Powerful bomb explode near Rajprasong intersection wounding 20 people

[Friendly Stranger]

Wakened up earlier than intended and now trying to get to grips with this terrible news.

BBC's Jonathan Head reported that an unnamed govt official said early on that tourism had been targeted and the studio anchor has quoted the defence minister as saying foreigners were the intended targets.

I'd like to think the spokespeople have some idea what they're talking about rather than the usual obligation to say something, anything. It's not a sign of inefficiency to say something like ' wait until more is known ' but unfortunately that's not the usual style.

I don't understand them. It was a shrine for the local Buddhists/Hindu. If they really wanted to hit tourists then khao San Rd/Rambutri would have been the #1area. This would have caused an exodus and utter chaos amongst tourists. Again, god help the affected.

[easybullet3]

#BREAKING: Thailand's national police chief says it appears #Bangkok explosion was caused by a bomb: http://fxn.ws/1IWujh3

BANGKOK (AP) - At least 1 dead as large explosion rocks major Bangkok intersection; cause unclear.

i'm reposting my last comment from my Forum Blog (as my forum thread was closed adn redirected to here)

I live very close to there.. (a few minutes walk)

its really buzzing with sirens.

and yes,, i felt the blast sound (vibrations of it) through my body in my condo.

tonnes of emergency services now I can see...

but really.. I must say how pathetically SLOW they were to arrive. (especially as its a couple of minutes drive away).

at least Emergency Bikes should have been the first ones to the scene... (but I heard NOTHING until at least 15 minutes after the blast).

that in itself is a story.. the shocking response time!

it has taken more than 40 minutes (since the blast) to free-up a lane of traffic so that emergency services vehicles can hurry to and from the blast site.

You chose to live in a developing country. Can't compare Thailand to say, US or UK. Apples to oranges.

Plus you should already know the notorious traffic/congestion in BKK roads. There's no such thing as "a couple of minutes drive away".

Anyway, RIP to all the victims.

actually:

Pathumwan Police Head Quarters are less than a 1 minute walk away from the Bomb Explosion.. and Lumphini station is also less than 5 minutes away.

BUT: Not one Police Bike came to the scene within 15 minutes!

I completely disagree with you, because the last time I checked, , Bikes dont get blocked by traffic.

and yes, I know this is a developing country, but really, I disagree with your way of thinking.

just coz its a developing country, it doesnt mean they cant "improve" their emergency response system.

if you were in charge of this country, it sounds like you would rather not bother to improve anything,, and just blame it on being a developing country.

Anyone can learn, and i have no problem in callling out the bad response time.

if thailand can build Paragon and Central World and Emporium Quartier and tonnes of other things, I am sure they are capable of sorting out their emergency response.

[ryguy]

What could make a person commit such an act, perhaps it could be a person whose family members

or friends are in leg irons. Placed there by an (unelected Military Judicial system with no appeals available

and not open to the public.

Left to spend 28 years and 30 years in a prison cell for freedom of conscience. No one pays attention, everyone looks the other way.

How about if it was one of your family or friends?

I know many Thai's are not too happy about that and chose to not participate in the "Bike Farce" while innocents are rotting away

in a prison cell for so-called "Violations of Thainess"

[easybullet3]

#BREAKING: Thailand's national police chief says it appears #Bangkok explosion was caused by a bomb: http://fxn.ws/1IWujh3

BANGKOK (AP) - At least 1 dead as large explosion rocks major Bangkok intersection; cause unclear.

i'm reposting my last comment from my Forum Blog (as my forum thread was closed adn redirected to here)

I live very close to there.. (a few minutes walk)

its really buzzing with sirens.

and yes,, i felt the blast sound (vibrations of it) through my body in my condo.

tonnes of emergency services now I can see...

but really.. I must say how pathetically SLOW they were to arrive. (especially as its a couple of minutes drive away).

at least Emergency Bikes should have been the first ones to the scene... (but I heard NOTHING until at least 15 minutes after the blast).

that in itself is a story.. the shocking response time!

it has taken more than 40 minutes (since the blast) to free-up a lane of traffic so that emergency services vehicles can hurry to and from the blast site.

Would you rush in knowing that very often there are additional bombs set off with delays timed just right to kill the rescue personal?

Even 15 minutes is pretty risky.

Rescue vehicles in Thailand are a bad joke.

People are not required to pull over and let an ambulance pass...they crawl through traffic like everyone else...why even have sirens on and lights flashing???

yes agreed, it is so bad in the whole of Asia that no-one pulls over to let Emergency Vehicles drive pass.

in Japan it was exactly the same when I used to live there.

even when the police arrived, it was another 25 minutes before they got the idea to divert traffic and make one lane available for emergency access.

[Friendly Stranger]

I thought this area of BKK was bland (materialistic) and boring.

Well, I honestly can't say it's boring anymore.

No wonder so many Farangs who can't speak Thai, who want to hangout with other Farangs and eat Farang food want to live there!

Geniuses, 555

Congrats on making the worst, most tasteless post in Thai Visa history.

Don't hold your breath, he sounds like he has many other gems to share.

What waste of space he is, does his farang hating on a subject of this magnitude.

[MrWorldwide]

I am so tempted to play internet detective on this but hope others also refrain and at least give it some time out of respect for the victims as well as it is all much of what is being reported will be changing in the coming days if not longer. RIP and thought go out to the injured maimed.

Well said, and you've saved me a lot of keystrokes. No doubt we'll hear plenty from the board's experts though, including claims that the Thais bought this on themselves.

[dickyknee]

What could make a person commit such an act, perhaps it could be a person whose family members

or friends are in leg irons. Placed there by an (unelected Military Judicial system with no appeals available

and not open to the public.

Left to spend 28 years and 30 years in a prison cell for freedom of conscience. No one pays attention, everyone looks the other way.

How about if it was one of your family or friends?

I know many Thai's are not too happy about that and chose to not participate in the "Bike Farce" while innocents are rotting away

in a prison cell for so-called "Violations of Thainess"

"How about if it was one of your family or friends?"

I can't see myself wanting to blow up a whole bunch of innocent people because of that.

But you would?

[NongKhaiKid]

It didn't take long for the crazies to make an appearance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DRzk4qlDME

Only yesterday it was reported that most young Thais get their ' news ' on social media and I'm sure the caution to check sources will fall on deaf ears.

I'd hate to think what else is being said with the very minimum of information.

[rijit]

I am so tempted to play internet detective on this but hope others also refrain and at least give it some time out of respect for the victims as well as it is all much of what is being reported will be changing in the coming days if not longer. RIP and thought go out to the injured maimed.

I'm with you in some respects. But my Thai wife, here with me in the UK, is convinced Thaksin supporters. I'm sure she's allowed her opinion.

What do I know.

sure she is, but what does she base it on though ?

[SunsetT]

Strange target.....I suspect this is pro-democracy anti-coup terrorism. They targeted tourists but not farang tourists because most farangs represent democracy. This shrine attracts mainly Chinese tourists who come from the most prominent non-democratic country in the World. Is this why it was targeted?

Edited August 17, 2015 by SunsetT

[coulson]

Some on Twitter claimed YL and T restarted their Twitter activities today before the bombs:

Direct Lee (@directrun) tweeted at 10:12 PM on Mon, Aug 17, 2015:

@smartbrain @tulsathit @NOW26_ktnews As already noted, strange that she spouted out all day on Tweeter, first time in a long time, Thaksin 2

(

)

They were responding to the draft charter......stay focused.

[harada]

One of the first moves should be to reverse the backflip on disconnecting unregistered SIM cards as these seem to be the Favorite triggering devices for these scumbags.

[rhodie]

Terrible!!!. Let's hope they catch them quickly.

RIP to the victims.

[The Dancer]

Strange target.....I suspect this is pro-democracy anti-coup terrorism. They targeted tourists but not farang tourists because most farangs represent democracy. This shrine attracts mainly Chinese tourists who come from the most prominent non-democratic country in the World. Is this why it was targeted?

If they wanted to target Chinese people the place to attack would be King Power on Soi Rangnam. Hundreds of Chinese tourists and security (till now) pretty much non-existent.

Pro-democracy anti-coup I agree with. But the target was Ratchprasong because of they symbolism - about 100 pro-democracy activists were killed there by the army 5 years ago.

[retoohs]

Shocking. Just returned to my home country after a month in the area with my Thai wife. Her phone was ringing all night and ignored.

She is now busy ringing all the callers and family to make sure everyone is ok. Thoughts are with the casualties and their families and my beloved Thai people

[ourmanflint]

A very shocking event, and I just cannot see any reason for targeting the Erawan Shrine. Yesterdays bike ride would have been an easy target for any would be attackers to have impact, yet they waited until today, and chose a target mainly used by normal everyday folks of all walks of life.

I hope no stone is left unturned searching out the villains who did this along with anyone involved in its inception.

[chiang mai]

This was too big to be a crazed loner. This was planned and executed by an organization. Crazed loners don't have an agenda, they do what the voices tell them. Not so with orgs. They have a purpose and they plan for it. So, what purpose is served by setting off just one bomb and going away? None. There's going to be a follow-up. What form it will take is not clear. But the purpose I suspect will soon be.

It's difficult to think who was responsible for this, the aim was to spread terror and to hurt tourism and the economy. The location is interesting, heart of the tourist/business section AND the erawan shrine, thinking aloud:

The scale of it makes me think it's not the usual Thai political factions, seems like too many dead to be local Thai groups, it's not their style.

And although it carries the hallmark of southern separatists, it seems to be such a radical shift in strategy as to be unlikely that it is them - I'm not certain why I think that other than I would have thought that a tourist target in say Phuket would have been a better and more obvious choice, nearer to home and easier.

So that kind of leaves external terrorists/lone wolf, ISIS et al, if that were the case then I would have expected to see a claim of responsibility much publicized yet we haven't heard anything. But that's a lot of TNT for a lone wolf so perhaps not that.

Confusing and all very unclear.

[stickyrice2000]

I feel like the internal war is getting started. Thailand looks peaceful on the outside, but there is a current beneath the ocean. I would not go to Thailand at this time.

Are you trying to spread rumors and hearsay?

You have no authority, knowlegde, information, nothing to make a statement like that and you know it!

Tell me a good reason why I should risk my life going to a place that had recent explosion? Anyone else can still go at his/her own will. Rumor is for untrue information. Yes, there were explosions. Yes, they have terrorists in the South. Yes, they have political problems. Yes, the reshuffle of high rank people can trigger the acts. There are so many things going on. You want to tell me that everything is a okay?

[coulson]

I thought this area of BKK was bland (materialistic) and boring.

Well, I honestly can't say it's boring anymore.

No wonder so many Farangs who can't speak Thai, who want to hangout with other Farangs and eat Farang food want to live there!

Geniuses, 555

You remind me of a friend who wanted to go live in Myanmar mountains when the mayan prophecy was upon us......

He later returned from the hills and got a day job.

He wasn't a genius either

Edited August 17, 2015 by coulson

[chiang mai]

In 99.8% of the country, everything is OK.

[ryguy]

What could make a person commit such an act, perhaps it could be a person whose family members

or friends are in leg irons. Placed there by an (unelected Military Judicial system with no appeals available

and not open to the public.

Left to spend 28 years and 30 years in a prison cell for freedom of conscience. No one pays attention, everyone looks the other way.

How about if it was one of your family or friends?

I know many Thai's are not too happy about that and chose to not participate in the "Bike Farce" while innocents are rotting away

in a prison cell for so-called "Violations of Thainess"

"How about if it was one of your family or friends?"

I can't see myself wanting to blow up a whole bunch of innocent people because of that.

But you would?

Never said it was Justified, Stated that motivation to commit more terrorism is coming as more people turn their heads and ignore the human rights abuses the military is constantly inflicting on the population with their endless "propaganda machine" Keep suppressing peoples right to vote, right to Free speech or to associate in gatherings of no more than 5 people, Keep charging people in military courts with no appeals to the verdict, Keep it up Thailand and I am sure there will be more of this to come. Respect to the innocent victims who died and the ones who have died the last few years in prison for text messages, You tube videos and Facebook posts.

[The Dancer]

In 99.8% of the country, everything is OK.

That would seem so if you are familiar with exactly 0.2% of the country.

[smedly]

so who did this ? well it depends on who has the balls to claim responsibility, if it was insurgents from the south - they will claim it as a successful mission otherwise pointless -

I'll leave it at that

[hgma]

Its 5.15 in the morning in Thailand and the sad news is 19 confirmed dead and 123 injured.....

Massive explosion occured targetting people.

I am sincere in my condolences to the victims family and best wishes to the injured.

Affirming that only real cowards can come up from the gutters to target the innocent.

HGMA

[Spleen]

Wakened up earlier than intended and now trying to get to grips with this terrible news.

BBC's Jonathan Head reported that an unnamed govt official said early on that tourism had been targeted and the studio anchor has quoted the defence minister as saying foreigners were the intended targets.

I'd like to think the spokespeople have some idea what they're talking about rather than the usual obligation to say something, anything. It's not a sign of inefficiency to say something like ' wait until more is known ' but unfortunately that's not the usual style.

I don't understand them. It was a shrine for the local Buddhists/Hindu. If they really wanted to hit tourists then khao San Rd/Rambutri would have been the #1area. This would have caused an exodus and utter chaos amongst tourists. Again, god help the affected.

If wanted to hit Chinese tourists the would hit where they hit

[Spleen]

so who did this ? well it depends on who has the balls to claim responsibility, if it was insurgents from the south - they will claim it as a successful mission otherwise pointless -

I'll leave it at that

I would stake my nuts it has something to do with repatriation of Uighurs to China , That had the civilized world in uproar and the Muslim world enrage , with their brothers being extradited to death and Torture at the hands of the Chinese. To me it would not make sense that is any Junta opposition , though they may try and spin it that way to stay in power. Would be counter productive for the opposition unless they are ready to go to war

[Puwa]

I'm posting this link as background info to anyone unfamilar with the 2006 New Year bombings. The article discusses several possible leads in determining who might have done it, but nothing has been concluded or proven. Those bombings remain unsolved.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Bangkok_bombings

[laban]

With the help of many CCTV in the area, RTP will hopefully be able to find out who planted the bomb, unless most of the cameras were dummy ones as installed by metropolitan authority. There again, did they ever find the culprits of the bomb at Central festival Samui?

Very sad day for Bangkok and Thailand.

[katana]

Dashcam footage:

[Puwa]

I'm posting this link as background info to anyone unfamilar with the 2006 New Year bombings. The article discusses several possible leads in determining who might have done it, but nothing has been concluded or proven. Those bombings remain unsolved.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Bangkok_bombings