corbyn and it is becoming more and more desperate. I don't care for labour one little bit, but it is showing the true nature of the BBC (who are supposed to be unbiased) quite clearly.

What people want in this world and what politicians/'establishments' want seem to be two completely different things.

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Maybe the reason is that Thaksin has never left. He still controls all his cronies : the 310:0 amnesty disgrace proved that beyond doubt.

The question you SHOULD be asking is whether Thailand would get better with Thaksin removed from the picture entirely.

There would be some disorder while all the greedy lackies fought in the power vacuum but things would settle back down to the average developing-world, corrupt Asian country instead of this ridiculous situation.

I have no idea why they seem to be so obsessed with this. Obviously no sleeping dogs saying in Thailand

Which dog do you think is sleeping ?.

Because the one in Dubai certainly isn't.

This loss of face will have him fuming over his coffee in the hotel restaurant.

We've all been reading the red-shirt lunatics here telling us that their communist revolution is coming soon : they are being spoon-fed that line from somewhere. I wonder if Prayuth is trying to nudge Thaksin into making his move while the Junta are still in power and the tomatoes in the police will not be able to shield them.

If he is prepared to apply the law equally to the rich and powerful, who cares. Or would you prefer someone's lackey?

Unfortunately, it seems like they're all someone's lackey, doesn't it?

In Thailand, it is all just a question of degree. Same as corruption.

The amnesty bill showed the extreme achieved by Pheu-Thai. The rest might be bad, but don't try to infer they are in the same league.

Get rid of the most putrid, rotten apples first then work your way up the barrel.

The departing chief should be sent on his way with a boot up his @rse as he goes out the door.

What's the delay, waiting for brother to be named army chief plus a new and very ' suitable ' police chief appointed ?

At least it's better than taking his sister from presenting pie-charts someone else drew up and making her Prime Minister.

I hope you have a big slice of humble pie ready in case his brother is not promoted.