Australian Photographer Injured In Yala Bomb Attack

[george]

Australian photographer injured in Yala bomb attack

YALA: -- A bomb explosion injured an Australian journalist and his Thai guide in Yala province on Tuesday.

Philip Blenkinsop, a freelance photographer for Time Magazine, was taking photographs of a victim who was shot and burnt beyond recognition in Lamai distirct when a bomb exploded near him.

Blenkinsop suffered several sharpnel wounds to his body while his guide, Roya Bango, suffered slight injury to the back.

Three policemen, whom the photographer followed to cover the event, were also injured.

Blenkinsop has been based in Bangkok since the mid-1980s. He is an award-winning photographer who has covered a number of conflicts, including the guerrilla war in Indonesia's Aceh province.

-- The Nation 2007-05-22

[sriracha john]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery...

Philip Blenkinsop

[Mid]

story hitting the GLOBAL wire services now ,

a turning point , internationalisation ??

[Jai Dee]

A doctor of Yala medical centre treats Philip Blenkisop, a freelance photographer of Time magazine, who was injured in a bomb attack in Yala's Muang district on Tuesday.

Altogether 12 persons, including police and rescue workers were wounded in the explosion.

Source: The Nation - 22 May 2007

[Jai Dee]

Aussie hurt in Thai bomb blast

An Australian photographer and three policemen were wounded when a bomb believed set by Muslim insurgents exploded in southern Thailand, officials said.

The home-made bomb, hidden on a roadside, went off when a police team was inspecting the body of a Buddhist man shot dead and set on fire in Yala province, said police Lieutenant Colonel Saratwuth Wongderm.

The officer said he believed the insurgents had set a trap for police, who rushed to the scene after a caller informed them that a person had been slain.

Australian photographer Philip Blenkinsop, who was on assignment for Time magazine, was among the wounded.

"I was about four metres away from the body where the bomb was hidden. I am very lucky that the bomb didn't have too many sharp nails in it. I pity the man who was shot in the head and burned," Blenkinsop said at a hospital where he was being treated for minor wounds to the face and eye.

Blenkinsop, based in Bangkok since the mid-1980s, is an award-winning photographer who has covered a number of conflicts, including the guerrilla war in Indonesia's Aceh province, the communist insurgency in Nepal and the plight of the ethnic Hmong in communist Laos.

He began his career with The Australian newspaper in Sydney, but left Australia to work in Southeast Asia.

Thailand's southernmost provinces have been racked by a Muslim insurgency which has killed more than 2,200 people since early 2004. The secretive rebels are believed to be fighting for an independent Islamic homeland.

Source: The Age - May 22, 2007 - 1:34PM

[Scott]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[Jai Dee]

Yala Governor gave money to injured victims from blast in Yala

Yala Governor Thira Mintrasak donated money to 11 officials and media members who were injured from the bomb blast in tambon Lam Mai in Muang district of Yala province.

Mr. Thira paid a visit to the 11 injured victims who are being treated at Yala Hospital. The Governor asks the officials to examine the areas thoroughly before they will inspect them as the insurgents have many ways to stir up turbulence. He also asks the officials to continue to work for the general public.

Meanwhile, a news reporter from Thailand’s Channel 11, Ms. Rungsuree Kittikunsawad, was able to capture a footage of the bombing incident since she was two meters away from the scene during the blast.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 22 May 2007

[Jimjim]

He looks good in the picture. Looks like he's intact. Seems like one of those photographers that thrives on danger. Got to admire photographers like that.

Jai Dee, where'd ya get that picture?

[Mid]

Jai Dee, where'd ya get that picture?

two buttons on a mouse ,

the right one will answer those questions ............

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/05/22...30034861-01.jpg

[Jai Dee]

Jai Dee, where'd ya get that picture?

Right click on the photo and select Properties.

Straight from The Nation.

/Edit - I see Mid's already provided the answer.

Edited May 22, 2007 by Jai Dee
Additional comment added.

[Jimjim]

Oh, duh. It's on the front page of that site. I didn't look at the site before I asked the question, and wondered if it had been found on another page as they have very few pictures on their site and I'd love to see more pictures of the stories I read about in the Thai online dailies.

[Jai Dee]

Australian photographer injured in Yala bomb attack

A bomb explosion injured an Australian journalist and his Thai guide in Yala province on Tuesday.

Philip Blenkinsop, a freelance photographer for Time Magazine, was taking photographs of a victim who was shot and burnt beyond recognition in Lamai distirct when a bomb exploded near him.

While police said Blenkinsop suffered several sharpnel wounds to his body a hospital staff said he suffred minor injuries to his face. Police said his guide, Roya Bango, suffered slight injury to the back.

Three policemen, whom the photographer followed to cover the event, were also injured.

Police said the bomb was buried near the charred body and his burnt motorcycle.

Police said the bomb was assembled in a fire extinguisher tank and weighed about 10 kilogrammes. It was detonated by battery.

Chanai Thomthong, a reporter of Channel 5, said he saw the Australian photographer cover his face while running out of the explosion scene.

Chanai said he also ran out and saw several other reporters lying down on the ground.

Blenkinsop has been based in Bangkok since the mid-1980s. He is an award-winning photographer who has covered a number of conflicts, including the guerrilla war in Indonesia's Aceh province.

Source: The Nation - 22 May 2007

[sierra01]

A mate has just sent me this link....

http://www.goregasm.com/index.php?view=1&a...=6eb_1179828335

[0Mix1up]

made the local news, Melbourne, with video footage of the explosion.

nasty

[sriracha john]

Blenkinsop: "My thoughts are with the family of the victim"

Exclusive with Blenkinsop

Yala - "I considered myself to be lucky. We were all lucky," said Award winning Australian photographer Philip Blenkinsop who was among 12 people who were wounded Tuesday when a bomb exploded at a crime scene where police were examining a burnt corps.

Blenkinsop, who was on assignment for Time magazine to cover the ongoing insurgency in the Malay-speaking south, suffered a number of minor wounds to his body and torso.

The bomb was buried on the roadside next to the corps of Prathep Srimai, 44, a staff at Yala Municipality's health office who was shot yesterday morning by suspected insurgents.

Police said Prathep's body was placed a trolley and relocated to where the bomb was hidden and then set on fire.

Authorities said the use of second bomb as a trap at crime scene appeared to be a growing tactic directed at reinforcement or officials investigating a crime scene.

Blenkinsop, who was just two metres away form the explosion point, was rushed to the Yala hospital where was treated with shrapnel wounds.

"I wanted to thank the hospital staff, the governor and his deputy. They were wonderful and very professional," Blenkinsop said.

"My thoughts are with the family of the victim. They suffered much more than I did," he added.

Blenkinsop is based in Bangkok since the mid-1980s and has covered a number of conflicts, including the guerrilla war in Indonesia's Aceh province, the communist insurgency in Nepal and the plight of the ethnic Hmong in communist Laos.

He began his career with The Australian newspaper in Sydney, but left Australia to work in Southeast Asia.

- The Nation

==================

After reviewing his work with a google search, I can see that his excellent photographs are matched by his excellent humanity as expressed above... and and as expressed in his work. They seem inseparable.

Edited May 22, 2007 by sriracha john

[astral]

Sad to hear, and best wishes for recovery.................

BUT if you do a job you must expect the risks.

[Jai Dee]

A photograph shows the explosion of a roadside bomb that detonated as Yala security officials approached a corpse on a motorcycle sidecar. It injured 12, including journalists.

Source: The Nation - 23 May 2007

[Rhys]

Speedy Recovery... yet he knew the risk... Do you put your hand in a basket with a corba sleeping in it..

He'll be back and about....and more careful...Yet marked as well..

[sriracha john]

British photojournalist Philip Blenkinsop runs in panic after a bomb exploded near a road where he was taking pictures in the Thai southern province of Yala, 1,084 km ( 672 miles) south of Bangkok on May 22, 2007. The man on left is holding a police cordon tape. REUTERS

A nurse cleans British photojournalist Philip Blenkinsop at a hospital after a bomb exploded near a road where he was taking pictures in the Thai southern province of Yala, 1,084 km (672 miles) south of Bangkok May 22, 2007. Bangkok-based photographer Blenkinsop, on assignment for Time magazine, told Reuters by telephone from hospital he was hit by stones on the face and had hearing difficulties.

REUTERS

=================

As if surviving a bomb blast wasn't bad enough, but in a sad note that adds insult to injury, apparently his Australian citizenship has been removed and supplanted with a British one.

[aussiestyle1983]

Hope he has a speedy recovery.

[Chang_paarp]

As if surviving a bomb blast wasn't bad enough, but in a sad note that adds insult to injury, apparently his Australian citizenship has been removed and supplanted with a British one.

Blenkinsop speaks with a pommy accent, so he may well have been a pom at some stage in his life.

His work is quite confonting when it is 2mx2m, very dramatic. He is a very apporachable person when not putting himself in some of the hotter political places on the planet.

I hope he recovers well and soon.

[Krungthepian]

Philip is originally a Pom, but we try to overlook such things. Much as you would a club foot. Think he got to Perth in Western Australia when he was about 10 or 12. Gawky thin kid, but very feisty.

He started on Sunday Times in Perth in the early or mid 80s. His dad ran the Festival of Perth for nearly 20 years - that may have given him the partly "arty" feel to his pics. He's a black and white man; Leica fanatic - wide angles - which may have meant he got closer to that motorcycle trolley with the body on it, perhaps (not sure). The Thais are strictly big zoom lenses down in the South - probably cos of incidents like this - that was a comment by Don Pathan at the Nation, who was with Philip and his colleague Andrew Marshall the day before.

Philip is 42 but has already racked up an impressive collection of work - rebels in East Timor ('98), tribal clashes in Borneo (Dayaks vs Madurese, 99), Cambodia civil war (90s), Thai Burma border (Shan rebels), strife in Nepal a year or two ago, tsunami (Phuket and Aceh).. never made a big wad of money but has backed his judgement strongly many many times. Gutsy. He's eccentric - big pet snake called "Yan Khria" and god know what else - but very loyal to friends. Direct; so you know right where he stands. There's a whole set of British and Aussie photogs here who are into the black and white prints, and he's probably the best of them. A lot of his success just comes from having had a good grounding on papers in Perth and Sydney, I think.. literally doing lotsa jobs. Trying hard to get better pics.

If you've seen his exhibitions they have more than a touch of Peter Beard - who was a celebrated photographer (Yank or Pom I can't recall) who was based in Africa a number of years. Beard used to scribble notes around the edges of his photos, same as Philip does. So it got that quirk from him, you could suggest.

Phil's second wife, Agnes Dhurbeys (not sure spelling), is now becoming a bit of a photog herself - won a decent award herself recently. So he's obviously been a big influence on her too.

Phil's done a book on the ambulance services here Por Teck Tung (?) - "Cars That Ate Bangkok"; which has some amazing shots - eg, person's hand ripped off in a crash and caught on the bonnet of a car. He's a freak for guns, monks and dogs - Khmer Rouge soldiers on trains; the Phuket vegetarian festival - crazed people sticking ludicrous objects through their cheeks; his shots of the Fretlin rebels are like pinup posters (some great stuff); plus there is a bizarre one of a man holding up a human leg - hacked off by a machete by the look of it - and chewing on it with half a grin. Another a human head on a roadblock. And a third shows a family huddled in shock in the back of a truck being ferried out of a danger zone by Indonesian troops. Wild stuff, sort of out on the frontier.

I have one on my wall of the several hundred Hmong "rebels", in the back blocks of Laos, down on their knees crying- early 2003. A moment of history almost.

Amazing. In fact, that pic - which won him a world press award should be in a museum - back in Canberra, it is that good. He's on his way to fame, and good luck to him.

The world needs his stuff. God it would be dull without it.

[sriracha john]

Philip is originally a Pom, but we try to overlook such things. Much as you would a club foot.

sheeeesh.... like a club foot...

Amazing. In fact, that pic - which won him a world press award should be in a museum - back in Canberra, it is that good.

I know it doesn't do it justice here, but still... so people have some idea.... a truly amazing shot:

and I agree... black and white is awesome.

Thank you so much for your bio and background on Mr. Blenkinsop.

His background and character sound just as I imagined..

I hope he heals quickly and is back out there again with his camera soon...

[distortedlink]

The australians are going to love this.

It justifies the last 2 australian government warnings to their tourists here that Thailand is dangerous and to beware of bombs and terrorists lurking on every corner. These exaggerated statements can have disastrous results for the Thai tourist industry.

What do they expect when their nationals go mooching about in a conflict zone. This australian journalist seems to be really piling on the agony. Maybe he is the one who instigated the warnings in the first place.

Edited June 3, 2007 by distortedlink

[seonai]

I used to hang out with Philip when we all drank in the journo pubs in Phra Atit Road years ago in BKK, he's an absolutely TOP guy. Fantastic and to be applauded for his beliefs and sticking to them throughout his life. I've lost his number, have any of you got it, you could PM me please. Seonai

[seonai]

Also SRJ could you please give me the link to Philip's own website, can't find it

[sriracha john]

Also SRJ could you please give me the link to Philip's own website, can't find it

Uhmmm.. I never found one ... but there are several other websites about him. eg.

http://dirckhalstead.org/issue0412/halstead.html

[TAWP]

The australians are going to love this.

It justifies the last 2 australian government warnings to their tourists here that Thailand is dangerous and to beware of bombs and terrorists lurking on every corner. These exaggerated statements can have disastrous results for the Thai tourist industry.

What do they expect when their nationals go mooching about in a conflict zone. This australian journalist seems to be really piling on the agony. Maybe he is the one who instigated the warnings in the first place.

Most countries have warnings about the southern regions in Thailand for their citicens, what is so strange about that? I mean, there IS a lot of bombings and shootings there. As this news-post shows...