One Hurt In Bangkok Grenade Blast

[MUYTHAI]

That is F'd up. The poor are being targeted. What does this accomplish besides killing and destroying individual lives? Who would have motive to target the poor and blue collar working class? I feel bad for the poor guy that got blasted while scavenging to to stay alive or earn a living and all the other innocent people killed over the years due to the political strife. Not cool.

[Portlandstone]

ฺBlurry video and news report from CH7.

http://www.ch7.com/n...c=2&p=5&d=96662

Here's a youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=795fP0ioeGI

[katana]

It's a common improvised booby trap. You wrap the spoon with a heavy rubber band, then smear it with a little motor oil. The band dissolves in a few minutes detonating the grenade. Bits of greasy rubber band will be left stuck to the spoon. Anybody who served in a well trained unit like the Thai Rangers would immediately recognize it for what it was.

They were saying that in Thairath too, about the rubber band smeared with oil being used to delay the explosion once the pin had been removed.

Soi Rangnam, the scene of the explosion, was also the scene of fierce fighting during the May 2010 disturbances:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi6-OP0fxPo

www.youtube.com/watch?v=e65exr4nh-o

[otherstuff1957]

Grenade attacks against 'anti-Red' targets have been going on for two or three years. Generally, no-one was killed in these attacks & the usual damage was broken windows in Banks (when Thaksin's money was being seized) or dented sidewalks outside of Army bases. No-one ever claimed responsibility for these attacks, but the targets were always real or perceived opponents of the Red Shirt movement. It was only during the recent protests that the ante was upped and casualties occurred with the grenade attack on the BTS station.

If the recent bombs are the work of the same group (probably Sae Dang's followers or men trained by him) then they are indeed entering a new phase of the struggle. It could also be someone else who is imitating the tactics of the Red grenade attacks (PAD members or rogue Army men). Whoever it is seems to care nothing for human life and wants to keep the level of tension high.

As for attacks on Soi Cowboy or elsewhere, I don't think that the Reds would do that... a good number of the potential casualties there would be their sisters, cousins, wives, daughters, etc... But of course, logic and compassion are obviously not the strong points of the perpetrators.

[Just1Voice]

Ok, there's a lot of speculation, conjecture and "finger pointing" going on by just about everyone with an opion.

1) The Reds, or a violent faction of them, are behind the recent attacks.

2) The Government is doing it to continue enforcement of the S.O.E.

3) Ditto for the Military.

But here's another one to throw into the mix. Southern "Insurgents". Hardly a week, or sometimes even a day, goes by when we don't read of another killing of a school teacher, or police, soldiers, and other innocents by the southern insurgents, who appear to be a faceless entity that the Government are pretty much clueless about.

What of they, or some of them, have decided to expand their activities into BKK in an effort to take some of the "heat" off them in the south, or simply as a form of deadly harassment to hit the government/military on multiple fronts?

They have shown, countless times, they have absolutely no respect for the life of anyone by their killing of not only soldiers and police, but school teachers and other innocents. So setting off explosions in BKK which kill other innocents wouldn't bother them in the least.

Also, I'm somewhat amused, or is it puzzled, as to why the Reds are referred to as "terrorists" for their actions, but in the south, where a group of people are bombing and killing on almost a daily basis, they are only called "insurgents". I'd love for Abhist or Suthep to give me a logical and intelligent explanation for that.

I'm also curious about something else. When military and police personnel down south are killed by a bomb in the road, do the "insurgents" merely leave the dead with their weapons, or do they swoop in and take them to add to what they already possess? Curious, but there is never any mention of that, one way or the other, in the press. Makes me wonder.

Edited July 31, 2010 by Just1Voice

[yellow1red1]

Thailand to end emergency rule in six provinces: PM

... said there is little political movement in these provinces," he said.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/387218-pm-abhisit-cancels-emergency-decree-in-6-more-provinces/

50 years of newspaper readin & never saw a paper clone like this, how spell plagirism? same text in both stories egadzooks

The government has come under pressure from the United States and rights groups to end emergency rule to help the country recover from deadly civil unrest that has left it deeply divided.

Authorities have used the powers -- introduced in Bangkok on April 7 -- to arrest hundreds of Red Shirt suspects and silence anti-government media.

The protests by the Reds, many of whom back fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, attracted up to 100,000 people demanding immediate elections but were crushed by the army in a bloody crackdown in May.

About 90 people died and some 1,900 were injured in a series of street clashes between armed troops and demonstrators.

Critics say the government may in effect be fanning the crisis as it clamps down and censors the protest movement rather than addressing its grievances.

A separate state of emergency has been in place since 2005 in three Muslim-majority southern provinces where a separatist insurgency has left more than 4,100 people dead in six years, with no end in sight to the violence.

Under pressure from America, here they come to SAVE the day!!! 555

[dom samui]

So lets think about that:

Memphis Police Department Reduces Crime Rates with IBM Predictive Analytics Software

Gains ability to identify and map crime "hot spots," reduces serious crime by more than 30 percent.

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/32169.wss

What about this Sofware to be tried buy some govt?

[Robby nz]

They say now it was a chinese manufactured granade not an M67.

Probably can identify the bits.

[dom samui]

And today : M79 Grenade Discovered in Govt House. !!! M79sing Thailand!

[BSJ]

I was told the rubber band is dabbed with nail polish remover seconds before being deposited and that gives the villain 30 to 60 seconds to make his escape. In a steel container when the safety lever (Spoon) releases there is a metallic clang noise from hitting the inside of the container, a few seconds delay them boom! A lot of the blast from a steel rubbish bin would be UP which could account for the tree burning. Whatever the story I for one will not be standing to close to a Bangkok rubbish bin!

Sad the rubbish collector was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Credo]

The basic problem is that the government is not trustworthy. The information that is put out is tailored to lead to the conculsion that it must be the red shirts. A bomb on a tree or near a bus stop that is across the street from somewhere can hardly be construed to be targeting that place. It's like the grenade that was found at Government House. It was just found, but we are led to believe that it was put there during the April - May riots!! Not very good security, not very good cleaning up. When Anupong's office area was bombed, nothing was said for several days. Information seems to be given out when it's convenient, not when it happens.

As far as targeting tourism, I doubt it very much. There are plenty of places to put an explosive device that could get tourists, and they would be extremely easy to do, actually much easier than the current locations.

The southern insurgents are unlikely to be involved, but not impossible. They would have a hard time penetrating Bangkok--southerners are ethnically different the general population and they would be easily spotted.

They have arrested the red shirt leaders, the city is under a SOE and still they can't stop grenade attacks. Maybe it's not them!

The government has a real credibility problem.

[Siripon]

The bombers are almost certainly renegrade veteran and current soldiers that support and are supported by Thaksin. Their names are well known.

Edited July 31, 2010 by Siripon

[elcent]

lets hope he'll survive and that he gets protection. If it is as described then he might have seen the planter of the device. He may have been deliberatley targeted. These people, when around, are within a minute at the place of disposal of trash to check.

[BOS2BKK]

It's a common improvised booby trap. You wrap the spoon with a heavy rubber band, then smear it with a little motor oil. The band dissolves in a few minutes detonating the grenade. Bits of greasy rubber band will be left stuck to the spoon. Anybody who served in a well trained unit like the Thai Rangers would immediately recognize it for what it was.

They were saying that in Thairath too, about the rubber band smeared with oil being used to delay the explosion once the pin had been removed.

Soi Rangnam, the scene of the explosion, was also the scene of fierce fighting during the May 2010 disturbances:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi6-OP0fxPo

www.youtube.com/watch?v=e65exr4nh-o

Any Spoon activated grenade, which is fairly standard, and manufactured by just about every country that makes munitions can be used for this. All you have to do is find some way of holding the spoon (the metal lever that pops off after you pull the pin)allowing you to walk away and have the spoon released later. Putting them in a tin can works, so when they fall out, or are pulled out, boom. Electrical tape or rubber band with some sort of solvent on it will give you a minute or two delay.

Grenades of this type are not the miniature nuclear bombs they are made out to be in the movies. They kill by throwing out fragments of metal, so large pieces of the grenade are often readily identifiable, particularly if it detonates in a container, like a trash bin. If it was dropped in a bucket of petrol as another poster stated, you would get a decent fireball, and the petrol would serve as the delay.

Their are many references to M79 grenades on here. The M79 is not a grenade, it is a stand alone rifle grenade launcher made during the Vietnam era, making it fairly common in SE Asia. It has since been replaced in the US arsenal, but occasionally shows up in special demand settings, and is readily available in countries that rely on US surplus materiel.It fires a 40MM grenade that looks like a giant pistol bullet. Most commonly they are HE Frag, but 40mm grenades exist in a number of forms from smoke, to high explosive, Shotgun, incendiary, and even Thermobaric variants.

The frequent reports of "M79 Grenades" turning up can be misleading. Are the saying a grenade was fired? An unfired grenade was found? or an M79 launcher was found? Unfired the 40mm grenades are very safe. The have a setback/spin safety that requires they be fired to detonate. There is no way to detonate them directly. Fired is another story, they are a very potent stand off weapon, and in the right hands, can be devastating.

[march]

The southern insurgents are unlikely to be involved, but not impossible. They would have a hard time penetrating Bangkok--southerners are ethnically different the general population and they would be easily spotted.

They have arrested the red shirt leaders, the city is under a SOE and still they can't stop grenade attacks. Maybe it's not them!

OR... as many of the most violent of them are NOT arrested, maybe it is them !

In addition to Thaksin, the DSI'list of suspects included Veera Musigapong, Jatuporn Promphan, Natthawut Saikua, weng Tojirakarn, Waipot Arpornrat, Arisman Pongruangrong and Adisorn Piengket.

The others are Suporn Attawong, Kokaew Pikulthong, Kwanchai Praipana, Yoswarit Chuklom aka Jeng Dokchik, Nisit Sinthuprai, Karun Hosakul, Payap Panket, Wiphuthalaeng Pattanaphuthai, Phumkitti Sukchindathong, Suksek Pholteu, Charan Loypool, Amnat Intachote, Chayut Laicharoen, Sombat Makthong, Surachai Thewarat, Rachata Wongyod and Yongyuth Tuammee.

Out on the lam somewhere (many say to Cambodia), but anyway,

the ones from above that are running from the police are:

(ironically) Police Lieutenant-Colonel Thaksin,

(ironically, Pt II) Police Lieutenant-Colonel Waipot Arpornrat,

Bring A Bottle To Burn Bangkok Arisman Pongruangrong,

Issan Rambo Suporn Attawong,

I Love Udon Thani So Much I Will Kill Kwanchai Praipana,

and

Let's Go Raid A Hospital Full of Elderly Patients Payap Panket

The government has a real credibility problem.

Unfortunately for the reds, their own credibility is much, much worse.

[longtom]

Thanks for the excellent information BOS2BKK, highly appreciated.:jap:

One or two more random handgrenades in rubbish bins (if that's what it was) and the consequences will be rather dramatic..

[Familyonthemove]

Thanks for the excellent information BOS2BKK, highly appreciated.:jap:

One or two more random handgrenades in rubbish bins (if that's what it was) and the consequences will be rather dramatic..

.... but are they random? During the Red Shirt protests it was fairly easy to avoid the trouble spots (unless you lived there) by watching the news and and checking TV before travelling, but now it's very difficult to know if there's risky areas to avoid. If the bombs are to highlight the areas involved in the Red Shirt protests, then perhaps Silom/Lumpini could be a risky area?

I need to travel into the old Red Shirt camp region most days as I work there, but it would be good to know if there's anywhere that family, friends and colleagues should avoid just to be on the extra-cautious side?