Two explosions rock Bangkok, Victory Monument and Rajvith Hospital

[ianf]

From a member 20 minutes ago:

Thai news reports bomb attack at Victory Monument.

An unknown man was seen throwing two bombs in to crowds of people. The protesters tried to apprehend the assailant but were shot at it.

Source was Nation TV.

More reason for the guards to be permitted to be armed.

Do people seriously expect the protesters to whistle at an armed attacker? I hope they get him and expose him for what he is.... A THAKSIN paid terrorist.

The government has everything to lose by insitigating violence, whereas the mob have everything to gain. I'm sure Suthep is salivating in glee at this very moment, he is a step closer to the anarchy he so desperately needs to advance his agenda.

Oh my god! Where did you get this weird idea from?

[In Town]

How can you not have that idea? If you are rational, then you know Suthep's objective, and you know which side (potentially) benefits from violence. You cannot see that?

[mojorison]

It was reported that one of the attackers was wearing a green shirt. Yinglucks third group perhaps.

I hope this brings in the army to restore some semblance of law and order. The police are not to be relied upon.

Well if he was wearing a green shirt that settles it then

If Yingluck even had a third group do you think she'd have them wearing the shirt?

This is all getting too confusing for me. Why can't we just have shirts and skins like we did at school.

[Spalpeen]

There are no depths to which the anti-democracy forces will not sink. Only one side benefits from violence. Roll on the election and let's hear the verdict of all of the Thai people.

[NHT]

We are taking a cup off coffee, watching TV-Blue, me and my next door retired police maj. Is it strange, this when we both at the same time are asking ourselves: How much blood to be given, and this exchange for money, where is all common sense?

Good question.

As far as I know, local common sense was abolished generations ago and replaced with egocentrism, while import of foreign common sense is meanwhile perceived as an invasion and thus, carries stern penalties for both, importer and common sense virus carrier.

[smutcakes]

Today's headline in another newspaper reads "Democrat aide sought over blast'. In the accompanying article Kowit is quoted as saying he accepts the truck driver being sought is his subordinate.

... and the lie has taken root.

Congratulations to the pro-government shills.

Are you accusing the other newspaper of being a government shill?

The only "link" to the grenade attack is that his pick-up was hit by the explosion and he was injured by it.

And that since being seen on the video, he has disappeared. Why would someone with nothing to hide do that?

He was not injured, you can see after the explosion they both return from behind a wall, pick something off the ground and walk away into the crowd, with no concern for any injured. Speculation is that they were picking up the grenade pin, so it could not be matched with the other attacks on Abhisit, the BKK Governer and all the attacks which are ongoing today.

Amazing coincidence he has disappeared. As UDD supporters were so often told, even when there was no evidence, if it looks like a duck, talks like a duck etc.........

[NCFC]

The only "link" to the grenade attack is that his pick-up was hit by the explosion and he was injured by it.

And that since being seen on the video, he has disappeared. Why would someone with nothing to hide do that?

Please show a citation on that man "disappearing". I believe you are making things up.

the aide to the ex-Democrat MP Kowit is being still sought since Friday and has not voluntary handed himself in so I think 'disappeared' is a fairly appropriate description,

[northernjohn]

Assumption, assumption and more assumptions...

Aren't we so blessed to have all these assume-knowitall-smarties on this forum.

Actually, we don't need any news, just tell us WHO is doing WHAT next!

You are right How ever some of the assumptions are based on fact and others based on the pretty face of the Prime Minister thin air.

Some not many may also be based on a desire to keep the corruption at the present level for their personal gain. Personal gain is the reason for corruption.

I can tell you that Suthep will continue seeking to have the interim government step down and an interim unelected council made up of people from many different areas of expertise come together and try to reform a system that leads only to corruption and attempts to take over the government as a dictator.

I can not tell you what the violence will be but I can tell you that it will be by people who do not want to see the government change.

[pizzachang]

From the photographic evidence presented on thaivisa, those weren't very grenade-like, grenades.

Edited January 19, 2014 by pizzachang

[Icarus1]

Any organisation/party who utilizes/enables people to throw grenades(whether their hand made or military made) will be found out in the end. It is absolutely disgusting that the innocent people, street venders are the victims of these attacks. Truth will find a way of coming out, it always does. Its just a shame that this situation is escalating out of control. Not only are people being killed or injured, but the Thai economy is taking a massive beating at the moment and it will only get worse. I hope for everyone's sake that a peaceful resolution can be made. If the military needs to get involved to mediate things, then so be it.Sounds like the police just cannot be trusted to protect their own people.

[pipkins]

Sorry to intrude but CCTV pics are appearing now of the guy throwing the Grenade. Good quality and in colour. Not sure how to lift them from twitter.

I saw it here on twitter but can't get it to copy. pondvuitton/status/424865432768499712/photo/1 any tweeters with IT skills?

[kirk0233]

Does not seem to be improving...as many posters thought it would when this first started. In fact, all the elements are in place right now to invoke special (military) law. All these attacks are just going to do wonders in keeping tourists from flocking in. Domino effect for sure.

As i have always said, this whole charade is far more than being about corruption, vote buying etc, it is literally life and death for some very important (self appointed), as Khun Voranai alludes to in his peace in the other paper today.

I just found out about him the other day.. Is this guy embraced here? I think his writing is brilliant. What do others think?

His writing is excellent as is his suggestion for Suthep's crowd to show the world and supporters of Thaksin the reform that can be achieved by educated and intelligent people, through employing good governance with a third party; instead of the corrupt pactices they are currently using that violate the law.

[AleG]

And that since being seen on the video, he has disappeared. Why would someone with nothing to hide do that?

He was not injured, you can see after the explosion they both return from behind a wall, pick something off the ground and walk away into the crowd, with no concern for any injured. Speculation is that they were picking up the grenade pin, so it could not be matched with the other attacks on Abhisit, the BKK Governer and all the attacks which are ongoing today.

Amazing coincidence he has disappeared. As UDD supporters were so often told, even when there was no evidence, if it looks like a duck, talks like a duck etc.........

You can tell he was not injured from that video? BS again. Picking up the grenade pin more BS, he throws a grenade from inside the pick-up and then goes looking for the pin somewhere else, please at least make up semi-believable BS.

Again, proof of him disappearing, the only thing I've seen is a report from today that the police want him for interrogation, not that he has disappeared, gone into hiding or anything like that.

[EBlair48]

From a member 20 minutes ago:

Thai news reports bomb attack at Victory Monument.

An unknown man was seen throwing two bombs in to crowds of people. The protesters tried to apprehend the assailant but were shot at it.

Source was Nation TV.

More reason for the guards to be permitted to be armed.

Do people seriously expect the protesters to whistle at an armed attacker? I hope they get him and expose him for what he is.... A THAKSIN paid terrorist.

The government has everything to lose by insitigating violence, whereas the mob have everything to gain. I'm sure Suthep is salivating in glee at this very moment, he is a step closer to the anarchy he so desperately needs to advance his agenda.

Oh my god! Where did you get this weird idea from?

My wide open eyes and fully functioning brain. Suthep needs anarchy, a coup by confusion as it were. His mob is losing momentum, he NEEDS violence. PT needs calm , They keep it calm and orderly- they keep power, They'll keep power at the polls too, which is why Suthep is using a lot of propganda a la 1935 Nazi tactics to sway Thais into thinking ballots are bad.

PT wins becasue the majority wants PT It' s not like Thailand uses computer tallied ballots, not yet. But I can bet Suthep would have black box voting installed one of his first acts, Hello Diebold !!

BTW Isn't Army forbidden from acting on civilians, much as I'd love to see it?

[phosphorescent]

Apparently, this is CCTV footage of the guy throwing the grenade.

Edited January 19, 2014 by phosphorescent

[DocN]

It is a crying shame, that relatively innocent protesters get hurt.

Having said that: who knows really, who is responsible?

It could be Red-shirts (why the Government would responsible for that...I wouldn't know, but...) it could be just some hooligans.

I think, these attacks are genuine.

I am not buying the crap of "organized" attacks on Abisith, Sukumband etc. when they are conveniently not at home.

Not one of them!

And the attack on Friday...well...things don't ad up, to have me convinced, it wasn't a staged act.

Sorry, but for me again, things are too convenient.

The last minute change of the march, the bunch of empty buildings, the fact that the grenade not even went of anywhere near Suthep, the conveniently stored guns (why the hell, would anyone direct attention to the storage like that?), the "red" cap, the fact, that the "weapons" are more likely toys, than real weapons.

I wish all victims of the attacks a speedy recovery and my condolences to the family of the dead.

Anyone who is involved in these act should hang their head in shame.

[englishoak]

I hope all the injured recover this truly is getting more and more tragic.

I have to say I dont think its either main faction and its looking more and more likely the same group are involved in these grenade attacks the more that go on. Just as to exactly who is responsible may a mystery but I really can't see it being the Gov or UDD nor the Dems and PDRC not directly or willingly. Both have far too much to lose by doing something like this at this stage.

It is of course possible its a splinter extremist group of one or the other to encourage chaos or just down to blind hatred, it is also possible its urban guerilla by mafia or students/ people from bkk fed up with the protests affecting their lives. It could also be some other agent following their own agenda

Finally it could be Yala style southern insurgent terrorists taking an opportunity to have a pop at some Buddhists in the capital for some payback, they hate the Yellows they hate the reds and just want out of Thailand, it is a perfect cover to let both sides blame each other whilst having some revenge with little chance of repercussions. They know if they just bring the southern issue to BKK and start attacking people in a normal functioning period the backlash vs them would be extreme but do it in this current climate and both sides will be likely to not even consider it. I hope its not this because if it is it could be the beginning of something some of us have feared for years given the violence in the south and thousands of people killed in recent years.

All very very bad My heart goes out to the hurt and families.

[robblok]

My wide open eyes and fully functioning brain. Suthep needs anarchy, a coup by confusion as it were. His mob is losing momentum, he NEEDS violence. PT needs calm , They keep it calm and orderly- they keep power, They'll keep power at the polls too, which is why Suthep is using a lot of propganda a la 1935 Nazi tactics to sway Thais into thinking ballots are bad.

PT wins becasue the majority wants PT It' s not like Thailand uses computer tallied ballots, not yet. But I can bet Suthep would have black box voting installed one of his first acts, Hello Diebold !!

BTW Isn't Army forbidden from acting on civilians, much as I'd love to see it?

Ah ok... so Suthep also send the Rambo from Isarm (patumtani guy) to harass people at Chang Wattana ? If they need calm they would not have done that either. Do you have any idea if this is false flag it would destroy the protests... so it would be super high risk and the government would love to prove it. They haven't. That does not make it 100% government but likely.

[SouthernMan3]

Do people seriously expect the protesters to whistle at an armed attacker? I hope they get him and expose him for what he is.... A THAKSIN paid terrorist.

Do you have to spew bizarre conspiracy theories in every post you make?

Thing is it's probably true.

Who else would do such a horrendous thing ?

[northernjohn]

This in my opinion is the final straw. The red shirts and the PTP are so entwined that there is no way the government can claim innocence in this.

Stop and think about it for a moment. Violence is the last thing the government wants. They want elections to be held because they know they are certain to win again. The anti-government camp however, knows that violence is the one thing that will most likely force the military to stage another coup.

Two grenades in two crowded areas in two days and nobody has been caught. Rather fishy don't you think?

Stop and think about it. They do not have enough people registered to have a quorum so what has the PTP to gain by winning a costly pointless election. It is far more than two grenades in two days I don't even know how many there has been today. Maybe they were other type explosives. same same.

It would be to the advantage of the PTP to put the election off but to do that they would also have to back peddle more from Suthep. they reject his demands and then with out talking to him they take a step towards doing what he wants. They are drawing the line here. Like it or not the red shirts are a part of their political machine and have a proven record of violence.

When I say they back peddle from his demands I mean things like the senate not ratifying a bill to make Thaksin innocent. I for one think they had a lot to do with the senate not having a quorum. Refusing to disband the house then doing it. Refusing to step down as interim government and then setting up a committee to do what Suthep wanted. Except that they are going to control it. Little steps towards what Suthep wants. With another three months before the elections as a result of the failed one on the second of Feb. the protestors will be gone. The only ones left will be the retired people who have all the time in the world and do not need to make a living.

If the government did not want violence they would tell the red shirt leaders to rein in their troops.

Don't even bother to ask me why the red shirts would do it. violence is there strong point not logic. If logic was they would do all in their power to make sure the Feb2 farce comes off.

[Tomtomtom69]

Although this is far from the first time, bombings are becoming more and more common in Bangkok and it's becoming quite scary. Will we see an exodus of expats, tourists, investment and capital flight? Something tells me bombings aren't good for business...

[JamesDean3]

This bad. Thaksin's people are thugs.

[Cricketnut]

I think it is time that the military should takeover the security checkpoint to the protest site since the police is pretty ineffective in screening people coming and going. And the S.I.D. of the military should takeover the investigation for the bombing incident too. Would be much easier for the protester to accept military personnel than police at the protesting site.Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

The protesters don't trust the RTP and won't allow them to protect sites. They only want military police or soldier's. RTP can't win a trick with Suthep sprouting his wisdom and soothsaying knowledge.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE 8.2 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[kingalfred]

Sums up the country when the streets are blocked,bombs and hand grenades going off in public places and the military stand by .In 2006 when there was no civil disorder they stage a coup,hmmm ,just if you want to understand Thai psychology. Crazy lot

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[captspectre]

From a member 20 minutes ago:

Thai news reports bomb attack at Victory Monument.

An unknown man was seen throwing two bombs in to crowds of people. The protesters tried to apprehend the assailant but were shot at it.

Source was Nation TV.

More reason for the guards to be permitted to be armed.

Do people seriously expect the protesters to whistle at an armed attacker? I hope they get him and expose him for what he is.... A THAKSIN paid terrorist.

why is it when someone throws a grenade he is a paid taksin terrorist, but when he blocks roads, storms police headquarters, threatens a legally elected PM "a peaceful protester?" WHO IS PAYING THESE PEOPLE TO SPEND NIGHTS ON THE STREET, EATING FREE FOOD, NOT WORKING YET SUPPORTING their families at home? who has the money to do this? No one dares to ask that question!

[Tycoon]

All bets are off now, revenge attacks will lead to more innocent people standing up for their beliefs.

[djjamie]

This in my opinion is the final straw. The red shirts and the PTP are so entwined that there is no way the government can claim innocence in this.

Stop and think about it for a moment. Violence is the last thing the government wants. They want elections to be held because they know they are certain to win again. The anti-government camp however, knows that violence is the one thing that will most likely force the military to stage another coup.

Two grenades in two crowded areas in two days and nobody has been caught. Rather fishy don't you think?

The elections may not be on if this protest keeps up. So one could suggest that the UDD militia who are not the brightest bulbs anyway see this as a threat to the Feb 2 elections which they desperately need to win to ensure the money keeps rolling in from the tax payers. Through intimidation and violence (UDD specialty) the protests may subside and the elections will go ahead smoothly so they can then get to business in abusing the other principles of democracy they despise. Heck, their own principle #3 is "non violence to achieve their means" and they walk all over that at every opportunity.

The coup would be another alternative the PTP could bode well with as it plays into the Yingluck "Mongolia" speech which the regime would hope ensures sympathy internationally. She did that speech for a reason. Hedging her bets.

Rather fishy? Not really in the context of Thailand politics. Chalerm blamed the driver of Akeyuths murder before the police even investigated it. Rather fishy don't you think.

No one caught. Of course. Imagine the damage to the govt that is behind this. The PTP would be well aware of staying clear of this.

Like I said before - The UDD said the brutal terrorists in 2010 were all innocent and none of them did any thing bad. It was all DEMS in disguise. Burning of buildings? DEMS. Akeyuths murder. Driver. Failure to pay rice payments that they had 3 months to pay off before the protests. DEMS fault.

[473geo]

Any organisation/party who utilizes/enables people to throw grenades(whether their hand made or military made) will be found out in the end. It is absolutely disgusting that the innocent people, street venders are the victims of these attacks. Truth will find a way of coming out, it always does. Its just a shame that this situation is escalating out of control. Not only are people being killed or injured, but the Thai economy is taking a massive beating at the moment and it will only get worse. I hope for everyone's sake that a peaceful resolution can be made. If the military needs to get involved to mediate things, then so be it.Sounds like the police just cannot be trusted to protect their own people.

"Truth will find a way of coming out, it always does"

Wrong.... one of the main challenges to overcome is a society has evolved where everything has a price

[Thait Spot]

Until we know the facts of these bombings and murders it does nobody any service whatsoever to point the finger of blame.

I've seen some nasty posts over the past few days that people should be downright ashamed of.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[AleG]

Sums up the country when the streets are blocked,bombs and hand grenades going off in public places and the military stand by .In 2006 when there was no civil disorder they stage a coup,hmmm ,just if you want to understand Thai psychology. Crazy lot Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Which rather deflates the argument that they are bombing themselves to cause enough violence for the Army to stage a coup. If they wanted to stage a coup they'd roll out the tanks, no need for window dressing.

Or anyone thinks the militant Red Shirts would say "Oh, gee, you know there was quite a bit of turmoil that led to the coup, so it's OK, we won't fight back as we've been threatening to do since Thaskin got busted"