Bangkok To Be Last Under Emergency Rule After Blast: Thai PM Abhisit

[webfact]

Bangkok to be last under emergency rule after blast: Thai PM

by Anusak Konglang

BANGKOK (AFP) -- The Thai prime minister said on Friday a bombing that injured a security guard in Bangkok has ensured it will be the country's last province kept under emergency rule after deadly protests.

Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva said the grenade attack on Thursday night -- the second in a month at the King Power duty-free shopping outlet -- did not represent an escalation in violence.

However, he said the incident would leave the Thai capital as the final place governed by emergency laws put in place on April 7 in response to anti-government protests.

"I am considering lifting the emergency rule in northeastern provinces, but Bangkok will be the last place the emergency rule will be lifted," he said.

Police said the explosion, at 11:00pm (0400 GMT) Thursday, was just metres away from the site of the previous blast on Rangnam Road in central Bangkok.

The wounded 23-year-old man is in a serious condition in Rajavithi hospital with shrapnel wounds to his head and leg.

No group has admitted responsibility for the attack.

King Power's owner Vichai Raksriaksorn, who recently bought Leicester City Football club, is linked to the current coalition government.

Three explosions in a month have rattled nerves in a city still recovering from the "Red Shirt" demonstrations in which 91 people died and about 1,900 were injured in clashes between protesters and the army.

In the previous bombing on July 30, a grenade hidden in a plastic rubbish bag injured a Thai man in his 30s who was scavenging for scrap.

A man linked to the Red Shirt demonstrations was arrested over the explosion and police said the suspect, 23-year-old Sorathien Singkanya, admitted that the grenade belonged to him but had denied planting it himself.

That blast came less than a week after a small bomb exploded at a Bangkok bus stop, killing one person and injuring 10.

Lieutenant General Sathan Chayanont, commander of Bangkok Metropolitan Police, said Thursday's explosion was likely to have been caused by an M-79 grenade fired from a distance of around 400 metres (1,320 feet).

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who is in charge of national security, said it was not clear who was behind the attack, although he said it was aimed at inciting unrest in the Thai capital.

"The only motive for the blast is to create confusion in the country... the situation in Bangkok is still worrisome and those who intended to create unrest are not yet ready to abandon violence," he told reporters.

Suthep said he had instructed police to set up more checkpoints and search people around key government buildings and the homes of senior political figures.

Bangkok and six other Thai provinces remain under emergency rule prohibiting public gatherings of more than five people and give security forces the right to detain suspects for 30 days without charge.

Authorities have used the powers to arrest hundreds of suspects and silence anti-government media.

The opposition Puea Thai party has accused government supporters of setting off the first bomb.

The protests by the Reds, many of whom back fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, attracted up to 100,000 people demanding immediate elections.

Thaksin, a former telecoms tycoon, was ousted in a bloodless military coup in 2006 and lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a prison sentence imposed in his absence for corruption.

After the May crackdown, Red Shirt leaders asked their thousands of supporters to disperse but enraged protesters set fire to dozens of buildings, including a shopping mall and the stock exchange.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-08-27

[laurentbkk]

How nice , some Thais can buy football team in UK , vineyard and castle in France ,properties around the wrold and foreigners cannot do that in Thailand. I dont think its fair ...

Sorry for that security guard and hope he will recover quickly.

[sirchai]

How nice , some Thais can buy football team in UK , vineyard and castle in France ,properties around the wrold and foreigners cannot do that in Thailand. I dont think its fair ...

Sorry for that security guard and hope he will recover quickly.

Why was the door closed when you ran against it?

[SomTumTiger]

How nice , some Thais can buy football team in UK , vineyard and castle in France ,properties around the wrold and foreigners cannot do that in Thailand. I dont think its fair ...

Sorry for that security guard and hope he will recover quickly.

Nothing better to whinge about today?

[asiawatcher]

Leave it in place - no skin off my nose!

[mccw]

Drop the "emergency" name and just make it the law

[BSJ]

For some reason the quote "The road to peace is littered with many corpses" pops into my head. Did someone famous say that? Or did I make it up???

In the case of Thailand, maybe it's the truth!

[rubl]

Life goes on. Tomorrow election day here in Bangkok. For weeks now I've seen pickup's with LOUDspeakers driving around. Every once in a while a short message, mostly some popular song VERY LOUDLY. 'emergency law' bothering people? Really?

Edited August 28, 2010 by rubl