US Embassy Warns Of Possible Terrorist Attack In Bangkok

[animatic]

One post has been removed. Please keep posts in the realm of reality.

ROTFLOL

I didn't see the post, but love the tag line!

[MUSTYJACK]

timewilltell, I couldnt agree with you more.

[animatic]

'webfact' timestamp='1326497898' post='4977747'

related:

Chalerm denies threat of terror: Thailand

Maidu= Chalerm has a believability quotient on par with his guru, Thaksin. So if Charlem denies something, you can bet your hand-knitted ball warmer it's real.

Bangkok is not always as safe as it appears on the surface.

The biggest threat to Bangkok are home-grown terrorists. Who lobbed a bomb at a train station platform (killing an innocent woman) 20 months ago ? What group raided a downtown hospital? What was the affiliation of the fellows who torched a shopping mall?

We also encourage you to keep a low profile in public areas, particularly areas frequented by foreign tourists.

And how does the embassy expect us to keep a low profile in tourist areas??? Dye our hair black, drive our motorbikes on the sidewalk and do things like get on the elevator and subway before others have a chance to exit?

I'd believe a gnu, it has no axe to grind.

Gnu: 'Food good here, see.' chomp chomp

Clalerm and his guru don't have that level of reliability.

Iran is in a foul and belligerent mood, their nuke scientist just buried,

the post Bin Laden world is primed for retaliation for his demise,

and Iraq is now a target for Shiite-ification,

but USA is waving a sword in the neighborhood to stop that,

so maybe the zealots want a US distraction to elsewhere.

It is not a stretch that targeting Israelis on vacation anywhere is on the list for the bad guys.

Thailand does have a good sized Israeli vacationing segment, so can't rule this out,

nor Americans since the same groups see all Americans as 'their government backing Israel',

so an equal target value in their demented mindset.

Agreed that US Embassy would give an alert to Americans,

but for all nations nationals to see for their own safety.

Completely ignore this at your own risk.

If the warning partly helped stop the attack,

then it's job is done also, and ignore those who whine that they 'cried wolf'.

Edited January 14, 2012 by animatic

[TeddyFlyfisherDavis]

In Bangkok...? Holy crap...! Glad I live in Chiang Rai...In a village of 53 people...I was getting worried for a moment...

I'd be cra**ing myself if I were you! In a village of only 53 people, you're probably the only falang. You may as well walk around with a big round target painted on your body!

No I am not the only "falang" in my village...No I don't walk around "crapping" myself...and I surely don't have a "target"... painted on my body...I have a Thai wife who is a physics professor and I happen to work with the people in our village with planting and harvesting their rice and repairing quite a variety of things...I happen to love these people and they look out for me...and many of them come to our house and have dinners and we all celebrate the holidays. I could go on but I see no advantage explaining myself to an ignorant individual like yourself...You must wake up paranoid every morning...Evidentaly people don't recognize sarcasm when they read it...

Quite right, I feel safer here than I do in the UK and the US has a much higher murder rate than the UK add the accidental gun deaths there and that figure is even higher.

You have to put this into perspective, the risk, even assuming it happens, is lower than a lightening strike, Crossing the roads here, or riding a motorcycle is far more dangerous, so don't get paranoid.

I remember a few years ago that Americans were told to stay away from the UK, because of the fear of Foot and Mouth disease. This is a disease which posses no threat at all to humans and in fact has never even killed an animal either.

So be careful what information you are given and interpret it with an amount of reason. Why would a terrorist go all the way to small village in the middle of nowhere, to bomb one insignificant Farang, who has never done anything to them?

Just be careful when riding you motorcycle instead and enjoy you life here. This is a peace loving country.

AlanB...Thank you...You have your head AND your heart in the right place with an excelent attitude...I remember the "hoof and mouth" thing...How stupid was that...? Cheers...(oh...I am an "x" american...) Be well...

[winglibato]

** THIS IS A SCARY NEWS**

1. lets pray for thailand that it will be safe and away from terror.

2. Lets pray for america that the news they had are true and real and not a make up thing...

** lets pray for peace for the whole world**

[ericthai]

I have always thought the odds of a terrorist attack on Thailand carried out by groups from outside of Thailand to be relatively small

I guess you don't know about all the bombings in the south that happen almost every month. I think Thailand is a prime target.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

why only American warning , any other embassies sent their warning ? soundds strange !

Well I am a Canadian and just opened my email to find the warning to our citizens and it also says the Australian Embassy has issued the same warnings.

Yes, in the news reports, I've seen Australia, Israel, Britain and Canada all listed as having issued various warnings... They all, of course, came on the heels of the original and public U.S. Embassy warning.

[Wanderlust]

I have always thought the odds of a terrorist attack on Thailand carried out by groups from outside of Thailand to be relatively small

I guess you don't know about all the bombings in the south that happen almost every month. I think Thailand is a prime target.

Did you actually read what you quoted? Are the 'insurgent' attacks in the South carried out by Thais or foreigners? I wrote my comments very deliberately to avoid the debate about the problems in the South as it is totally unrelated to this thread.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

A curious online update to today's New York Times article on the subject....the earlier version of which has already been linked and posted above... Here's the new info.

American government officials said Friday that they believed that Bangkok was a major hub for the Hezbollah-controlled cocaine money-laundering network that United States law enforcement agencies have been investigating. That investigation led to the closing of a major bank in Lebanon, which was said to have laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit funds in a scheme that the American government says benefited Hezbollah.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/world/asia/arrest-in-thailand-after-us-terror-alert.html?_r=1&ref=asia

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

And a couple of interesting tidbits from this familiar Asia columnist and author:

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Security officials arrested a suspected Hezbollah "terrorist" attempting to leave the country on Friday (January 14) from Bangkok's international airport, after a three-week investigation involving Israel, Thailand's prime minister, and the U.S. State Department.

The man reportedly held two passports -- Lebanese and Swedish -- but there was no immediate announcement of any evidence linking him to an alleged plot to kill American, Israeli or other foreign tourists by bombing popular entertainment or religious sites in Bangkok.

.........................

Bangkok's Jewish Chabad House -- which includes a downstairs public restaurant and a Jewish-only upstairs floor with a temple and other facilities -- is guarded by burly Israeli and Thai security officials on a street parallel to Khao San Road.

[John's note: The suspects identified in this case reportedly were staying in the Khao San Rd area before fleeing.]

This Buddhist-majority Southeast Asian nation is a favorite destination for Israeli tourists. About 300 mostly foreign Jews live in Thailand and are usually involved in import-export businesses and precious jewelry production.

Some U.S. and international security officials assume foreign terrorists occasionally use Thailand as a virtual "safe house" where they can hunker down, get medical treatment and counterfeit documents -- so they do not launch attacks because they do not want to create a security crackdown.

The only major successful Middle Eastern terrorist assault in Bangkok occurred on December 28, 1972 when Arab gunmen invaded the Israeli Embassy and seized hostages while simultaneously, across town, Prince Vajiralongkorn was being crowned.

The four Arabs identified themselves as members of "Black September Ali Taha Group," linked to an event in 1970 when Jordon kicked out its Palestinian refugees, killing or wounding 4,000 Palestinians.

The Arab guerrillas arrived at the Israeli embassy in a taxi, brandished assault rifles, gained entry and threatened to kill six hostages, including an Israeli ambassador.

The siege ended peacefully when the rebels were given safe passage to Egypt and departed on a Thai International flight.

Were they ticketed/seated in first class....or just economy????

http://www.scoop.co....-terrorists.htm

Edited January 14, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[craigt3365]

Two posts have been removed. One off topic and another inappropriate.

Per forum rules:

In using Thai Visa I agree:

1) To respect fellow members.

7) Not to post slurs or degrading comments directed towards any group on the basis of race, nationality, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

[w11guy]

Who would want to hits us over here in Bangkok? Doesn't add up. I wonder if the threats are indeed foreign or related to some recent foreign involvement/comments in the politics over here...

Plenty of people hate Americans and Thailand is probably an easy place to target them.

[w11guy]

Who would want to hits us over here in Bangkok? Doesn't add up. I wonder if the threats are indeed foreign or related to some recent foreign involvement/comments in the politics over here...

Remember Bali? The thing is besides a nightclub I can't think of anywhere that would not have the locals out-numbering tourists 10-1.

Tourists vastly outnumber locals in Khao San Road.

[w11guy]

being pedantic I know, but the title of this topic says Imminent which in my book means any moment now, while the warning says possible.

A possible attack can be imminent.

[Rimmer]

Post discussing moderation removed

[Buchholz]

A curious online update to today's New York Times article on the subject....the earlier version of which has already been linked and posted above... Here's the new info.

American government officials said Friday that they believed that Bangkok was a major hub for the Hezbollah-controlled cocaine money-laundering network

Another "Hub" for Thailand.

.

[lovetotravel]

Who would want to hits us over here in Bangkok? Doesn't add up. I wonder if the threats are indeed foreign or related to some recent foreign involvement/comments in the politics over here...

Plenty of people hate Americans and Thailand is probably an easy place to target them.

If you do some research, the initial report came from Israel last month warning it's citizens were being targeted. The US issued this alert:

This message alerts U.S. citizens in Thailand that foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future. U.S. citizens are urged to exercise caution when visiting public areas where large groups of Western tourists gather in Bangkok.

Nowhere does it say Americans are being targeted. Only warning about tourist areas. Now we know why the Thai authorities issued those warnings for new year's eve. They knew about this.

[Buchholz]

Hezbollah doubts Thai arrest claims

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- A Lebanese national arrested Friday in Thailand isn't a member of the Shiite movement Hezbollah, a member of the group's political arm said.

A Lebanese national was arrested Friday in Thailand on suspicion of plotting attacks on sites in Bangkok popular with Western tourists. The Thai government said it believed the suspect was a member of the Shiite group Hezbollah, CNN International reports.

Ghaleb Abu Zeinab, a member of Hezbollah's political arm in the Lebanese government, was quoted by Lebanese news outlet Ya Libnan as saying the suspect in Thailand was "not one of Hezbollah's members."

Read more:

http://www.upi.com/T.../#ixzz1jPboiUZ0

.

[Buchholz]

Not dissimilar to the Red Shirts' excuses.... in this situation, it's a "fake" Hezbollah.

.

[IMA_FARANG]

Some points:

1

.Remember Bali? The thing is besides a nightclub I can't think of anywhere that would not have the locals out-numbering tourists 10-1.

I don't know about the ratio...but my uneducated guess is that it is a nightclub with many farang tourist customers.

2. Why Americans specifically?

Did you see the recent photos in the news of those Marines supposedly urinating on those Taliban bodies in Afghanistan?

3. Why Thailand?

NATO...most European countries...including the U.K. ... are part of NATO.

[Wrong Turn]

For all you that question the warning then knock yoursefl out, and head out to the crowded tourist areas and enjoy yourselves and ignore the warnings, when or if you wake up after an incident, you will be able to log onto thai visa where there will be plenty of SOM NOM NA's

I am sure the victims of the Balis bombing wish they had a warning to at least have the choice to make an intelligent choice to heed it or not.

The US Intelligence services will have good reason to issue this wanring I suggest you heed it wherever you are from.

DK

You raise a good point.

Bali happened.

It could be an international groups looking for a high profile soft target. Bangkok surely qualifies.

We'll have to wait and see.

[IMA_FARANG]

Update on the Update

Ghaleb Abu Zeinab, a member of Hezbollah's political arm in the Lebanese government, was quoted by Lebanese news outlet Ya Libnan as saying the suspect in Thailand was "not one of Hezbollah's members."

If you came home early...and found your naked wife and a Thai guy in bed together...and he said "nothing happened"...would you believe him?

So, why do you trust Hezbollah?

[jjczap]

I have always thought the odds of a terrorist attack on Thailand carried out by groups from outside of Thailand to be relatively small

I guess you don't know about all the bombings in the south that happen almost every month. I think Thailand is a prime target.

Did you actually read what you quoted? Are the 'insurgent' attacks in the South carried out by Thais or foreigners? I wrote my comments very deliberately to avoid the debate about the problems in the South as it is totally unrelated to this thread.

Are the 'insurgent' attacks in the South carried out by Thais or foreigners? -- ( or both? )

Do you know the answer to this ? I'm sure the Thai Gov knows many things along with input from the CIA but none of them are talking. So do you know the answer to your own ? is it all connected somehow?

[wxyz]

Who would want to hits us over here in Bangkok? Doesn't add up. I wonder if the threats are indeed foreign or related to some recent foreign involvement/comments in the politics over here...

Plenty of people hate Americans and Thailand is probably an easy place to target them.

plenty of people hate everybody, especially that group that sponsors terrorism across the planet

the same group that is causing terrorism in southern thailand against thais

[Commentor]

Quote " alerts U.S. citizens in Thailand that foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future. U.S. citizens are urged to exercise caution when visiting public areas where large groups of Western tourists gather in Bangkok."

The American Citizen Services Unit of the U.S. Embassy is located at 95 Wireless Road in Bangkok

It obvious where to avoid if this piece of news is genuine, isn't it?

[CARLIN]

Quote " alerts U.S. citizens in Thailand that foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future. U.S. citizens are urged to exercise caution when visiting public areas where large groups of Western tourists gather in Bangkok."

The American Citizen Services Unit of the U.S. Embassy is located at 95 Wireless Road in Bangkok

It obvious where to avoid if this piece of news is genuine, isn't it?

You OK?

.

[lovetotravel]

Quote " alerts U.S. citizens in Thailand that foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future. U.S. citizens are urged to exercise caution when visiting public areas where large groups of Western tourists gather in Bangkok."

The American Citizen Services Unit of the U.S. Embassy is located at 95 Wireless Road in Bangkok

It obvious where to avoid if this piece of news is genuine, isn't it?

Obvious if you can't read. Is the US Embassy a tourist area? Not really.

[spongeman]

just dont hurt the ladyboys...

[Commentor]

Quote " alerts U.S. citizens in Thailand that foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future. U.S. citizens are urged to exercise caution when visiting public areas where large groups of Western tourists gather in Bangkok."

The American Citizen Services Unit of the U.S. Embassy is located at 95 Wireless Road in Bangkok

It obvious where to avoid if this piece of news is genuine, isn't it?

You OK?

.

What do you think?

[wxyz]

obviously the safest place is soi 3 & 5, assuming you can blend or can pull off the (abaya hijab burqa) look