When It Comes To Terrorism, All Rules And Principles Go Out The Window: Thai Opinion

[webfact]

STOPPAGE TIME

Better to know or not know?

Tulsathit Taptim

When it comes to terrorism, all rules and principles go out the window.

There is no political correctness, nor the right etiquette. We have heard about "following the protocols" when a case transcends one nation or a government, but certainly one of those protocols must state that any one of them can be sidestepped if necessary. If a stranger comes into our house in the middle of the night, we react by instinct. We don't Google "How to cope with nocturnal intrusions by hooded people" before deciding what to do.

Yet, after last week, one rule should be written in stone. Chalerm Yoobamrung must not play any role in terrorism-related mass communications. He has to be kept exclusively busy with charter reform, no matter how weird it sounds for someone like him to be tasked with spearheading the reshaping of national values.

To be fair to Chalerm, however, he's not responsible for the whole mess. When we put together Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (who has the power but is probably clueless about terrorism), Deputy Prime Minister Kowit Wattana (who probably is not that clueless but doesn't have the power), Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul (who is fast on Thaksin Shinawatra and slow on everything else), it makes for a very suspicious political cast. The last thing they need is the issue of Middle-Eastern terror suspects, almost half a tonne of explosive materials and an impatient American diplomatic corps. Not to mention an Israeli sub-plot.

Defence Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapha's role was not quite publicly clear. Over the weekend, he was seemingly doing some damage control. Like other government leaders, Yuthasak was not happy with the US Embassy. Who would be? If a respected neighbour in your soi put a sign in front of your house that screamed "Haunted", how would you feel?

The embassy's sign was backed by nearly 400 kilogrammes of bomb materials found, though. The discovery, which we believe must have been made some time before the poorly-acted "raid" or "search" early this week, redeemed the embassy for the blatant warning on its website last Friday. The Thai government can say all it wants about the fertilisers and chemicals being meant for "export" and all, but the bottom line is that a "bomb" was found "here".

Are we supposed to be excited, or even afraid? The government appears to say "no", but America appears to say "yes". The latter's notification that it was putting up a serious warning on its embassy's website was believed to have reached the Thai Foreign Ministry a day before the action was taken. Nothing came about on the Surapong front, hence the apparently unilateral act by the embassy on Friday.

Thailand's silence and then sloppy reaction to the embassy's warning could be attributed to two major factors - the urge to protect the tourism industry no matter what, and, regardless of what is said officially, the reluctance to be seen as siding with either "Them" or "The Other Them". While we love claiming credit for everything successful, where terrorism is concerned, we want to be no more than a witness standing on the unseen side of the interrogation room glass.

There are two types of terror suspect in custody - those you can be silent about and those you want to be silent about but you can't. The current case falls into the latter category. Awkward handling of it has led to confusion. For example, one Lebanese was first identified as a terror suspect but has never been charged with terrorism and is being touted in the latest reports as a possibly innocent man unknowingly "hired" to guard explosive compounds.

To sum it up, there's a stranger in our house and the United States has yelled "Watch out". We, the homeowner, did not react totally instinctively for the obvious reasons. When the United States refused to lower its volume, we were in trouble. Especially if ushering the stranger out the back door quietly was our initial intention.

Were the Americans overreacting, or was the Thai government underestimating the situation? It could be both. As long as a bomb does not go off, the Thai side can stick to the "export" claim like the last straw. It's interesting, however, to consider whether our government would have told us about the "suspect(s)" and the large amount of explosive material found if it had not been for the US Embassy's chilly warning on its website. And if the government had kept quiet, should we have been thankful or disturbed by that? One thing about terrorism is that there probably may not be a correct answer to those kind of questions.

-- The Nation 2012-01-18

[Pib]

This article definitely don't pull no punches regarding Thai officials.

[Rainmon]

The English-language Bangkok Post, however, defended embassies issuing warnings in its editorial Tuesday, saying each had a right and responsibility to warn their citizens. "A successful terrorism attack harms tourism, as it did in Bali after the 2002blasts. But travel alerts and warnings have had no discernible effect on the Thai tourist trade.'' But as government officials and others fret over the incident's impact on tourism, the question as to whether Thailand is now a target remains open.

Read more:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2104620,00.html#ixzz1jmPtUr1S

[Tatsujin]

"Thailand" knows what it's priorities are . . . making money, nothing else. For as long as the Govt and "business" can get away with saying and doing anything they want to, nothing is going to change here.

[sparebox2]

"Thailand" knows what it's priorities are . . . making money, nothing else. For as long as the Govt and "business" can get away with saying and doing anything they want to, nothing is going to change here.

Thailand is known for tourism, NOT terrorism.

[livinthailandos]

On a matter this serious, I am not surprised by thailand's reactions. I can only say thailand is fully unprepared if the worse case happens, by then when it does happen nothing will matter. I guess the people in power are going to have to learn things the very hard painful way. Its only a matter of not if but when a tragic event happens

[erobando]

IMO this is similar to cases in which the Thai authorities catch monkey traffickers... like those times we see on the news that a bunch of monkeys are found stuffed in a truck on their way out of the country.

They don't publicize the investigation, they don't need to warn all of the other monkeys, they catch their criminals and free the captive simians.

[h90]

"Thailand" knows what it's priorities are . . . making money, nothing else. For as long as the Govt and "business" can get away with saying and doing anything they want to, nothing is going to change here.

Thailand is known for tourism, NOT terrorism.

Austria-Australia

Tourism-Terrorism

Thailand-Taiwan

everything same same

[DocN]

"Thailand" knows what it's priorities are . . . making money, nothing else. For as long as the Govt and "business" can get away with saying and doing anything they want to, nothing is going to change here.

Thailand is known for tourism, NOT terrorism.

Yeah right...I forgot, that Thailand ends in Krabi.

There is no south!

[jshorts]

On a matter this serious, I am not surprised by thailand's reactions. I can only say thailand is fully unprepared if the worse case happens, by then when it does happen nothing will matter. I guess the people in power are going to have to learn things the very hard painful way. Its only a matter of not if but when a tragic event happens

As a result, the Thai population will suffer in a very painful way.

[1bbcd5]

Well, these are precisely I need now.

[TAWP]

"Thailand" knows what it's priorities are . . . making money, nothing else. For as long as the Govt and "business" can get away with saying and doing anything they want to, nothing is going to change here.

Thailand is known for tourism, NOT terrorism.

Thanks to Red Shirts that has changed for many.

[kerryk]

"Thailand" knows what it's priorities are . . . making money, nothing else. For as long as the Govt and "business" can get away with saying and doing anything they want to, nothing is going to change here.

Thailand is known for tourism, NOT terrorism.

Thanks to Red Shirts that has changed for many.

I would say in terms of economic impact it was 1. Floods. 2. Airport closing. 3. Riots. But I don't have any hard data and am wiling to be corrected.

[TAWP]

I would say in terms of economic impact it was 1. Floods. 2. Airport closing. 3. Riots. But I don't have any hard data and am wiling to be corrected.

My relatives that travel the region as tourist didn't mention airport-closure with a single word since 2008. The riots that left civilians dead, the new year bombings that left innocent dead etc is more on their mind.

And no doubt, the case of the last week...

[richard_smith237]

One politician in this mess has proved himself to be nothing other than a bumbling fool who makes the fundamental mistake of assuming the masses are stupid....

Moreover, his recent claims were so dumb and transparent he has only succeeded in showing nothing other than his own arrogance and lack of vision.

[yougivemebaby]

If the terrorists were successful in these attacts I'm positive the Thai government would have said, "We made the US government aware of these threats and they chose not to act upon them nor warn their citizens". At least we have some type of protection here. !

[yougivemebaby]

What are they going to do with this guy? Why are they planning on deporting him?? Lock his ass up. If he was inadvertently "hired" to be a security guard for the explosive materials, can't he be charged with ANYTHING? I didn't know isn't a good defense. "Party to the crime" is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Being of Arabic decent does not help his case either.

[cloudhopper]

What are they going to do with this guy? Why are they planning on deporting him?? Lock his ass up. If he was inadvertently "hired" to be a security guard for the explosive materials, can't he be charged with ANYTHING? I didn't know isn't a good defense. "Party to the crime" is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Being of Arabic decent does not help his case either.

If he doesn't have a work permit he's toast.

[kerryk]

I would say in terms of economic impact it was 1. Floods. 2. Airport closing. 3. Riots. But I don't have any hard data and am wiling to be corrected.

My relatives that travel the region as tourist didn't mention airport-closure with a single word since 2008. The riots that left civilians dead, the new year bombings that left innocent dead etc is more on their mind.

And no doubt, the case of the last week...

Nice to hear about the family but I did say economic impact. Those stats would come from an official website. I would say in terms of economic impact it was 1. Floods. 2. Airport closing. 3. Riots. But I don't have any hard data and am wiling to be corrected.

[geriatrickid]

If the Thai government does not get its act together fast, I would not be surprised to see more long term actions by way of warnings and even costly actions.. Thailand isn't high on the respect list and has two very annoyed Pacific Rim neighbours pissed off. Australia and Canada are still seething over the lack of assistance extended on the Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger debacle. The warning flags went up for them when Tamil Tigers were able to operate freely in Thailand plotting to break Australian and Canadian laws. The skirmish with Cambodia irritated the regional asian neighbors especially China and Vietnam as well as several EU countries. The one country that Thailand could count on for backing was the USA. Piss off the Americans and those lucrative navy visits won't be so frequent. After all, if you were responsible for the safety of thousands of USN personnel, would you be so quick to let them visit Thailand if Hezbollah operatives were roaming around? Hezbollah has already murdered several hundred US service personnel and it would be naive to think that the USA doesn't take these things into consideration. The USN is welcome in Vietnam, Cambodia and Australia as well as many south pacific islands. They don't have to spend their money in Thailand.

[ludditeman]

America has a vested interest in finding Terrorist plots everywhere.

Almost makes me think American security is running around the world 'planting' terrorists.

[Baerboxer]

We have a Lebanese man, guarding bomb making ingredients, in Thailand. But, he says he's not a terrorist, just a poor unsuspecting security guard, doing his job (must have read about the Nuremburg trials). No plan to bomb Thailand, just trying to sort the paperwork out to export the chemicals.

Isn't this fairy story just a little bit obvious in its absurdity. Does anyone in authority really believe that Terrorists are likely to tell the truth?

[yougivemebaby]

We have a Lebanese man, guarding bomb making ingredients, in Thailand. But, he says he's not a terrorist, just a poor unsuspecting security guard, doing his job (must have read about the Nuremburg trials). No plan to bomb Thailand, just trying to sort the paperwork out to export the chemicals.

Isn't this fairy story just a little bit obvious in its absurdity. Does anyone in authority really believe that Terrorists are likely to tell the truth?

I SWEAR I wasn't gonna bomb you.. The other guys were and i don't know where they are.. Can I go home now? Pleeeeease

[ozzieman05]

What are they going to do with this guy? Why are they planning on deporting him?? Lock his ass up. If he was inadvertently "hired" to be a security guard for the explosive materials, can't he be charged with ANYTHING? I didn't know isn't a good defense. "Party to the crime" is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Being of Arabic decent does not help his case either.

If he doesn't have a work permit he's toast.

Description on his application for work permit

JOB DETAILS : To look after products to be used to make bombs

[billd766]

We have a Lebanese man, guarding bomb making ingredients, in Thailand. But, he says he's not a terrorist, just a poor unsuspecting security guard, doing his job (must have read about the Nuremburg trials). No plan to bomb Thailand, just trying to sort the paperwork out to export the chemicals.

Isn't this fairy story just a little bit obvious in its absurdity. Does anyone in authority really believe that Terrorists are likely to tell the truth?

I do so hate people who try to use Thailand and common sense in the same post.

One has nothing to do with the other.

I believe you but the spinmeisters say they believe him.

[TAWP]

I would say in terms of economic impact it was 1. Floods. 2. Airport closing. 3. Riots. But I don't have any hard data and am wiling to be corrected.

My relatives that travel the region as tourist didn't mention airport-closure with a single word since 2008. The riots that left civilians dead, the new year bombings that left innocent dead etc is more on their mind.

And no doubt, the case of the last week...

Nice to hear about the family but I did say economic impact. Those stats would come from an official website. I would say in terms of economic impact it was 1. Floods. 2. Airport closing. 3. Riots. But I don't have any hard data and am wiling to be corrected.

So you discard anecdotal proof and replace it with wild guessing.

Alright then.

[yougivemebaby]

We have a Lebanese man, guarding bomb making ingredients, in Thailand. But, he says he's not a terrorist, just a poor unsuspecting security guard, doing his job (must have read about the Nuremburg trials). No plan to bomb Thailand, just trying to sort the paperwork out to export the chemicals.

Isn't this fairy story just a little bit obvious in its absurdity. Does anyone in authority really believe that Terrorists are likely to tell the truth?

I do so hate people who try to use Thailand and common sense in the same post.

One has nothing to do with the other.

I believe you but the spinmeisters say they believe him.

and now he's saying that the Israeli's planted the chemicals.. "HE DID IT "

[Soutpeel]

What are they going to do with this guy? Why are they planning on deporting him?? Lock his ass up. If he was inadvertently "hired" to be a security guard for the explosive materials, can't he be charged with ANYTHING? I didn't know isn't a good defense. "Party to the crime" is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Being of Arabic decent does not help his case either.

If he doesn't have a work permit he's toast.

Description on his application for work permit

JOB DETAILS : To look after products to be used to make bombs

If the job description was Chemical Security Consultant/Manager pretty sure he would get the WP approved...

[kerryk]

I would say in terms of economic impact it was 1. Floods. 2. Airport closing. 3. Riots. But I don't have any hard data and am wiling to be corrected.

My relatives that travel the region as tourist didn't mention airport-closure with a single word since 2008. The riots that left civilians dead, the new year bombings that left innocent dead etc is more on their mind.

And no doubt, the case of the last week...

Nice to hear about the family but I did say economic impact. Those stats would come from an official website. I would say in terms of economic impact it was 1. Floods. 2. Airport closing. 3. Riots. But I don't have any hard data and am wiling to be corrected.

So you discard anecdotal proof and replace it with wild guessing.

Alright then.

Not at all. 1. It is based on my ability to buy Coke Zero and other essential supplies. 2. The number of ladies seeking part time employment outside of their chosen profession among other economic indicators. Those aren't wild guesses. But frankly I was looking for someone who would take the time to look up the stats, like freight shipping weights and air cargo numbers and real tourist numbers. You obviously have a political ax to grind and I really don't give a sh** about politics. I have lived here through two coups, riots, a tsunami and airport closings and the flood. The flood caused far more disruption than any others especially if you drink Coke Zero. And being an attentive reader of TV I found the posts asking for travel information far more desperate during the airport closure than the riots which were easily avoided by not going to BKK.

[irishman11]

never mind terrorism what of all the people who come here and get killed or injured O?? they committed suicide or knock down while walking on footpaths even cycling no one keeps track of this i see more and more in wheelchairs if you get injured here no one cares why bother just get his wallet. no records are keep this is not a safe place.