Hospital Bomber Sentenced To 27 Years

By Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

 

Wattana Poomarej, 62, today in Bangkok.

 

BANGKOK — The man who set a bomb injuring 21 at an army-run hospital was sentenced Wednesday to 27 years in prison for crimes including attempted murder.

 

Wattana Poomarej, 62, an engineer at a state-owned utility, was found guilty of premeditated and attempted murder by setting off a pipe bomb disguised inside a flower vase in a waiting room of the Phramongkutklao Hospital.

 

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/2017/12/06/hospital-bomber-sentenced-27-years/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2017-12-06

Man jailed for 27 years over Phra Mongkutklao Hospital bomb attack

By The Nation

 

File photo shows the convict during his interrogation.

 

The Criminal Court on Wednesday convicted a former Electricity Generating of Thailand engineer for launching a bomb attack inside the Phra Mongkutklao Hospital in May, and sentenced him to 27 years in jail.

The court found Watana Phummaret, 62, guilty of a premeditated bomb attack at the hospital that injured 21 people, most of them retired military officers, and caused damage worth over Bt1 million.

 

The court said there was strong evidence that Watana assembled a pipe bomb and put it inside a vase in front of the medicine dispensing room in the Chalerm Phrakiart building on May 22. He then detonated it with a timer.

 

The court convicted him on three counts of launching a bomb attack that injured others, assembling a bomb and possessing a weapon without license.

 

He was initially given a life sentence for the bomb attack, three years for the bomb making and one year for possessing the bomb.

 

Since he pleaded guilty and confessed during interrogation, the court commuted his life sentence to 26 years and the sentence on the two other counts to 12 months.

 

The jail term will begin after he completes serving a four-year term he was given on September 13 in another case, which saw him found guilty of having explosives in his house.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30333289

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-12-06

Good.

Bombing a hospital. Som nam naa you disgusting vermin.

Thai court jails man for 27 years over Bangkok hospital bomb

 

A view of the Phramongkutklao Hospital where the bomb blast occurred, in Bangkok, Thailand, May 22, 2017. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai court sentenced a 62-year-old man to 27 years in prison on Wednesday for planting a bomb at a Bangkok hospital that wounded 21 people.

 

The explosion hit the Phramongkutklao Hospital in the Thai capital, Bangkok, in May on the third anniversary of a 2014 military coup. The hospital is popular with soldiers and their families and retired military officers.

 

Police arrested Watana Pumret, a retired government employee, after the blast and said he had confessed to the bombing because he despises the military.

 

"From the evidence we believe the accused committed the offence ... the accused confessed to it," a judge said.

 

Courts in Thailand often do not identify the names of judges, with the exception of some high-profile legal cases.

 

Watana was seen crying after the verdict. He hugged his wife and refused to answer reporters' questions, according to a Reuters reporter at the court.

 

Reuters was unable to contact Watana's lawyer after the verdict.

 

Thailand's military launched a coup in May 2014 after months of street protests that took a toll on Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy. The military promised to unite the politically divided country and restore stability but it has been accused by critics of not wanting to relinquish power.

 

The military government has promised to hold a general election in November 2018 to return Thailand to democracy but senior government figures have said more time was needed to complete laws related to the vote.

 

The government has also cited security concerns as a reason for not lifting a ban on politics that has been in place since 2014, despite increasing pressure from groups of all political stripes to lift the ban.

 

(Reporting by Aukkarapon Niyomyat, Panarat Thempgumpanat; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Paul Tait)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-12-06

Seems like a fair verdict. 

Guess the judicial system can come to decent conclusions every now and then.

 

Quote

He was initially given a life sentence for the bomb attack, three years for the bomb making and one year for possessing the bomb.

3 years for making a bomb, 1 year for possessing one?

Guess its smart to buy your bombs instead of making them. Can save you 2 years in the can.

Idea behind it is probably that this way 2 people are "employed", one making it and one walking around with it instead of just keeping one person occupied.

52 minutes ago, webfact said:

"From the evidence we believe the accused committed the offence ... the accused confessed to it," a judge said.

Yes, we beliiiiiieve  in  (scapegoat closure)

Edited December 6, 20178 yr by MaxLee

In his cell I hope the availability is there to string himself up,

A cowardly act,

Well,  he's 62 years old and will spend 26 years in the slammer, so he will be out in time to celebrate his 90th birthday with his family, if he even lives that long.

Although he committed a heinous act yet killed no-one, , certain hi-so killers come to mind that haven't served 27 months let alone 27 years.

Yep! 62 already and 27 years in jail. They could just have been saying life.

Whatever happened to the red shirt angle that was promulgated immediately after the bombing. Then he was a red shirt sympathizer. Now nothing mentioned.

Whatever happened to the red shirt angle that was promulgated immediately after the bombing. Then he was a red shirt sympathizer. Now nothing mentioned.

Be claimed he did it because he disliked the coup and army. In previous articles there were ties mentioned with the red shirts. That they dont mention it now is mot so strange as it has nothing to do with his conviction.

Do you think he should get more or less punishment if he was a redshirt or is it the action of bombing that needs to be judged.



Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

1 hour ago, robblok said:

Do you think he should get more or less punishment if he was a redshirt or is it the action of bombing that needs to be judged.

Not sure but I am sure that the junta will milk that well and do a pretty good song and dance and then declared that this is proof that the situation is unstable and therefore election will be delayed. 

4 hours ago, robblok said:

In previous articles there were ties mentioned with the red shirts.

Dusit Poll, the research arm of Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, said that the recent bombing at Phramongkutklao Hospital was linked to politics. http://www.the9thfloor.com/phuket-culinary-news/content/33996

Army Chief Links Hospital Bombing to Recent Bangkok Attacks

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/2017/05/22/explosion-reported-bangkoks-phramongkutklao-hospital/

Army chief Chalermchai Sittisart said in a televised interview that the explosion was likely carried out by “people opposed to the junta.” http://time.com/4787951/thailand-bangkok-bombing-junta-hospital/

I'd say the Army was ramping up the rhetoric to find a political target to justify its full menu of pre-military trial interrogations. Lone wolf Watana had to be a disappointment that even the military couldn't claim credit.

7 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Whatever happened to the red shirt angle that was promulgated immediately after the bombing. Then he was a red shirt sympathizer. Now nothing mentioned.

Khun Eric, for heaven's sake, why you, you reminding us of the man's red sympathies! How odd, and contra-productive for the 'cause' you are here to defend!

5 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Not sure but I am sure that the junta will milk that well and do a pretty good song and dance and then declared that this is proof that the situation is unstable and therefore election will be delayed. 

As the Shins' governments, and the DP one, 'milked' comparable stuff? Sure, as every government, also in democratic countries, would. But, to you, it's 'the junta', with the bias we're used from you, alas.

32 minutes ago, bangrak said:

As the Shins' governments, and the DP one, 'milked' comparable stuff? Sure, as every government, also in democratic countries, would. But, to you, it's 'the junta', with the bias we're used from you, alas.

Democratic governments or their opponents may try to "milk" stuff, but not in order to provide any possible excuse to delay elections.

 

7 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Dusit Poll, the research arm of Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, said that the recent bombing at Phramongkutklao Hospital was linked to politics. http://www.the9thfloor.com/phuket-culinary-news/content/33996

Army Chief Links Hospital Bombing to Recent Bangkok Attacks

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/2017/05/22/explosion-reported-bangkoks-phramongkutklao-hospital/

Army chief Chalermchai Sittisart said in a televised interview that the explosion was likely carried out by “people opposed to the junta.” http://time.com/4787951/thailand-bangkok-bombing-junta-hospital/

I'd say the Army was ramping up the rhetoric to find a political target to justify its full menu of pre-military trial interrogations. Lone wolf Watana had to be a disappointment that even the military couldn't claim credit.

What are your links supposed to prove? The first announces that 3/4 of people believe the bombings are politically motivated (true), the others that the government believes the same (also true). Where is the ramped up rhetoric, or any proof that interrogation of the suspect was in any way heavy handed?

Lone wolf Watana is a red sympathiser, just like the others that consider violence is an acceptable form of political expression. You might also note another finding of the dusit poll you quoted "while 67.76% said their criticism might stem from the fact that the military junta outperformed after three years in power. "

Former engineer jailed for 27 years over Phra Mongkutklao Hospital bomb attack

By The Nation

 

Watana Phummaret

 

THE CRIMINAL Court yesterday convicted a former engineer of a bomb attack inside Phra Mongkutklao Hospital in May and sentenced him to 27 years in jail.

The court found Watana Phummaret, 62, a former Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand employee, guilty of the premeditated bomb attack at the hospital that injured 21 people, most of them retired military officers, and caused damage worth more than Bt1 million. 

 

The court said there was strong evidence that Watana had assembled a pipe bomb and put it inside a vase in front of a pharmacy in the Chalerm Phrakiart building on May 22. He then detonated it with a timer. 

 

The court convicted him on three counts of launching an attack that injured others, assembling a bomb and possessing a weapon without a licence.

 

He was initially given a life sentence for the attack, three years for assembling the bomb and one year for possessing it. Since he pleaded guilty and confessed, the court commuted the life sentence to 26 years and the sentences on the two other counts to a cumulative 12 months. 

 

The jail term will begin after he completes a four-year term he was given on September 13 in another case, which saw him found guilty of possessing explosives at his house.

 

Watana, who was arrested on June 20, did not comment on the guilty verdict yesterday. 

 

There are five more bombing cases pending against him. 

 

The first case relates to a blast in front of the Royal Thai Army headquarters in September 2007, which seriously injured two policemen. 

 

In the second case, a bomb exploded on May 5, 2007 on Soi Rajavithi, injuring one victim.

 

The third case relates to a bomb that was detonated in April this year on Rajdamnoen Klang Avenue. It hurt three victims.

 

In the fourth case, an explosion occurred in May this year in front of the National Theatre, in which two people were slightly hurt. 

 

Watana has admitted his role in those four bomb attacks and trials are expected soon. 

 

The fifth case involves a bomb that exploded on April 9, 2007 in front of the Major Ratchayothin cinema. Public prosecutors have not yet decided whether to arraign Watana in this case. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30333347

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-12-07