Thai editorial: We need the facts, not spin, about car-bomb attack

[webfact]

EDITORIAL
We need the facts, not spin, about car-bomb attack
The Nation

Government spokesmen have been pre-empting the investigation by making political insinuations

Thailand does not seem to be ready for the truth given the way the government and military spokesmen have been putting a spin on the recent car-bomb attacks at a major shopping mall in Koh Samui, one of the most important tourist destinations in the country.

Within hours of the bomb going off at the Central Festival shopping mall, Deputy Government Spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd and Army spokesman Winthai Suvari were already suggesting that the attack was motivated by political sentiment.

The two military officers went far beyond being spin-doctors to become fortune-tellers. They also linked the blast in Samui to previous bombings in Bangkok in spite of the fact that investigations into these incidents are still ongoing.

Defence Ministry spokesman Maj-General Kongsheep Tantrawanit, trying to sound smart and not wanting to be left out of the spotlight, blamed the car bomb in Koh Samui on people who have lost power and want to destroy the Songkran atmosphere, and the country's image and economy.

Asked to respond to a recent comment by former People's Democratic Reform Committee chief Suthep Thaugsuban that the Samui attack was financed by "a person who lived abroad", Kongsheep said he believed that, as he did not think Thais would hurt one another because of different ideologies.

What's interesting is that these spokesmen were dismissive of any possible link to the ongoing insurgency in the Malay-speaking southernmost provinces where more than 6,000 people have died since January 2004.

Besides coming close to interfering with police investigation into the attack last Friday on Koh Samui, these spokesmen, who have been mandated to speak for their respective institutions, have made investigating officers extremely uncomfortable in carrying out their duties.

Like everybody else, the investigators behind the Samui car-bomb attack that left seven injured know that the military has absolute and unchecked power to govern the country. The vehicle was stolen from Yala's Yaha district in late March. Is it so hard to imagine that after more than a decade of killings and more than 6,000 deaths, insurgency violence in the restive South could expand outside of the contested region, particularly an area popular among local and foreign visitors?

After all, the insurgents are Thai citizens who can move around just as freely as any other Thais. They are not foreign terrorists coming from abroad.

Imagine what it would mean for the country if authorities established this as a fact.

If Thai security forces, with billions of baht pouring into this historically contested region and all sorts of light and heavy firepower, have not been able to curb the violence that is driven by Patani Malay separatists, then what could make one think that they can contain insurgency violence if it spreads outside this restive region?

There have been other violent incidents that some government officials had quietly linked to the insurgency in the deep South but because of political concern, this and the previous governments refused to entertain the idea that the violence in that region is spreading.

One such case was the blast at Ramkhamhaeng Soi 43/1 in Bangkok in May 2013, for which four young men from Narathiwat were recently convicted and sentenced to more than 66 years each to prison. There were claims by police at the local level that the four men were linked to the insurgency movement in the South, but such a claim was quickly dismissed by Bangkok.

There was also the massive twin bomb placed in a pickup truck stolen from Sai Buri, Pattani, and parked in the back of the Phuket Police Station in December 2013. Officials said the twin bomb, with a blast radius of 500 metres, was very well assembled and they believed the switch was left off on purpose.

Interestingly, national police chief Pol General Somyos Pumpanmuang said this past week that the Samui bomb blast was similar to the attack in Ramkhamhaeng in Bangkok in 2013. Nobody could say for certain if Pol General Somyos was trying to hint at something.

Regardless, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the investigation is still ongoing. In the final analysis, truth must prevail. Whatever the outcome, we as a nation must deal with it sensibly.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/We-need-the-facts-not-spin-about-car-bomb-attack-30258132.html


-- The Nation 2015-04-17

[noitom]

Thais haven't a clue about the seriousness of these bombs anywhere let alone major tourist malls. Thais have no skills for investigation and none at all for security. Thailand has how many bombs in the south? Thailand has 6,000 plus killings in the Thai south. Shootings, bombings, and disruptive violence. Thais haven't a clue. The military leadership looks like a battery of buffoons. The gang who couldn't shoot straight.

[cloudhopper]

Cultures that value appearance above all have no use for facts.

[ChrisY1]

And the army only has 1700 generals....!!

[oneday]

What a phenomenal article. It did a fantastic job of tying up all the misinformation in several articles over the last few days that has been spewed out by self-important officials and generals. However, this is the scariest part about what is happening and the reporter nailed it on the head...

"...Besides coming close to interfering with police investigation into the attack last Friday on Koh Samui, these spokesmen, who have been mandated to speak for their respective institutions, have made investigating officers extremely uncomfortable in carrying out their duties..."

Having these "all powerful" people making these statements has got to make the actual investigators nervous about saying anything that contradicts them, which is where the interference comes from.

Bravo to this reporter for nailing it so exactly as "SPIN" that is being fed to an unsuspecting Thai public.

[NongKhaiKid]

This sort of case is tailored made for spin as no matter the truth what's there suits official purposes.

The BIB were going with a local conflict of some sort but were drowned out by the necessity for a political angle including we know the politicians and ex-MPs involved but we're not naming names etc.

In many industries and professions they go on the idea that ' presentation is everything ' but what Thai officialdom never seems to understand is that even if they are right they destroy credibility by their own bumbling and big mouths.