3 Foreigners Injured In Bangkok Bomb Explosion

[Jingthing]

American currency is not worth that much at the moment. I'd prefer Aussie to American or euro, get more for your dollar.

That may be so but Iranians (and many other nationalities) trying to get traveling currency in Iran before leaving to Thailand buy American dollars. Fact of life. Edited February 15, 2012 by Jingthing

[Nisa]

Kudo's to keen razor edged collection of Dick Tracy's here on Thaivisa - outstanding work, sorting out that they were US agents engaged in a false flag opp that went awry.

now no resting on your laurels, time to get to work on Whitney’s and Winehouse's assassinations

I agree it is ridiculous to believe such things given what we know right now but it would be just as ridiculous to not consider it as a remote possibility given the history of the US (and Israel) when it comes to such thing including 2 wars ... false 9/11 connection to Iraq and the excuse to escalate the Vietnam war because of a non-existent attack on the US Navy by ghost Vietcong boats. But again, I find it extremely far reaching to suggest this is the case now.

Well why don't you stop suggesting it then??

Please show one post where I suggested it. I won't hold my breadth because you are making a very false statement. Since I doubt you will admit to such I guess we can go so far as to actually say you are lying. But if you do retract your statement then it can be considered a mistake.

[Jingthing]

Does the Iranian regime want to provoke a war? Obviously not! But do they want to PREVENT a war by credibly stopping their nuclear development program? Also obviously not. While I understand why people think these recent attacks in India, Georgia, and Thailand appear irrational on the surface, one way to look at them is to continue to remind Israel that IF Israel bombs the Iranian nuclear program that Israel can expect a massive response both in Israel from Iran's proxies and in asymmetrical ways internationally. If Iran DID want to provoke a war right now, they would attack Israel right now, without using a proxy. They are trying to scare Israel from bombing their nuclear program, and it may work, the cost of doing that could easily be horribly high. My understanding is that right now Israeli public opinion is about evenly split on whether to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities and the main arguments against it are both it won't work and the blowback will be too much.

Here we disagree, Ahmadinejad and Khamenai are both ardent 'twelvers' which means they believe in the coming of the Muslim messiah (Mahdi) will come about through war, great suffering and them fighting the Jews.

I'm not saying they don't have irrational players. I'm just saying that right now, BEFORE they have nukes, they are OBVIOUSLY not inviting an attack on their nuclear program.

[Nisa]

American currency is not worth that much at the moment. I'd prefer Aussie to American or euro, get more for your dollar.

That may be so but Iranians (and many other nationalities) trying to get traveling currency in Iran before leaving to Thailand buy American dollars. Fact of life.

Much easier to get Euros in Iran and the exchange rate is better. Iran replaced the dollar with the Euro a number a years ago for foreign exchanges. There again is nothing to connect them leaving Iran with US dollars. I don't even think it has been when the last time they were even in Iran was. They could have spent a number of months or years in Lebanon training with Hezbollah ... which is actually more likely.

Edited February 15, 2012 by Nisa

[ttelise]

will be ineresting to see if he was the threat the USA lifts the warning, if not then that means for me there is a bigger picture and it will be on going. Why would he be carrying a foreign currency when he has been here so long, as in at least since the warning was issued. Convienient that for a finger pointing exercise and divering attention from other possible motives.

The orginal warning stated a bombing aimed at tourist area's this was not the attack expected, so i can only assume other's will come aimed at tourist area's.

The Southern extremests will get nowhere until they bring there campaign to BKK and the tourist trade, as the IRA learnt the only way to get to the negotiating table was to bomb london.

Extemmely interested to see what happens with the terrorist warning now the perceived threat is dead. Yet again the Thai goverment left looking the knumb nuts they are, just ignore and denounce the best Intel in the world. For saying they hate to loose face they do a darn good job at losing face big style.

Haha, not the attack suspected. No <deleted>. Uhm, I think their plans flew out the windows when they accidentally blew up their own house. Clearly, thus prevented them from executing their plans as I doubt their plan was to spend all this time, money and resources to blow up their house, take out a taxi and blow off their own dude's legs below the knee cap.

[Ulysses G.]

Kudo's to keen razor edged collection of Dick Tracy's here on Thaivisa - outstanding work, sorting out that they were US agents engaged in a false flag opp that went awry.

now no resting on your laurels, time to get to work on Whitney’s and Winehouse's assassinations

I agree it is ridiculous to believe such things given what we know right now but it would be just as ridiculous to not consider it as a remote possibility given the history of the US (and Israel) when it comes to such thing including 2 wars ... false 9/11 connection to Iraq and the excuse to escalate the Vietnam war because of a non-existent attack on the US Navy by ghost Vietcong boats. But again, I find it extremely far reaching to suggest this is the case now.

Well why don't you stop suggesting it then??

such I guess we can go so far as to actually say you are lying.

partington is not the one lying here.

[Steely Dan]

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Even being an American myself, there is no way to not describe honestly as terrorism a bombing of a major city (Baghdad) in a country that hasn't attacked you and has no plans on attacking you and having the admitted desire and operation name of "Shock and Awe"

More moral equivalence arguments, which as usual are complete horse manure. Islamists were constantly aggressing against Europe for centuries before the first crusade, and then in another wave of supremacist conquest during the time of the Ottoman empire, all occurred long before the founding fathers were even born. To blame their ideology on U.S foreign policy or Israel's existence is to completely confuse cause and effect.

[Nisa]

The suspect terrorist who was arrested in Bangkok a few weeks ago was a Swedish Citizen and held a Swedish passport ... He must have been working for the Swedish Government.

[Nisa]

I agree it is ridiculous to believe such things given what we know right now but it would be just as ridiculous to not consider it as a remote possibility given the history of the US (and Israel) when it comes to such thing including 2 wars ... false 9/11 connection to Iraq and the excuse to escalate the Vietnam war because of a non-existent attack on the US Navy by ghost Vietcong boats. But again, I find it extremely far reaching to suggest this is the case now.

Well why don't you stop suggesting it then??

such I guess we can go so far as to actually say you are lying.

partington is not the one lying here.

Certainly then you can provide one intact quote of me suggesting such a thing then or is it clear you too are being dishonest? It clearly becomes a lie or absolute utter ignorance when I've actually posted the opposite.

[maeab]

American currency is not worth that much at the moment. I'd prefer Aussie to American or euro, get more for your dollar.

That may be so but Iranians (and many other nationalities) trying to get traveling currency in Iran before leaving to Thailand buy American dollars. Fact of life.

Much easier to get Euros in Iran and the exchange rate is better. Iran replaced the dollar with the Euro a number a years ago for foreign exchanges. There again is nothing to connect them leaving Iran with US dollars. I don't even think it has been when the last time they were even in Iran was. They could have spent a number of months or years in Lebanon training with Hezbollah ... which is actually more likely.

Most iranians use u.s. currency thats a fact they seem to prefer it. also they use counterfit when they can.

[partington]

Kudo's to keen razor edged collection of Dick Tracy's here on Thaivisa - outstanding work, sorting out that they were US agents engaged in a false flag opp that went awry.

now no resting on your laurels, time to get to work on Whitney’s and Winehouse's assassinations

I agree it is ridiculous to believe such things given what we know right now but it would be just as ridiculous to not consider it as a remote possibility given the history of the US (and Israel) when it comes to such thing including 2 wars ... false 9/11 connection to Iraq and the excuse to escalate the Vietnam war because of a non-existent attack on the US Navy by ghost Vietcong boats. But again, I find it extremely far reaching to suggest this is the case now.

Well why don't you stop suggesting it then??

Please show one post where I suggested it. I won't hold my breadth because you are making a very false statement. Since I doubt you will admit to such I guess we can go so far as to actually say you are lying. But if you do retract your statement then it can be considered a mistake.

Above , you say " it would be(..... )ridiculous to not consider it as a remote possibility"

If someone said to me "it would be ridiculous not to consider as a remote possibility having som tam for dinner" I would feel justified in calling that a suggestion that we have som tam for dinner.

However if you feel this is unjust or unfair I unreservedly retract it.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Only major provincens have been targeted such as phuket chiangmai and chiangrai, This alert comes from the american embassy so i would trust it, they seem to be on top of things...and this has nothing to do with the red shirts. If i was you i would try to get my facts straight my friend!

I think you would be better to follow your own advice... Let's deal with facts, not your disinformation.

The American terrorism advisory only mentioned Bangkok, and none of the other areas you mention.

Emergency Message to U.S. Citizens: Possible Terrorist Threat

January 13, 2012

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.

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/011312emergencymessage.html

The British standing travel warning mentions the other areas, but those references were issued back before the whole Middle East thing arose here last month with the Lebanese terrorist, and do date back to the Thai domestic violence episodes.

Edited February 15, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[ttelise]

Okay. Hezbollah, a very well organised 'terrorist' Group With A Grudge sent just three guys, one of which blew his own legs off, to (no haha, wait) blow up 'foreign nationals' in Thailand. A country with no large immigrant population large enough to be of interest to them. Yeah ...

Could be targeting somebody. They are opportunistic and likely take what they can get as they have all but been shut down in US and in major European cities.

Haha, why does everyone keep focusing on what happened when clearly that was only the result of the premature detonation inside their house. Explosions like that tend to attract a little bit of attention. From there, that one guy was pretty much like a wounded animal striking at anything and everything while trying to get away.

[Nisa]

Does the Iranian regime want to provoke a war? Obviously not! But do they want to PREVENT a war by credibly stopping their nuclear development program? Also obviously not. While I understand why people think these recent attacks in India, Georgia, and Thailand appear irrational on the surface, one way to look at them is to continue to remind Israel that IF Israel bombs the Iranian nuclear program that Israel can expect a massive response both in Israel from Iran's proxies and in asymmetrical ways internationally. If Iran DID want to provoke a war right now, they would attack Israel right now, without using a proxy. They are trying to scare Israel from bombing their nuclear program, and it may work, the cost of doing that could easily be horribly high. My understanding is that right now Israeli public opinion is about evenly split on whether to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities and the main arguments against it are both it won't work and the blowback will be too much.

Here we disagree, Ahmadinejad and Khamenai are both ardent 'twelvers' which means they believe in the coming of the Muslim messiah (Mahdi) will come about through war, great suffering and them fighting the Jews.

There is absolutely nothing that says they need to fight the Jews for the return of Mahdi. Their belief is similar to that in the bible's revelations and actually believe Mahdi will be next to Jesus ridding the world of evil. If you didn't know already .. Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all biblical religions.

Edited February 15, 2012 by Nisa

[Nisa]

The American terrorism advisory only mentioned Bangkok, and none of the other areas you mention.

Emergency Message to U.S. Citizens: Possible Terrorist Threat

January 13, 2012

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.

The British warning mentioned the other areas, but those references were issued back before the whole Middle East thing arose here last month with the Lebanese terrorist, and do date back to the Thai domestic violence episodes.

I have a sneaking suspicion it is going to turn out that these guys in the house were under surveillance already.

[silsburyhill]

Just some perspective and away from all the 'terrorist' BS. A friend was asking if he could buy saltpeter here. He wanted a go at pickling pork. I found the Thai name and asked our friendly Thai bar hostess. 'Yes, have back of the market. You can make bombs out of it'.

[sawadeeken]

Heads-up and eyes-open, folks................... They said that there was no concern about flooding --------- Before the floods came..................

[KKvampire]

A consequence of this event may well be the tougher restrictions for Iranian passport holders on getting visas to Thailand,

[z12]

Does the Iranian regime want to provoke a war? Obviously not! But do they want to PREVENT a war by credibly stopping their nuclear development program? Also obviously not. While I understand why people think these recent attacks in India, Georgia, and Thailand appear irrational on the surface, one way to look at them is to continue to remind Israel that IF Israel bombs the Iranian nuclear program that Israel can expect a massive response both in Israel from Iran's proxies and in asymmetrical ways internationally. If Iran DID want to provoke a war right now, they would attack Israel right now, without using a proxy. They are trying to scare Israel from bombing their nuclear program, and it may work, the cost of doing that could easily be horribly high. My understanding is that right now Israeli public opinion is about evenly split on whether to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities and the main arguments against it are both it won't work and the blowback will be too much.

Here we disagree, Ahmadinejad and Khamenai are both ardent 'twelvers' which means they believe in the coming of the Muslim messiah (Mahdi) will come about through war, great suffering and them fighting the Jews.

There is absolutely nothing that says they need to fight the Jews for the return of Mahdi. Their belief is similar to that in the bible's revelations and actually believe Mahdi will be next to Jesus ridding the world of evil. If you didn't know already .. Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all biblical religions.

Ridding the world of evil would mean ridding the world of people like these people ideology and their ilk.

And good riddance to them.

Edited February 15, 2012 by z12

[z12]

A consequence of this event may well be the tougher restrictions for Iranian passport holders on getting visas to Thailand,

Nothing a little tea money won't cure.

Edited February 15, 2012 by z12

[Nisa]

I agree it is ridiculous to believe such things given what we know right now but it would be just as ridiculous to not consider it as a remote possibility given the history of the US (and Israel) when it comes to such thing including 2 wars ... false 9/11 connection to Iraq and the excuse to escalate the Vietnam war because of a non-existent attack on the US Navy by ghost Vietcong boats. But again, I find it extremely far reaching to suggest this is the case now.

Well why don't you stop suggesting it then??

Please show one post where I suggested it. I won't hold my breadth because you are making a very false statement. Since I doubt you will admit to such I guess we can go so far as to actually say you are lying. But if you do retract your statement then it can be considered a mistake.

Above , you say " it would be(..... )ridiculous to not consider it as a remote possibility"

If someone said to me "it would be ridiculous not to consider as a remote possibility having som tam for dinner" I would feel justified in calling that a suggestion that we have som tam for dinner.

However if you feel this is unjust or unfair I unreservedly retract it.

But my first sentence in the post is "I agree it is ridiculous to believe such things given what we know right now"

So, you would believe I was suggesting we eat som tam if I started my conversation with you saying it is ridiculous at this point to consider eating som tam but also said we have to leave all options open and not consider it as a remote possibility.

I appreciate the retraction but it would have been a bit more meaningful if you simply admitted you made a mistake or confused me with somebody else ;-)

But seriously, Thank You because I do believe suggesting the US or Israel is behind these attacks is ridiculous and don't want to be painted as a conspiracy nut. My other point was that it is just not beyond them to set up others in such a way but I do think they would do a much better job, especially of linking Iran because at this point there simply is no link to the Iran Government and that would be the goal of such a conspiracy ... to justify an attack on their nuke sites while not creating huge problems around the world.

Edit: And I actually don't have a problem with setting up Iran, as long as innocent people are not killed, if it would allow such an attack on their nuke sites but I also believe the next day we should also take out Israels if they continue to refuse to cooperate to global nuke laws, UN inspections and and insist on possessing and/or denying their nuclear weapons.

Edited February 15, 2012 by Nisa

[maeab]

Heads-up and eyes-open, folks................... They said that there was no concern about flooding --------- Before the floods came..................

This is just the tip of the iceberg!

[Jingthing]

A consequence of this event may well be the tougher restrictions for Iranian passport holders on getting visas to Thailand,

It should be but it wouldn't surprise me if the heat goes to Americans instead. The nerve of them posting a terrorism warning!

[Nisa]

Does the Iranian regime want to provoke a war? Obviously not! But do they want to PREVENT a war by credibly stopping their nuclear development program? Also obviously not. While I understand why people think these recent attacks in India, Georgia, and Thailand appear irrational on the surface, one way to look at them is to continue to remind Israel that IF Israel bombs the Iranian nuclear program that Israel can expect a massive response both in Israel from Iran's proxies and in asymmetrical ways internationally. If Iran DID want to provoke a war right now, they would attack Israel right now, without using a proxy. They are trying to scare Israel from bombing their nuclear program, and it may work, the cost of doing that could easily be horribly high. My understanding is that right now Israeli public opinion is about evenly split on whether to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities and the main arguments against it are both it won't work and the blowback will be too much.

Here we disagree, Ahmadinejad and Khamenai are both ardent 'twelvers' which means they believe in the coming of the Muslim messiah (Mahdi) will come about through war, great suffering and them fighting the Jews.

There is absolutely nothing that says they need to fight the Jews for the return of Mahdi. Their belief is similar to that in the bible's revelations and actually believe Mahdi will be next to Jesus ridding the world of evil. If you didn't know already .. Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all biblical religions.

Ridding the world of evil would mean ridding the world of people like these people ideology and their ilk.

And good riddance to them.

That is your take and of course not theirs obviously. There in lies the problem ... when people believe their beliefs and needs trump that of others and it justifies atrocities. By the way, a great number of people believe you will be one of those taken out during this time and doomed to a life of eternal fire in hell unless you gave your soul to Jesus ... isn't it great how religion brings us all together ;-)

Edited February 15, 2012 by Nisa

[animatic]

Does the Iranian regime want to provoke a war? Obviously not! But do they want to PREVENT a war by credibly stopping their nuclear development program? Also obviously not. While I understand why people think these recent attacks in India, Georgia, and Thailand appear irrational on the surface, one way to look at them is to continue to remind Israel that IF Israel bombs the Iranian nuclear program that Israel can expect a massive response both in Israel from Iran's proxies and in asymmetrical ways internationally. If Iran DID want to provoke a war right now, they would attack Israel right now, without using a proxy. They are trying to scare Israel from bombing their nuclear program, and it may work, the cost of doing that could easily be horribly high. My understanding is that right now Israeli public opinion is about evenly split on whether to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities and the main arguments against it are both it won't work and the blowback will be too much.

A logical and well thought out analysis.

Irans nuclear emplacements were bombed in the past with little response, they were likely caught flat footed. It DID slow them down for some time, an attack now would be even worse. But this time they know it can happen, and are, as you note, likely letting it be known they will create chaos if this happens, and some % of the world will irrationally blame Israel, not Iran.

Irrational because, any one that would sanction or activate revenge attacks on many other lands, in responce to attack by one or two, is not acting rationally, or in any form of the social contract, so blaming others for their attacks is not rational either.

'Deciding what is evil', is often nothing more than fearing those that disagree with you.

Those that wish to stop 'actual evil', not simply fear of not getting your way,

are those that would 'stop violence being used to finish disagreement once and for all.'

Edited February 15, 2012 by animatic

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Here is the current U.S. State Department safety advisory re Thailand. It makes no mention of any Middle East terrorism threats to any specific cities outside of BKK... and instead talks mostly about domestic political violence, the problems in the South, and Thailand's conflict with Cambodia, with only a single reference to caution about unspecified "beach resorts"...

http://travel.state....040.html#safety

Likewise, the U.S. Consulate emergency advisories have had only one related to terrorism prior to yesterday's second one for BKK, and that prior one was the one I posted above re BKK only.

Emergency Messages

• Emergency Message to U.S. Citizens: Explosions in the vicinity of Sukhumvit Soi 71 Bangkok - February 14, 2012
  
• Emergency Message to U.S. Citizens: Possible Terrorist Threat - January 13, 2012
  
• Emergency Message: Update on Flooding - October 26, 2011
  
• Emergency Message: Update on Flooding in Thailand - October 21, 2011
  
• Message to American Citizens: Update on Flooding in Thailand - October 15, 2011
  
• Emergency Message to U.S. Citizens on Flooding in Thailand - October 7, 2011
  
• Emergency Message: Heavy Rain and Flooding in Thailand - August 1, 2011
  
• Emergency Message: Flooding in Southern Thailand - March 31, 2011
  

Public Announcements

• World Wide Caution - January 24, 2012
  
• World Wide Travel Alert - October 12, 2011
  
• World Wide Travel Alert - October 1, 2011
  
• World Wide Travel Alert: 9-11 Anniversary - September 2, 2011
  

• 
  

Edited February 15, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Nisa]

Bangkok travel warnings follow Valentine's Day blasts

Due to a series of bombings in Bangkok on Tuesday, the United States and United Kingdom are among several countries urging citizens to be cautious when visiting the Thai capital.

http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/visit/bangkok-travel-warnings-follow-valentines-day-blasts-267545

[z12]

Here we disagree, Ahmadinejad and Khamenai are both ardent 'twelvers' which means they believe in the coming of the Muslim messiah (Mahdi) will come about through war, great suffering and them fighting the Jews.

There is absolutely nothing that says they need to fight the Jews for the return of Mahdi. Their belief is similar to that in the bible's revelations and actually believe Mahdi will be next to Jesus ridding the world of evil. If you didn't know already .. Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all biblical religions.

Ridding the world of evil would mean ridding the world of people like these people ideology and their ilk.

And good riddance to them.

That is your take and of course not theirs obviously. There in lies the problem ... when people believe their beliefs and needs trump that of others and it justifies atrocities. By the way, a great number of people believe you will be one of those taken out during this time and doomed to a life of eternal fire in hell unless you gave your soul to Jesus ... isn't it great how religion brings us all together ;-)

It is my understanding that it is these guys ideolog founder that said they would all go to hell?

Edited February 15, 2012 by z12

[maeab]

A consequence of this event may well be the tougher restrictions for Iranian passport holders on getting visas to Thailand,

It should be but it wouldn't surprise me if the heat goes to Americans instead. The nerve of them posting a terrorism warning!

Yes when they were only building bombs for export not to use in thailand. Why should america and england warn people traveling in thailand of possible threats around the country.

[Nisa]

There is absolutely nothing that says they need to fight the Jews for the return of Mahdi. Their belief is similar to that in the bible's revelations and actually believe Mahdi will be next to Jesus ridding the world of evil. If you didn't know already .. Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all biblical religions.

Ridding the world of evil would mean ridding the world of people like these people ideology and their ilk.

And good riddance to them.

That is your take and of course not theirs obviously. There in lies the problem ... when people believe their beliefs and needs trump that of others and it justifies atrocities. By the way, a great number of people believe you will be one of those taken out during this time and doomed to a life of eternal fire in hell unless you gave your soul to Jesus ... isn't it great how religion brings us all together ;-)

It is my understanding that it is these guys ideolog founder that said they would all go to hell?

If you believe the bible is the word of God / Jesus then yes. As for many Muslims they actually need to depend on the words of their spiritual leader to tell them what the Koran says and means. Although this is the same for many religions, it is much worse in Islam because the Koran is in Arabic which is not the native tongue of many followers but yet they still are able to quote the book in Arabic though they only know the meaning of the words by what they were told. So if the head of the local temple is a radical and believes Jihad means a war against Jews then that is what they are going to believe is in the Koran. Same thing happens with leaders quoting from the bible and then telling their followers what those words means but at least it is not against God's will to read the bible in your native tongue ... then again all the translations have made much of the original words to be lost.

Edited February 15, 2012 by Nisa