Car Bomb in Samui

[dom samui]

Koh Samui: -- A powerful car bomb exploded at the underground parking lot of Central Festival department store in Samui Island, wounding six people.

Ten cars were damaged in the explosion.

Meanwhile a fire also broke out at Sahakorn Coop food centre in Surat Thani, almost at the same time as the explosion in Samui Island, burning down its warehouse where Otop products were stored.

The explosion at Central Festival store at 10.30 pm Friday night came as shoppers were still shopping inside the store.

The bomb was hidden in a Honda Jazz sedan bearing the fake licence plate of Chonburi province.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/104888

-- Thai PBS 2015-04-11

[livinthailandos]

Just got a phone call from friends saying something had happened there to and asking where I was. Will update when no more information

[jkurta]

Friend working in ER told me it was car bomb explosion, he is dealing with the injured

[dom samui]

First pics coming

[dom samui]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=821499521276002

Said to be an electrical explosion , fire , Some hurt.

[dom samui]

parking level

[dom samui]

Parking level , now people saying car explosion in underground parking

[dom samui]

[dom samui]

[livinthailandos]

was watching thai news just now a car bomb went off at the same time at suratthani, thai tv is reporting this

[dom samui]

reports now of dead people in Samui...

Worse is same happened at the same time in Surat ( coop) and Phangna...

[manarak]

I hope they find the scum responsible for this.

But I think Samui and Surat Thani are strange targets?

Neither are in an area where Malays are in the majority.

[CNXBKKMAN]

Pumpin area of Surathani. It's all over the TV at the moment.

[robsamui]

Pumpin area of Surathani. It's all over the TV at the moment.

What - 2 bombs - one in Surat and one on Samui?

This is really crazy - all that stuff in the south has forever been about Muslims asking for the right to follow their religion in schools where not even one teacher was Buddhist.

Dozens of schools where there were all Muslim staff and children but they had to have Buddhist rites because this was Thailand.

How does that translate to car bombs on Samui and in Surat Thani?

R

[Tywais]

Google translate of thairath news with photos.

Appears both Samui and Surat Thani.

[Longtail2]

Nothing to do with Muslims schools etc !!!!!

Politics !!!!

[Absolut]

Nothing to do with Muslims schools etc !!!!!

Politics !!!!

And you know how?

[khunPer]

English language Thai news talks about:

»10 hurt as car bomb explodes at Samui mall«

...

and that »the explosion was caused by a car bomb placed inside a pickup.«

Cannot link to the media with the story, but they seem to talk about only one bomb, and at Samui Central Festival mall; however it's also »suggested that a fire that occurred at the same time in a warehouse might have been started by explosives.«

Passed Central tonight, there were a number of police cars with flashing lights in front at 00:30am, but seemed fairly quiert when passing on way back home now at 2:45am; but still some blue lights at the lake entrance to the underground parking.

[Happy Grumpy]

Awful.

Elections will be years off with this sort of stuff (bts bomb 2 months ago) going on.

The Junta will have little choice.

[Lite Beer]

Explosion at Central Festival in Chaweng

KOH SAMUI: -- At approximately 10-30 there was an explosion in the underground car park at Central Festival in Chaweng. The bomb goes off at Central Festivalarea has now been cordoned off. Ambulances and rescue teams were seen arriving at the scene, it is unclear if anybody was injured in the explosion however some reports suggest there has been one fatality.

The cause of the explosion is also currently unknown, early reports suggest it was a gas explosion although there is speculation may have been a homemade car bomb. The shopping center has been open for just over one year. We will bring you more facts as they emerge.

-- Samui Times 2015-04-11

[ExPratt]

Just reading that myself

BANGKOK (AP) -- A car bomb exploded at a shopping mall on a Thai island popular with foreign tourists for its pristine beaches, injuring seven people, officials said on Saturday.

The improvised bomb was hidden in a pickup truck and went off late Friday night on the basement level of the shopping Central Festival mall on Samui Island in Surat Thani province, after a fashion show, the island's disaster prevention and mitigation chief Poonsak Sophonpathumrak told The Associated Press.

He said authorities believed the vehicle was stolen from one of the three southernmost Thai provinces plagued by violence. More than 5,000 people have been killed since an Islamic insurgency began in the sub-region in 2004.

Muslims in the area, which was an independent Islamic sultanate until it was annexed by Thailand in the early 20th century, have long complained of discrimination, and the insurgents are thought to be fighting for autonomy. The militants, however, have made no public pronouncements about their aims.

Poonsak said the bomb had destroyed most of the pickup truck and damaged a few other vehicles that were parked nearby at the mall, which was located a few hundred meters (feet) from the popular Chaweng beach.

"The authorities are still investigating the scene to find out more details before linking it to any insurgency groups," he said.

Samui is one of the country's top island destinations among foreign and Thai tourists. It has rarely been a target of militant attacks in the past.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_THAILAND_ISLAND_BOMBING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-04-10-15-21-10

[Lite Beer]

Seven injured in explosion on Thai tourist island
Bangkok, Thailand | AFP |

KOH SAMUI: -- Seven people, including an Italian girl, were injured when a car exploded in a shopping mall car park on the popular Thai tourist island of Samui, police and officials said Saturday.


It was not immediately clear if the blast was an accident or a deliberate act.


The explosion occurred on Friday night in the basement car park of Central Festival mall on Samui island as late-night shoppers were still inside the building.


"It is not clear whether it was a car bomb or a gas explosion. The bomb squad will investigate this morning," said colonel Apichart Boonsriroj, police commander of Surat Thani province on the mainland.


"Seven people were slightly injured after being hit by shrapnel," he said, adding they had been released from hospital.


A Samui official said six of the injured were Thai and the seventh was a 12-year-old Italian girl.


"Six Thais and a 12-year-old girl were treated for minor injuries," said Poonsak Sophonsasmorong of the island's disaster prevention office.


Samui is popular tourist island in the Gulf of Thailand.


The kingdom's junta is desperate to woo tourists after a year of bad news following a coup in May last year.


Around 20 million visitors flock to Thailand each year and are a key part of the economy.


The military lifted martial law last week but maintained sweeping security powers citing the threat of political unrest.


Authorities are also battling a festering insurgency in the Muslim-majority southernmost provinces bordering Malaysia, which has claimed more than 6,300 lives in a decade.


Rebels, who are seeking greater autonomy, have not launched attacks in tourist areas outside if the South.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2015-04-11

[crusty]

Nothing to do with Muslims schools etc !!!!!

Politics !!!!

And you know how?

The pickup used for the bomb was from Yala, Samui just 3 hours drive away and packed with infidels is too much of a temptation to whack a Westerner !

[SamuiRes]

Photo in Bangkok Post shows a totally destroyed vehicle reportedly a pick up.

[crusty]

Nothing to do with Muslims schools etc !!!!!

Politics !!!!

And you know how?

The pickup used for the bomb was from Yala, Samui just 3 hours drive away and packed with infidels is too much of a temptation to whack a Westerner !

Note to oneself, stay away from the Lamai Lady Thai boxing tonight as it attracts hundreds of Euro tourists !

[Lite Beer]

Five Thais, one foreigner injured in Samui car bomb blast

Surat Thani - A bomb hidden in a car parked at the Central Samui Department exploded late Friday night, injuring six people, including a foreigner. Four other Thais fainted because of the shock.

Police said the blast occurred at 10:30 pm. The pick-up truck that was parked at the underground car park of the store was completely damaged. The truck used a false license plate.

The occasion occurred while the store was about to close.

-- The Nation 2015-04- 11

[Lite Beer]

Surat Thani: – A car bomb exploded last night at a shopping mall in Samui, inflicting injuries to six people and causing damages to about 10 cars, provincial governor Chatpong Chatphuti said.

The incident happened in the underground parking lot of Central Samui Festival, Chatpong said. The shopping mall was still opened at the time of explosion around 10.30 pm.

Injured victims are shopping customers who have admitted for treatments of shrapnel wounds at two hospitals on the resort island.

Initial checks indicated that the car bomb was assembled in a stolen vehicle with fake license plate number.

Police, the bomb squat and the crime scene investigators are scheduled today to conduct the full checks at the scene.

At the time close to the car bomb explosion, there was a separate fire at the warehouse of Surat Thani Cooperative in Mueang district, Chatpong said.

The authorities have noted the curious coincidence of the two incidents but have not drawn any conclusion about the linkage.

Fire fighters took about an hour to put out the warehouse blaze. They managed to contain the warehouse fire not to spread to a nearby store and food court.

The fire caused total destruction of the warehouse and consumer goods stored inside. There was no casualty report. The fire took place after the closing hour. And staff had left.

Witnesses said they heard two loud explosions before the eruption of fire. They said the noise might have come from faulty transformers.

The authorities will investigate the cause of fire at daybreak.

In another development, a fire broke out at a local convenience store in Phang Nga’s Takua Thung district, causing damages to the store and three nearby shophouses.

The district authorities said the fire started on the second floor of the store where supplies were kept.

Police are investigating the cause of fire.

Source: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/816543-samui-car-bomb-explosion-and-surat-thani-fire/

-- © thaivisa.com

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[maidee]

some terrorists not like shopping malls ?

[jacko45k]

Nothing to do with Muslims schools etc !!!!!

Politics !!!!

And you know how?

The pickup used for the bomb was from Yala, Samui just 3 hours drive away and packed with infidels is too much of a temptation to whack a Westerner !

But an underground car park?

Surely the Ferry more a concern.

[mihalis]

Wouldn't CCTV be all over the area ?