Blast hits Bangkok amid tense politics, deep divisions

[webfact]

Blast hits Bangkok amid tense politics, deep divisions
Analysis: Deadly attack in Bangkok signals a break in the uneasy calm of military junta’s tight grip on Thail
by Tom Kutsch

BANGKOK: -- A explosion at a religious shrine that killed at least 18 in a bustling Bangkok tourist district Monday shattered an uneasy calm that had settled over much of the country since a military takeover last year.

No one has yet claimed responsibility, and the government has remained mum on suspects — but a recent history of complex political divisions as well as a small-scale separatist insurgency that occasionally spills over into limited violence in the country’s far south could provide clues into possible motives behind the attack.

"We still don't know for sure who did this and why," Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon told reporters late Monday. "We are not sure if it is politically motivated, but they aim to harm our economy, and we will hunt them down."

Police said a bomb caused the blast at the Erawan Shrine, which features Hindu imagery but is extremely popular among Thailand’s Buddhists, who account for the majority of the country’s population. The site, in the heart of the capital’s high-end shopping district, is considered spiritually powerful and draws massive numbers of tourists from East Asia.

Full story: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/8/17/blast-hits-bangkok-amid-tense-politics.html

-- AL JAZEERA AMERICA 2015-08-18

[dirtycash]

"We still don't know for sure who did this and why," Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon told reporters late Monday. "We are not sure if it is politically motivated, but they aim to harm our economy, and we will hunt them down."

will this have an impact on the economy ? possibly more to come. all the thais i have spoken to believe it is related to the south.

[Just1Voice]

"We still don't know for sure who did this and why," Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon told reporters late Monday. "We are not sure if it is politically motivated, but they aim to harm our economy, and we will hunt them down."

will this have an impact on the economy ? possibly more to come. all the thais i have spoken to believe it is related to the south.

Possibly, but all the ones I've spoken to, and that my Thai wife has spoken to, believe the military is behind it. A "false flag" operation.

But at this point, no one really knows anything concrete. Only a lot of speculation.

[soalbundy]

"We still don't know for sure who did this and why," Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon told reporters late Monday. "We are not sure if it is politically motivated, but they aim to harm our economy, and we will hunt them down."

will this have an impact on the economy ? possibly more to come. all the thais i have spoken to believe it is related to the south.

Possibly, but all the ones I've spoken to, and that my Thai wife has spoken to, believe the military is behind it. A "false flag" operation.

But at this point, no one really knows anything concrete. Only a lot of speculation.

You listen to an opinion of a Thai? I asked my missus if she knew what the back of the new 1,000 Baht note looked like, she explained it in great detail, only thing wrong was that it was completely different to her description.