At Least 10 Injured In Explosion In Front Of Big C Rajdamri

[SiangDeeMahk]

Well.. Midtown Bangkok bomb blast, 1 dead, 7 injured. All innocents, at the hands of "yet unknown" terrorists. And fairly inconceivable, that more (maybe MUCH more) of the same, isn't on the way.

That certainly didn't take very long, did it? For the last 2 months, I've been placating (and putting to ease) my friends, family, and associates (while telling terrible stories about what's happening in Thailand in relation to the political violence), only by addending this hopeful-sounding post-story caveat: "But now, the violent protests have ended, and all is quiet in Thailand".

But that's no longer going to be a viable addendum to my reporting (and following discussions) on Thailand.

To be honest, I'm not really sure what to start telling friends and family, now.

I suppose it was only a matter of time, before this happened. And we all knew perfectly well that the entire Taksin-driven movement hadn't disappeared, but simply had gone underground. Well.. now, DEADLY violence has returned to Bangkok.

(not sure yet at whose hands, but I think many of us with at least some brains left are pretty sure that if a culprit is ever found, chances are they'll be caught "RED-handed" in a quite literal way).

On a slight side note (because it STILL bothers me): Peaceful demonstrations, MY ASS. The only time that "FIRE" should be part of a proper peace demonstration, is when it appears at the tip of a lighter (held overhead, during a stirring musical performance), or within the confines of a little BBQ grill, for toasting marshmallows over. If you see fire.. of any other kind, at a peace demonstration? Then guess WHAT? It's NOT a peace demonstration for democracy!

Is that so freakin hard to understand? Wow.

More immediately, I just heard 3 important sounds, which among other things, signals the death knell of tourism, to my ears:

1) A world-wide rustling and shuffling of papers. What was it?

It was the sound of EVERY SINGLE travel agency, tour organizer, concert promoter, student-exchange program administrator, and bookstore "guidebook section manager" in the ENTIRE WORLD, deftly gathering up any kind of "Amazing Thailand" travel brochure or pamphlet, TAT promotion sheet, Thai Airways poster & decals, or re-order forms (for Thailand guidebooks), and unceremoniously dumping them in the nearest garbage can.

2) A world-wide nearly inaudible "hum" of electrons, representing bits of data on the Internet. What data?

The quickening cancellation after cancellation of already-booked holidays and tour itineraries, by people or organizations that, for some strange reason, might not actually want to deliberately bring themselves, their peers, workmates, or their precious loved ones into harms way.

3) A Thai metropolitan area-wide scream. What was it?

A desperate cry of anguish, (from Thai and Farang landlords, alike), as the calls of current Farang tenants giving notice of departure start pouring in, and the calls from perspective new Farang tenants come to an utter halt.

But, SO WHAT!! Right? After all, Tourism is just a scant 4-6% of the Thai economy. (utter rubbish, of course, but, accurate as far as THEIR reporting goes, at least. Ahem.)

Because hey, they're just tourists, right? No big deal, because all the expats, and foreign, industrial (and other) business will be unaffected by the country's (potentially looming) civil war (which lots of smart people are already predicting).

Or, will they really be unaffected..?? After all, business NEVER take employee or management's safety, or possibly dramatic interruptions in finished product exportation, raw material delivery, or workers availability (due to Emergency Decrees and curfews), into consideration, when evaluating their business presence in a foreign country, right??

Take a look around your house (those of you outside of Thailand, I mean). If you look inside your computers, cars, fridges, toys, stereos, mobile phones.. you'll see LOTS of things with "Made In Thailand" stamped on them or on parts inside of them.

You would be hardpressed, however, to find many items with "Made In" stamps from countries like Somalia, Iran, Afghanistan, Croatia, North Korea, etc. Well, there's a reason for that. Foreign business doesn't quite WANT TO do business in those places. Specifically, political unrest, deadly violence, civil wars and revolutions (among other reasons) are not very appealing to most investors. Thailand ought to be very careful now. Yes, they've had quite good success luring foreign investment and business to Thailand in the past.. But, just like the disclaimer that Stock Brokerages are required to post regarding the services they provide, "Past statistics are NOT a guarantee of future performance".

I mean, really.. Thailand now appears (internationally) to look like someone who's just squarely shot themselves in the foot. But unlike a sane person, who would then drop the gun, and get straight to the hospital, Thailand instead looks like someone who, after shooting themselves in the foot once, carefully takes aim again, and starts pumping round after round into the same foot, over and over, then dips the shattered appendage into gasoline, and begins trying to slowly firewalk on hot coals!

Don't know about you guys, but when I see someone doing that? I head the other direction. Soon, so will the rest of the world, (I believe).

Also, the Thai habit of trying to hide/spin/twist the truth about what's really happening flies directly in the face of the REST of the world's uniform appreciation of FACT being immeasurably more valuable than FACE. Because the rest of the world isn't dumb; they KNOW the bullshit spins coming from TAT is the same as if NASA tried to claim that the Challenger Spaceshuttle hadn't actually "catastrophically exploded" on liftoff from Cape Canaveral, but was just "testing it's emergency escape procedures".

Come on, Thailand... OWN UP to the problems, and FIX them. You wanna keep playing (in the rest of the world) with the Big Boys? Then you're gonna have to GROW UP, OWN UP, MAN UP, or shut up. There are NEW rules in the NEW globally connected world. It's not optional; you HAVE to play by those rules, OR YOU'RE OUT OF THE GAME!!!!!

A final note:

When the country next to you ends up having:

-friendlier tourist and expat policies,

-better exchange rates,

-ocean access,

-ancient ruins,

-exotic cultures and indigenous peoples,

-jungles, rivers, cities, crafts, girls (not necessarily in that order, mind you),.. or pretty much whatever a traveler to SE Asia might be looking for,

-and (let's not forget) is the landowner of one of the 7 Wonders Of The World,

-and has an ablebodied workforce for foreign industry.....

you Reeeeeealy shouldn't spend too much time dipping your paintbrush in the paintcan of "violent, deadly political unrest" and start whitewashing your whole f_cking country with it!

P.S. Flame all you want, these are just MY opinions.

[Goshawk]

[tonywebster]

i wonder who planted it, the government to justify the continued emergency decree, the reds or the yellows, or southern insurgents (terrorists). My money is on the fist one.

OH ya lets blame it all on the Reds, my guess it was the government boys themselves to keep making them looking good, and to have them win the election in BKK, which they did.

Read my post properly then engage brain, the government is clearly my first option.

[fogoyes]

reds again - who want lift the emercency degree?<img class="bbc_emoticon" alt="" src="http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/annoyed.gif"><br>

[phetaroi]

I don't know if anybody else got this feeling since yesterday, that the mood in Bangkok is changing. When I went to a big department-store it was then when I realized that this was not a common sight and not the usual crowd you'd normally see. Some hectic and nervous moves by undercover personal too. I think it was well known before the incidence of what would/could happen. I suspecvt that the culprits took cover with the harmless crowd. Very dangerous developement.

Bangkok was my retirement home, but after May 19 I just didn't feel safe there, so I returned to the U.S....because I feared (literally) just these kinds of incidents. I will tell you that one of my thoughts was...how would I feel being up in one of the movie theaters (like the ones at Central World) during a terrorist attack?

Terrorism can happen anywhere, including here in the United States. But with Thailand balancing the sick and nasty politics of the Reds and the separatism in the south (where -- let's not forget -- over 4,000 have been murdered), Thailand IS a potentially very dangerous place. No, it's not the most dangerous place in the world. But it's not the safest environment, either.

[webfact]

topic continues:

Bangkok Blast kills 1, injures 10 in first attack since May turmoil

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