Four Injured In Explosion On Bangkok Bus

[CBinParadise]

I LOVE seeing the insane anti-muslim ramblings of our membership! Strange that having lived in 2 highly Muslim areas of Thailand so far that I don't think that way too ..... oh wait! It isn't strange ... I actually know and talk to Muslim people daily!

I live in the Muslim village of Bang Tao here in Phuket. I have dozens of Thai Muslim friends --- ranging from the devout to the detached. They frequently come to dinner at our place, and we've been to their homes as well. I've spoken to many of them about terrorism. Most are dismayed and confused by the events in world in general and the southern provinces in particular.

But the ones who regularly attend mosque services tell me that there have been increasingly frequent visits by imams who promote intolerance and jihadist notions such striving for a total Dar al-Islam in Thailand.

Also, after the tsunami, the Buddhist owners of beach shacks in Bang Tao were not allowed to rebuild. My Muslim and Buddhist friends tell me there is a palpable atmosphere of tension and mutual distrust that is worse than anything in memory. It is not overt, but it is definitely present.

The Koran, like the Bible, is a mass of contradictions. There are passages in both that promote the murder of infidels, and other passages that promote tolerance. There is no strong basis in the Koran for declaring that Islam is a Religion of Peace --- nor is there any compelling basis there for declaring it a religion of murderous jihad. There is no central Islamic authority that sets "official" religious doctrine. Fatwas -- often contradictory --- are issued by any man with sufficient religious credibility and following in his (local) Islamic domain. In this sense, Islam is what the imams say it is at any moment, weighted by the number of faithful that adhere to that particular line. When we speak about Islam as though it were a single thing, we make the error of lumping together an endless complex of conflicting sects and belief subsystems.

Nonetheless, it is unarguable that there is a virulent and increasingly influential militant Islamic contingent, which represents a grave danger to peaceful Thailand, as it does to the entire Dar al-Harb (non-Islamic world). They have new weapons: demographics, access to the world's mass communications systems, and suicide bombs. Lately, missles. Soon, nukes.

It would be foolish to pretend this threat doesn't exist.

For evil to flourish it is only necessary that men of good will do nothing.

CB

Edited August 7, 2006 by CBinParadise

[gharknes]

Religion should be banned throught this world, it is evil and has accounted for more wars and subsiquent deaths throughout mans history than any one single thing

as for muslims and the middle east, that is one phucked up mess, it it a danger to us all

[Anek18]

I would like to know if WHAT has started? Are people in Bangkok expecting violence or some kind of war or unrest? If so, who are the players??

The players? the mofos from deep south who wants nothing except violence and blood sheds.

If it started, be prepare to see the deep south burning like Beirut.

[AmeriThai]

Felt a slight draught in the door?

B T G T T-Shirt

It's not gonna change we've all got agendas..............

"Worked" various with various "artists'

Safe European Home....composed Joe strummer "THE CLASH"

"Do the right thing" Or get off the boat.

? ? ?

Does anyone understand what this jibberish means? Translation please.

[sriracha john]

Felt a slight draught in the door?

B T G T T-Shirt

It's not gonna change we've all got agendas..............

"Worked" various with various "artists'

Safe European Home....composed Joe strummer "THE CLASH"

"Do the right thing" Or get off the boat.

? ? ?

Does anyone understand what this jibberish means? Translation please.

It looks Neptunian, but sorry to say..

I've misplaced my Neptunian -> Earthling / Earthling -> Neptunian Translation Dictionary...

[Scott]

Thanks for asking, I can't make heads or tails out of it either.

[somchai jones]

It is funny that certain people always think about Muslims when something like this happens. The Muslims are the replacemnet of the Soviet Union. If there is something wrong or israel or the US need a pretext to commit war crimes, blame it on the Muslims like before on the soviet union.

Well, maybe there's a reason for that--that being, it's usually muslim extremists who are strapping bombs on themselves and blowing themselves up--all in the name of Allah. Ever hear of a suicide bomber?

Or are you going to try to tell us that they don't exist?

When 90% of worldwide acts of terrorism are perpetrated by Muslims why shouldn't we think of them as soon as we hear something like this happens? I certainly did, and will continue to so until Muslim extremists learn toleration. I won't be excusing myself for it either.

The sad fact is that until the US changes its blinkered, clumsy, ingorant foreign policy, it's unlikely that anyone will learn 'toleration' as you put it.

As for your unfounded quote that '90% of worldwide acts of terrorism are perpetrated by Muslims', the families of those thousands of babies torn apart by red hot fragments of metal from the bombs dropped by America in the initial blitz of Baghdad would of course disagree.

The families of the hundreds of children already butchered by the ongoing indiscriminate bombing by Isreal of the Lebonan would also have something to say about your arguement.

The relatives of the four UN observers recently murdered by Isreal would also probably beg to differ.

[AmeriThai]

Felt a slight draught in the door?

B T G T T-Shirt

It's not gonna change we've all got agendas..............

"Worked" various with various "artists'

Safe European Home....composed Joe strummer "THE CLASH"

"Do the right thing" Or get off the boat.

? ? ?

Does anyone understand what this jibberish means? Translation please.

It looks Neptunian, but sorry to say..

I've misplaced my Neptunian -> Earthling / Earthling -> Neptunian Translation Dictionary...

You may be right. It looked like a dialect of Psychedelian to me. Either way, it appears to be rather...

... SPACED OUT!

[PeaceBlondie]

Felt a slight draught in the door?

B T G T T-Shirt

It's not gonna change we've all got agendas..............

"Worked" various with various "artists'

Safe European Home....composed Joe strummer "THE CLASH"

"Do the right thing" Or get off the boat.

? ? ?

Does anyone understand what this jibberish means? Translation please.

It looks Neptunian, but sorry to say..

I've misplaced my Neptunian -> Earthling / Earthling -> Neptunian Translation Dictionary...

You may be right. It looked like a dialect of Psychedelian to me. Either way, it appears to be rather...

... SPACED OUT!

I think it's Xrtgldfzinianite, and you should put on red sunglasses, tuck your head between your legs, and read it through a sheet of Perspex being held by your Aunt Matilda. It's a grocery list for Xfrgldzinianites. The first item is "3 pmnbndgs." The written language never had vowels, and the words must be spoken like a screeching ladyboy. However, even one pmnbndg smells worse than a durian.

This topic, like the sergeant said in "Cool Hand Luke" can be summed up by, "What we have here is a failure to communicate."

[dezeure]

Four injured in explosion on Bangkok bus

BANGKOK: -- Four passengers were injured when a homemade bomb exploded on a Bangkok bus Saturday night.

The time bomb detonated by a clock exploded on Bus No 95 at 10:40 am.

The bus was having about 20 passengers and had left Happy Land Market heading to Bang Khen when the explosion occurred when it was in front of Bang Toey Temple near Soi Navamin 101..

Three passengers were slightly injured were discharged from the Lard Prao Hospital after treatments.

The other passenger suffered cuts on the left leg and suffered back injury from the blast impact. He was discharged after treatment.

The bus driver, Jittakorn Prajonghat, 32, told police that the bomb might be planted by four teenagers who got off the bus just a stop before the bomb exploded.

--The Nation 2006-08-06

It all starts with a small bomb injuring some people... then they get bigger and better and more organised? Have we been watching too much TV news from down South?

[CBinParadise]

The sad fact is that until the US changes its blinkered, clumsy, ingorant foreign policy, it's unlikely that anyone will learn 'toleration' as you put it.

As for your unfounded quote that '90% of worldwide acts of terrorism are perpetrated by Muslims', the families of those thousands of babies torn apart by red hot fragments of metal from the bombs dropped by America in the initial blitz of Baghdad would of course disagree.

The families of the hundreds of children already butchered by the ongoing indiscriminate bombing by Isreal of the Lebonan would also have something to say about your arguement.

The relatives of the four UN observers recently murdered by Isreal would also probably beg to differ.

Somchai, you are fast with accusations but slow with solutions or facts. PLEASE let's try to have a civil and constructive conversation. I'd be interested in your thoughts on the following:

1. You are speaking about numbers of persons killed in attacks of all kinds. The rest of us are speaking about numbers of separate suicide bombing incidents. In that sense, 90% isn't far off the mark, for the past 20 years.

2. I don't know where you got the idea that there were thousands of babies killed in the initial blitz of Iraq II. From 20 thru 31 March 2003, there were between 563 and 718 civilians --- men women and children --- killed in collateral damage during the blitz (my statistics come from http://www.iraqbodycount.net )

Those are appaling numbers --- but remember, 4,500 men women and babies die in Iraq every year from road accidents unrealted to any war in any way. Furthermore, SH killed at least 3,500 Kurds in Halabja --- men, women and children --- in 4 days beginning 15 Mar 88.

3. Where in the world did you get the idea that the bombing in Lebanon is indiscriminant? Especially compared to rockets launched from lebanon and landing on both Israel AND other Palestinians.

4. How, precisely, would you change US foreign policy (remember --- no rants, no arm waving, and for the sake of argument I'll stipulate that dubya is a moron). Now what?

CB

[Membrane]

The families of the hundreds of children already butchered by the ongoing indiscriminate bombing by Isreal of the Lebonan would also have something to say about your arguement.

What about the intentionally indiscriminate bombs of Hezbollah? What about the all the innocent Israeli children whose little bodies haven been ripped apart by an Islamic extremist, intent on getting into his/her paradise--at the expense of innocent little Israeli lives being snuffed out? Or does that even matter to you? Probably not, because, after all--they're "just Zionist pigs", right?

The relatives of the four UN observers recently murdered by Isreal would also probably beg to differ.

Oh yeah, you mean when Hez was firing from directly behind the UN outpost, into Israel? And then when Israel fired back, the Islamic extremists cunningly used that as propaganda, to "prove" how blood-thirsty Israel was supposed to be?

See Somchai, there are a lot of dummies in the world, who just can't see that the fighting is being insitigated by the Islamic extremists. Both Israel AND THE U.S. have tried to work out peace countless times, only to have the door slammed shut by Hez (or their previous Islamic counterparts), to be followed up with more Israelis being blown apart by Islamic bombs or missiles.

Open your eyes. Don't be one of those dummies who can't see reality...

Remember the Israelis had Jerusalem long before Mohammed was even born.

Remember that Saddam had many years to prove he had no weapons of mass destruction before the U.S. felt they had to go in. Oh, and were there any WMDs? Who will even know, since with all of Saddam's stalling for time, he had plenty of time to get them into Syria--OR maybe he was just bluffing all along. But he had plenty of time also to let the U.N. do their job. But he didn't. He consistently blocked their entrance into dozens of locations, with no explanation. Looks a little suspicious, doesn't it?

Now perhaps this should continue over on The Bear Pit?

(By the way, it's spelled "Israel", not "Isreal"...)

Edited August 8, 2006 by Membrane

[somchai jones]

The sad fact is that until the US changes its blinkered, clumsy, ingorant foreign policy, it's unlikely that anyone will learn 'toleration' as you put it.

As for your unfounded quote that '90% of worldwide acts of terrorism are perpetrated by Muslims', the families of those thousands of babies torn apart by red hot fragments of metal from the bombs dropped by America in the initial blitz of Baghdad would of course disagree.

The families of the hundreds of children already butchered by the ongoing indiscriminate bombing by Isreal of the Lebonan would also have something to say about your arguement.

The relatives of the four UN observers recently murdered by Isreal would also probably beg to differ.

Somchai, you are fast with accusations but slow with solutions or facts. PLEASE let's try to have a civil and constructive conversation. I'd be interested in your thoughts on the following:

1. You are speaking about numbers of persons killed in attacks of all kinds. The rest of us are speaking about numbers of separate suicide bombing incidents. In that sense, 90% isn't far off the mark, for the past 20 years.

2. I don't know where you got the idea that there were thousands of babies killed in the initial blitz of Iraq II. From 20 thru 31 March 2003, there were between 563 and 718 civilians --- men women and children --- killed in collateral damage during the blitz (my statistics come from http://www.iraqbodycount.net )

Those are appaling numbers --- but remember, 4,500 men women and babies die in Iraq every year from road accidents unrealted to any war in any way. Furthermore, SH killed at least 3,500 Kurds in Halabja --- men, women and children --- in 4 days beginning 15 Mar 88.

3. Where in the world did you get the idea that the bombing in Lebanon is indiscriminant? Especially compared to rockets launched from lebanon and landing on both Israel AND other Palestinians.

4. How, precisely, would you change US foreign policy (remember --- no rants, no arm waving, and for the sake of argument I'll stipulate that dubya is a moron). Now what?

CB

CB, thanks for your reply, I'll do my best to address your points.

Membrane, it would probably be a waste of time answering your points, as if you are still fooled by the assertion that the US went into Iraq to disarm Saddam of his non existant WMDs, there would be little or no hope of trying to change your mind.

I am truly astounded that anyone is still giving any credence to this nonsense. Pull the wool from over your eyes.

In answer to your points CB.

Quote '1. You are speaking about numbers of persons killed in attacks of all kinds. The rest of us are speaking about numbers of separate suicide bombing incidents. In that sense, 90% isn't far off the mark, for the past 20 years.'

If you read my post again you'll see that I was directly replying to the poster who said '90% of all terrorism acts'. He made no reference to suicide bombing incidents.

Quote '2. I don't know where you got the idea that there were thousands of babies killed in the initial blitz of Iraq II. From 20 thru 31 March 2003, there were between 563 and 718 civilians --- men women and children --- killed in collateral damage during the blitz (my statistics come from http://www.iraqbodycount.net )'

Since the US refused to keep a 'body count' of Iraqi deaths, there was confusion from the start.

Although the website you quoted does give reported verifiable deaths, in bombings of the magnitude used by the US there are many more deaths that cannot be confirmed. Various NGOs have given far larger numbers than you quote.

The fact that you use the obscene phrase 'collateral damage' to describe human deaths is rather upsetting.

Quote. 'Those are appaling numbers --- but remember, 4,500 men women and babies die in Iraq every year from road accidents unrealted to any war in any way. Furthermore, SH killed at least 3,500 Kurds in Halabja --- men, women and children --- in 4 days beginning 15 Mar 88.'

The fact that you are even comparing road accident figures to innocent victims of bombings doesn't deserve an answer. Again, I'm dissapointed because you seem intelligent.

Yes, SH did kill thousands of Kurds. He is a monster. That does not justify (in my humble opinion) the US/UK invading a country illegally. Look at the stae of Iraq now. Civil war.

Quote 3. 'Where in the world did you get the idea that the bombing in Lebanon is indiscriminant? Especially compared to rockets launched from lebanon and landing on both Israel AND other Palestinians.'

When UN observers are murdered after repeatedly informing Isreal of their position and when clearly marked ambulances ferrying injured civillians to hospital are bombed, I'd call that pretty indiscriminate.

Also, again the way you have compared the Isreali bombings with the fact that rockets launched from Lebanon by Hesbollah have landed on civillians would seem to suggest that it in some way justifies Isreal hitting civillians.

Again, I think you are intelligent so you probably don't hold that view.

It's a tragedy on both sides.

I could add a comment about the huge disproportionate military might of Isreal compared to Hesbollah and the hugely disproportionate number of civillian deaths in lebanon compred to civillian deaths in Isreal but that would be getting into your road accident deaths analogy territory.

Quote '4. How, precisely, would you change US foreign policy (remember --- no rants, no arm waving, and for the sake of argument I'll stipulate that dubya is a moron). Now what?'

Firstly, I disagree with you. George Bush is not a moron, morons are usually harmless buffoons; Dubya is much more dangerous than that.

A simple first step in US foreign policy would be to realise that until the Palestine problem is addressed there will never be peace in the Middle East.

Allowing Isreal to ignore UN resolutions without comment whilst condemning other nations in the vacinity is of course unhelpful.

If the US stopped using its mandate to block resolutions and accords that have been agreed by the vast majority of other nations, that would help; not just in the Middle East but also global warming, etc.

Thanks for your time, CB.

Chock Dee my friend.

Edited August 9, 2006 by somchai jones

[yankeechief]

It is funny that certain people always think about Muslims when something like this happens. The Muslims are the replacemnet of the Soviet Union. If there is something wrong or israel or the US need a pretext to commit war crimes, blame it on the Muslims like before on the soviet union.

Well, maybe there's a reason for that--that being, it's usually muslim extremists who are strapping bombs on themselves and blowing themselves up--all in the name of Allah. Ever hear of a suicide bomber?

Or are you going to try to tell us that they don't exist?

When 90% of worldwide acts of terrorism are perpetrated by Muslims why shouldn't we think of them as soon as we hear something like this happens? I certainly did, and will continue to so until Muslim extremists learn toleration. I won't be excusing myself for it either.

The sad fact is that until the US changes its blinkered, clumsy, ingorant foreign policy, it's unlikely that anyone will learn 'toleration' as you put it.

As for your unfounded quote that '90% of worldwide acts of terrorism are perpetrated by Muslims', the families of those thousands of babies torn apart by red hot fragments of metal from the bombs dropped by America in the initial blitz of Baghdad would of course disagree.

The families of the hundreds of children already butchered by the ongoing indiscriminate bombing by Isreal of the Lebonan would also have something to say about your arguement.

The relatives of the four UN observers recently murdered by Isreal would also probably beg to differ.

You are all right we should just take all the troops and resources and money and technology bring everything that has USA on it and return it to US soil. Adopt an isolationist policy, and let the rest of the world go at it and when the smoke clears emerge to see who survived, and then nuke them till they glow so there is nobody left to cry "Oh please won't you please help us?" to the USA or "What are doing in that country, get out?" after we have bowed down to the humanity requests for help all over the world. If we did not have the politics we have had most of you probaly wouldn't be here today, in 1 fashion or the other.

[Plus]

What if it was just technical school students testing new technology? They already know how to use guns, bombs naturally come next.

Take your Iraq WMD counts to some other thread, please.

Bangkok muslims don't have any separatist tendencies, don't claim Minburi as their old kingdom, and haven't commited any violent acts in recent memory. What exactly might have started?

If some southern blokes make their way to Bangkok and shoot somebody or plant a bomb, you can say "it" started. However operating in Bangkok is totally different thing from operating in their native jungles and villages with support of the native population.

[AmeriThai]

A few years ago, there were some various threats to bomb various spots in BKK. A group of dignitaries were to gather for a conference and observe the Royal Flotilla on the Chao Phraya.

Around that same time, people were a bit tense, but going on with life as usual. South of the Rangist area, there's an outdoor bazaar on the west side of the Airport Amari Hotel (I think that’s the hotel). One evening we went to visit a cousin who was selling clothing there, and browse the bazaar before heading to an open-air food stall to get something to eat. While we were browsing, we heard a loud explosion coming from the hotel. Everyone in the area hit the ground for safety, uncertain what had happened. We could see smoke drifting our way from the north side of the building. Of course, people were concerned it may have been a bombing. I, and a good number of other people, ran toward the north entrance to help in case there were any injuries.

It turned out that someone on a motorcycle drove by the north entrance of the hotel and tossed a large firecracker toward the building. There was no damage or injuries. The way the buildings were located together, the explosion from the firecracker sounded a lot louder because of the echo.

The point is that it was just some young punks having some ‘fun’, probably knowing it’d scare the wits out of everyone in the area. I’m sure they got a lot of laughs out of it. What happened on the bus was probably something similar, albeit a bit more dangerous. Keep in mind too, that there are plenty of people around who are just plain crazy. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. More than likely it was just a random act of craziness without any particular purpose or motive other than thinking it’s funny. Who knows? Maybe some punk had a gripe against the bus driver.

[Pakboong]

An interesting thread. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but I do know that in grandscale world terror, things are seldom as they appear.

I think one has to ask the simple question: Who benefits from the act of terror before formulating a theory?

We do know that the guy who gets his hands dirty is usually far removed from the guy(s) pulling the strings.

We know that there are intelligence agencies whose day to day job is demonizing the Muslim on the world stage. We know the typical method used to demonize the Muslim is civil unrest. Months and years of prep goes into these activities. An entire cast is groomed and funded to keep this unrest going. Again, the guys pulling the strings never get their hands dirty.

I don't know who is behind all this but the last place I would look is in the Muslim communtiy, they have nothing to gain from this and everything to lose.

My Thai girlfriend, a few months ago, mentioned while reading the news that a bomb was placed in a motorbike in the south and apparently detonated with a mobile phone. She is telling me the story when I asked her: Do you know a single Thai, Muslim or Buddist who would donate their motorbike for such an act? She still didn't get it. In everyday affairs, a motorbike is prized. There are hundreds of cheaper options. I did get her thinking beyond the obvious.

[Thaising]

Take a read on this general topic and it may enlighten us up a bit. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=78269

[CBinParadise]

Take your Iraq WMD counts to some othe r thread, please.

Bangkok muslims don't have any separatist tendencies, don't claim Minburi as their old kingdom, and haven't commited any violent acts in recent memory. What exactly might have started?

If some southern blokes make their way to Bangkok and shoot somebody or plant a bomb, you can say "it" started. However operating in Bangkok is totally different thing from operating in their native jungles and villages with support of the native population.

I agree with Plus that the conversation has gotten much wider than the original topic, and I would be happy to move it to a different thread. I don't know how to do that without losing context. I ask that one of the admin wizards step in. I think this is a fair summary of how we got here:

1. News that 4 were injured on BKK bus due to homeade "bomb" apparently planted by young men who rode for only one stop.

2. Algthough it was most likely a prank pulled by idiotic schoolkids, lots of people are concerned and SPECULATING about:

2a. whether the bus incident is a harbinger of the violence in the 3 southern provinces spreading up to BKK.

2b. whether this is in some way related to Islamacist terrorism in the global sense of that term.

I personally feel that 2b one of the gravest and least understood threats to Thailand and to the rest of the world, and that it warrants serious and contructive conversation -- as opposed to the hysterical overly-polarized rants it usually inspires. It seems that such a (barely) civil discussion has started in this thread, and I hope it can be continued --- here or elsewhere.

Edited August 9, 2006 by CBinParadise

[AmeriThai]

Take a read on this general topic and it may enlighten us up a bit. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=78269

A link to a thread about an interview with a member of PULA is supposed to be enlightening about the BKK bus bomb? Would you further enlighten us by explaining what the connection is to the BKK bus?

[Mossfinn]

First post eh? We are really proud of you. Welcome to the Stupid Ignorant Racist club.

PS: Can you provide us with the source of your statistical information? We would like to add it to our website.

Please remember to omit any state sponsored acts that could be misconstrued as 'terrorism/war crimes', such as what Israel is doing to the Lebanese civilians.

All sources that point to the US, UK or Israel oppressing and contributing to the death of over a million Muslims must also be omitted.

In addition, we must emphasise that Muslims are only fighting in the 'name of Allah' and not for any tangible purpose, such as the destruction of the homeland, forced evacuation and occupation of the homeland etc.

That must not be allowed to get in the way of our message.

Not get to work. Good luck. We are depending on you.

Moss

[Thaising]

Take a read on this general topic and it may enlighten us up a bit. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=78269

A link to a thread about an interview with a member of PULA is supposed to be enlightening about the BKK bus bomb? Would you further enlighten us by explaining what the connection is to the BKK bus?

Everything is possible, if these separatist groups want world attention. If you are familiar in Bangkok area and locality, you were known where the majority of Thai Muslim community towns are, these separatist can easily blend into their own people to carried out their agenda, and coincidentally the bus explosion occurred somewhere near Hua mark where most of the Muslim suburb are. Hambali even make use of this area once to carry out his surveillance works in Bangkok before being apprehended in Ayutthaya.

Excerpt from http://www.bangkokpost.com/060806_Perspect...006_pers001.php

This is only my personal guess and opinion, and in no way I am disparage the Muslim faith or the moderate Muslim people.

[Plus]

Yes, if you say that some separatists blended in and planted the bomb, that could have been so. There's no evidence to suggest that local muslims were involved, there's no evidence to suggest it was muslims who planted the bomb at all.

As an explosion itself it's a pretty common occurence, as a muslim planted bomb it is something completely out of the blue for Bangkok, where muslims haven't caused any trouble.

It doesn't fit into a pattern of musim violence - there isn't any pattern here, there's no muslim violence at all.

There haven't been any southern separatists attacks in Bangkok either. Not that it isn't theoretically possible, but blaming them for this particular blast is exactly what they call "demonising muslims".

[somchai jones]

Take your Iraq WMD counts to some othe r thread, please.

Bangkok muslims don't have any separatist tendencies, don't claim Minburi as their old kingdom, and haven't commited any violent acts in recent memory. What exactly might have started?

If some southern blokes make their way to Bangkok and shoot somebody or plant a bomb, you can say "it" started. However operating in Bangkok is totally different thing from operating in their native jungles and villages with support of the native population.

I agree with Plus that the conversation has gotten much wider than the original topic, and I would be happy to move it to a different thread. I don't know how to do that without losing context. I ask that one of the admin wizards step in. I think this is a fair summary of how we got here:

1. News that 4 were injured on BKK bus due to homeade "bomb" apparently planted by young men who rode for only one stop.

2. Algthough it was most likely a prank pulled by idiotic schoolkids, lots of people are concerned and SPECULATING about:

2a. whether the bus incident is a harbinger of the violence in the 3 southern provinces spreading up to BKK.

2b. whether this is in some way related to Islamacist terrorism in the global sense of that term.

I personally feel that 2b one of the gravest and least understood threats to Thailand and to the rest of the world, and that it warrants serious and contructive conversation -- as opposed to the hysterical overly-polarized rants it usually inspires. It seems that such a (barely) civil discussion has started in this thread, and I hope it can be continued --- here or elsewhere.

If you look at my reply to your previous post, you'll see that I for one have addressed your questions in a civil and considered manner. It would be interesting to know your views on the questions you raised.

Edited August 10, 2006 by somchai jones

[sabaijai]

This thread is moving far off topic. If you have nothing further to contribute on the bus bombing in Bangkok, feel free to start another thread pertaining to the likelihood of Southern separatist bombings in Bangkok. The two issues are unrelated.

[somchai jones]

This thread is moving far off topic. If you have nothing further to contribute on the bus bombing in Bangkok, feel free to start another thread pertaining to the likelihood of Southern separatist bombings in Bangkok. The two issues are unrelated.

Ooooo, you're so masterful.

Any further comment would be superfluous.

Chock Dee my friend.

Edited August 10, 2006 by somchai jones

[Thaising]

Yes, if you say that some separatists blended in and planted the bomb, that could have been so. There's no evidence to suggest that local muslims were involved, there's no evidence to suggest it was muslims who planted the bomb at all.

As an explosion itself it's a pretty common occurence, as a muslim planted bomb it is something completely out of the blue for Bangkok, where muslims haven't caused any trouble.

It doesn't fit into a pattern of musim violence - there isn't any pattern here, there's no muslim violence at all.

There haven't been any southern separatists attacks in Bangkok either. Not that it isn't theoretically possible, but blaming them for this particular blast is exactly what they call "demonising muslims".

We may have difference of opinion and viewpoint, which I would not argue with you. I can only cross my fingers and hope nothing untoward happen in the capital. I rest my case as suggested by the moderator.

[Plus]

I think your concerns are legimitimate, and this case should be looked into, but it's too early to make far fetching predictions.

If they proved that the teenagers were in fat muslims it could be a start.

[baboon]

Come on here.I believe that any bomb planted by the Islamic lunatic fringe would have been designed to REALLY cause havoc.

[bannork]

I think your concerns are legimitimate, and this case should be looked into, but it's too early to make far fetching predictions.

If they proved that the teenagers were in fat muslims it could be a start.

There are plenty of idiotic teenagers in Bangkok, some are fat muslims and some are slim buddhists. Almost all violence that takes place on Bangkok buses is caused by college rivalry of various shapes and sizes, each school trying to outdo each other in stupidity.

Apart from the dangerous vocational students there are also several suicide- bus drivers in Bangkok,especially in the private sector, but their motives are not always religious, usually it's a desire to get home early,(perhaps to pray though?), or to pick up the most passengers (maybe a desire to escort the passengers on a pilgrimage?).

I reckon this 'bomb' was just another crappy teenage vocational school failure.