Somyot says Ratchaprasong bomber aided by some Thais

[GerdT]

The top cop is bang on the mark. Such admirable detective skills. There's no doubt that Thais were involved in helping the bomber. The taxi driver that took him to Erawan was Thai, as were the hotel staff who gave him a place to stay.

Uhh..., this is THAILAND so there are Thais Is there some way you can blame it on the Yanks?

Oh yes, they can. There was a movie Bangkok Dangerous, Nicolas Cage came to Bangkok to do some Thais in. Blame it on the Yanks for giving the Thais ideas how to rent a foreigner to do a dirty job on their behalf. By the way, Nicolas had the change of heart and went after the bad guys. How surprising!

I don’t think that Thai have to rent a foreigner to do the dirty deeds for them. Terrorist already work in a world that has no borders. Anybody remembering the 1970’s and 1980’s will remember the links terrorist created to achieve their goals. The Red Brigades in Italy, the German Bader/Meinhof group, Palestinian terrorist groups, the IRA, French terrorists etc worked together when it suited their needs. Bader/Meinhof even had a state, the GDR, which supported their activities because it was in the interest of the East German state to destabilise the FRG (West Germany).

In one point I have to agree with you, which is the blame you place on the US, because some of the monsters of terrorism that we face today have been spawned in the US to suit her foreign policies aided by cash and advice the CIA provided.

[teacherpaul]

Why do these idiots always bring race into everything?

Firstly, the finger of suspicion automatically points to a foreigner.

Secondly, he must have been aided by a Thai with no Thai heart.

Me Tarzan. You cretin!

[riverhigh]

He might be wrong, but why is it so hard to believe? There were explosives involved. Did some foreigner manage to smuggle in explosives as well, or is it more they likely acquired them in Thailand? Of course it isn't impossible for someone familiar with Thailand to also bring in or aquire explosives without a Thai involved, then pull this off, and maybe a second attempt by walking or riding accross the bridge by himself. But that's a lot of stuff for one person to do by themselves.

He may be wrong but I doubt it very much. While I agree that the foreigner would have required local help to set up the terrorist attack I think the more telling sign that local help was involved was what happened after the attack. You telling me that no local Thai can remember seeing a farang in hideous bright yellow shirt getting on a motorbike and leaving. No one at the hotel can recall a farang, in the look at me yellow shirt , leaving that afternoon. Without local help I think he would have been picked up by now.

[scorecard]

Is this the same guy who said that famous "would never do such a thing" line when the Koh Tao murders happened?

And the case prepared by his officers to prosecute two people in Kao Tao progressively falling apart in big lumps, even after twice being told by the prosecutors to take it away and make the case more substantial.

Can't wait to hear the forensic evidence, comments etc., coming soon from Khunying Porntip.

Love to hear an investigative reporter ask Somyos about all of this. But not going to happen of course.

On a different story - anybody seen any further reports about his request to the PM to allow him to buy massive numbers of revolvers outside of the normal bidding processes?

How can the national police chief front up and make such a request. His own people and other police etc., DSI, / security / corruption agencies etc., expected to be out there finding corruption, investigating various forms of criminal activity, scams, etc., but the national police chief thinks he should be allowed to break all the good governance laws and protocols.

How unprofessional, how immoral can it get?

Edited August 19, 2015 by scorecard

[MiKT]

No problem in simply driving in from Malaysia with as much TNT as you want.

[Charlie Croker]

Its just a shame there wasn't some bag snatcher around to take advantage of the hapless farang taking his eye of his bag for as second.

It would have been such sweet justice if one plague on the tourist trade was taken out by another.

[scorecard]

He might be wrong, but why is it so hard to believe? There were explosives involved. Did some foreigner manage to smuggle in explosives as well, or is it more they likely acquired them in Thailand? Of course it isn't impossible for someone familiar with Thailand to also bring in or aquire explosives without a Thai involved, then pull this off, and maybe a second attempt by walking or riding accross the bridge by himself. But that's a lot of stuff for one person to do by themselves.

I could make some explosives this morning if I wanted to it's that easy.

Until test results are released as to what the actual explosive used was there needn't necessarily be Thai connection if it were a foreign bomber.

Maybe you could "make some explosives" this morning (frankly I doubt it) but could you acquire all the materials for a bomb of this magnitude that was safe to carry and that could be set off remotely?

And then simply click your fingers at the intended site and have a couple of random strangers give up their seat for you without question and then shield you while you plant the bomb.

And then have your (admittedly grainy) picture put on social media all over the world with millions of Thais, a police force and the Army looking for you, and nobody remember selling you anything or even seeing you before?

That's quite a trick.

Yes I could make some explosives easily. Did just that years ago when I was 15/16 years old.

Sodium chlorate, sugar and a pipe is all you need.

The tricky part would be the detonator but that info is widely available on the net.

The tricky part would be getting away with nobody recognizing you.

Making a glorified firework in your apartment and committing this crime without getting caught are 2 different things.

I'm no fan of the RTP, but the way people are treating this suggestion that Thais are likely involved at some level is a bit strange to me. It's perfectly plausible, in fact it's likely I would say given the behaviour of orange shirt and white shirt.

Totally agree with you on all points and have absolutely no idea if the perp or perps were Thai or foreign.

If a foreigner were 'motivated' enough I'd say it could be done. Much easier I'd guess though for home grown terrorists.

"And then simply click your fingers at the intended site and have a couple of random strangers give up their seat for you without question and then shield you while you plant the bomb."

Your brain is working overtime, he could have been lucky and got a set, maybe he might have waited, maybe used a different location to hide the bomb if needed. You don't know, I don't know.

"The tricky part would be getting away with nobody recognizing you."

Do you or 99% of the population (anywhere) scrutinize every person around you? An average person in simple clothes with a backpack, He puts it under seat, how many people would really notice this, it's a simple everyday act.

Most if not all the visitors to the shrine would be very focused on their prayer etc., activities and often with some speed because they have a strict deadline to get back to the tour bus.

[al007]

This is all amazing; another world terrorist attack of some sort

There is a lot of bashing of the RTP, maybe not the best but also far from stupid

The General in charge of running the country, I am sure is highly intelligent, he planned and executed his coup faultlessly, I am certain he is participating, it is too big for this not to be the case, and someone of his cunning and ability needs to me masterminding this investigation

Some of the initial evidence is very good, a video so quickly even if poor quality

Maybe more photos from tourists in tourist area

There are many countries more experienced in investigating these things, USA, UK Israel, surely help and personal from these countries should be asked to come and assist

It is the strong man who says you can do this better than me please help, only the idiot does not go this way

Speed is essential and so far this seems to have been wasted, with the exception of cleaning the scene and wishing away evidence, the whole area plus 100 Mts in each direction should have been sealed and still sealed

Get on the phone to LONDON and ask Cameron for immediate assistance and help, need a plane full of people not just a couple

[chuang]

MORON..MORONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

[Charlie Croker]

This is all amazing; another world terrorist attack of some sort

There is a lot of bashing of the RTP, maybe not the best but also far from stupid

The General in charge of running the country, I am sure is highly intelligent, he planned and executed his coup faultlessly, I am certain he is participating, it is too big for this not to be the case, and someone of his cunning and ability needs to me masterminding this investigation

Some of the initial evidence is very good, a video so quickly even if poor quality

Maybe more photos from tourists in tourist area

There are many countries more experienced in investigating these things, USA, UK Israel, surely help and personal from these countries should be asked to come and assist

It is the strong man who says you can do this better than me please help, only the idiot does not go this way

Speed is essential and so far this seems to have been wasted, with the exception of cleaning the scene and wishing away evidence, the whole area plus 100 Mts in each direction should have been sealed and still sealed

Get on the phone to LONDON and ask Cameron for immediate assistance and help, need a plane full of people not just a couple

That's a stunning idea, you don't happen to have Cameron's moby number by any chance?

Pass it on, I'll get on the blower and demand he get over here right away to sort this.

I'm only surprized you didn't mention getting Vinnie Jones to fix this problem. But I suppose you don't have his number right?

[Oziex1]

This is all amazing; another world terrorist attack of some sort

There is a lot of bashing of the RTP, maybe not the best but also far from stupid

The General in charge of running the country, I am sure is highly intelligent, he planned and executed his coup faultlessly, I am certain he is participating, it is too big for this not to be the case, and someone of his cunning and ability needs to me masterminding this investigation

Some of the initial evidence is very good, a video so quickly even if poor quality

Maybe more photos from tourists in tourist area

There are many countries more experienced in investigating these things, USA, UK Israel, surely help and personal from these countries should be asked to come and assist

It is the strong man who says you can do this better than me please help, only the idiot does not go this way

Speed is essential and so far this seems to have been wasted, with the exception of cleaning the scene and wishing away evidence, the whole area plus 100 Mts in each direction should have been sealed and still sealed

Get on the phone to LONDON and ask Cameron for immediate assistance and help, need a plane full of people not just a couple

It has been posted that the scene has been cleaned up, hope they have all the evidence they need.

[dunque]

How this man and other stupid foreigners overcome the impossibility of coming to Thailand and not getting lost for all eternity

1. Lift hand to hail a cab

2. Point at picture of shrine

3. Leave bag

4. Hail a motorbike

5. Point to picture of hotel / business card of hotel

Not every human on the planet needs to go on an organized tour bus to get around a country

Please for the love of sanity tell me that he is holding information back.

Speech kind sir is silver, silence is gold

Yeah, nothing like the 20/20 hindsight that managed to track the activities of the 9/11 hijackers within such a short space of time - admittedly after been given their names from the passenger lists.

However, they still managed to execute their plan.

[dbrenn]

"He said it was impossible for a foreigner to come into Bangkok and would able to know where to go and how to hike motorcycle across the bridge."

Mayhaps he had ummm...errr... been there a couple times before?

Or Google Maps, Street View?

[bobbymack]

Interestingly, if the guy with the back pack was the bomber, why would he be wearing such a conspicuous yellow t-shirt. Surely, the best outfit would be one which blends in more. Unless, wearing the yellow shirt was actually a statement? Perhaps he was a "Thai yellow shirt"?

It is more likely in my opinion that this guy had nothing to do with the bombing.

[dbrenn]

The top cop is bang on the mark. Such admirable detective skills. There's no doubt that Thais were involved in helping the bomber. The taxi driver that took him to Erawan was Thai, as were the hotel staff who gave him a place to stay.

How about the immigration officer that let him into the country?

Ii is quite possible this person has lived in Thailand for a long time. Works here and speaks Thai.

I don't understand why the RTP can't find out who he is. I know the photos are not too clear but as they have photos at immigration of every foreigner who has entered the country then sure they must be able to use some kind of facial recognition software to narrow it down somewhat.

Well spotted. I'd say that the immigration officer is more than likely to be a closet red shirt supporter too.

On facial recognition - the quality of the CCTV images is very poor. It's unlikely that facial recognition software would be able to match it with anything.

[realenglish1]

The Thai police have Diarrhea of the mouth. They give all the investigative facts to the people as the investigation goes on. They also alert the jerk who set of the bomb as well

He just reads the papers and knows where not to go to get caught.

I never understood why the police tell everyone about how the investigation is going . Sure let the bomber know you know he went down soi 9 after the bombing. Now he knows he should leave the safe house he is in and move on

As I have always said KEY STONE COPS

[dbrenn]

The top cop is bang on the mark. Such admirable detective skills. There's no doubt that Thais were involved in helping the bomber. The taxi driver that took him to Erawan was Thai, as were the hotel staff who gave him a place to stay.

Uhh..., this is THAILAND so there are Thais Is there some way you can blame it on the Yanks?

Oh yes, they can. There was a movie Bangkok Dangerous, Nicolas Cage came to Bangkok to do some Thais in. Blame it on the Yanks for giving the Thais ideas how to rent a foreigner to do a dirty job on their behalf. By the way, Nicolas had the change of heart and went after the bad guys. How surprising!

TNT was invented by a German, so blame it on them I say.

[Doc46]

"He said it was impossible for a foreigner to come into Bangkok and would able to know where to go and how to hike motorcycle across the bridge."

Mayhaps he had ummm...errr... been there a couple times before?

Google Maps/google Earth ?? GPS ?

Edited August 19, 2015 by Doc46

[jaywalker]

Its just a shame there wasn't some bag snatcher around to take advantage of the hapless farang taking his eye of his bag for as second.

It would have been such sweet justice if one plague on the tourist trade was taken out by another.

I hadn't thought of that angle.

Pattaya is safe from backpack bombs for sure, as they'll wind up in Somchai-the-meth-head's lap before any terrorist could deliver it via a motorbike.

[Carmine6]

He might be wrong, but why is it so hard to believe? There were explosives involved. Did some foreigner manage to smuggle in explosives as well, or is it more they likely acquired them in Thailand? Of course it isn't impossible for someone familiar with Thailand to also bring in or aquire explosives without a Thai involved, then pull this off, and maybe a second attempt by +walking or riding accross the bridge by himself. But that's a lot of stuff for one person to do by themselves.

He may be wrong but I doubt it very much. While I agree that the foreigner would have required local help to set up the terrorist attack I think the more telling sign that local help was involved was what happened after the attack. You telling me that no local Thai can remember seeing a farang in hideous bright yellow shirt getting on a motorbike and leaving. No one at the hotel can recall a farang, in the look at me yellow shirt , leaving that afternoon. Without local help I think he would have been picked up by now.

Oh that brings up something else. People should use Google Streetview to check out Silom Soi 9. Really hard to find a soi that is so suited to disappearing and it is a straight drive up the road from the shrine. Less than 3 km. The road turns, but a driver doesn't have to take any right or left turns to get there, just stop for red lights. Possible for someone to have just found that soi by himself, but again one more step in the things he had to do on his own.

There is one pole with 4 cameras on the corner right at the soi entrance. Then a whole long stretch of a street restaurant/food carts on the sidewalk down the left side, accross that was an empty lot but seems to have just started construction of something in the Sept 2014 streetview pictures. Most of the buildings past that point are set far back from the road, with large parking lots in front. There is a new building about 100 meters in, but no visible cameras on poles or in domes. I panned clear through to the other side where it hits Sathon and there don't seem to be obvious cameras. Probably some but I'd imagine the are inside looking toward doors, and otherwise not high dollar ones, or interested in the street. That other side might have more people walking around at night since there's a small hotel where the soi turns, and a 7-11, then more dense residential.

Change shirts, get onto a parked motorcyle, or one an accomplice is driving, or even just use a motorcycle taxi on the other end, and he's gone. Though another crazy thing is this is not too far from half way between the two bomb sites. Wouldn't surprise me if the ended up staying not that far away.

[Nowisee]

I read that some other countries offered to send up, but it was not requested.

Most of the guys in uniform are not really trained police... they have the gun and badge but are very clueless when it comes to real police work.
An investigation like this really requires intelligent and trained people. I do not believe they exist in thailand... they NEED help from experienced and trained people from other countries. BUT, I suspect they will not ask or accept.

Obtaining videos and other media evidence was probably given to them by citizens.

This situation is clearly out of the league and out of the skill level of these people.
Get help you guys.

Any smart guy would be long gone from thailand by now.

Meanwhile, you can bet the Thais have run straight off to the embassies of U.S., Israel, China to plead for information, intelligence and forensic assistance. Guaranteed.

It is very obvious to me that the this police investigation does not know what to do or how to investigate anything properly. They are trying to do something so fast that it does not work.

This is all amazing; another world terrorist attack of some sort

There is a lot of bashing of the RTP, maybe not the best but also far from stupid

The General in charge of running the country, I am sure is highly intelligent, he planned and executed his coup faultlessly, I am certain he is participating, it is too big for this not to be the case, and someone of his cunning and ability needs to me masterminding this investigation

Some of the initial evidence is very good, a video so quickly even if poor quality

Maybe more photos from tourists in tourist area

There are many countries more experienced in investigating these things, USA, UK Israel, surely help and personal from these countries should be asked to come and assist

It is the strong man who says you can do this better than me please help, only the idiot does not go this way

Speed is essential and so far this seems to have been wasted, with the exception of cleaning the scene and wishing away evidence, the whole area plus 100 Mts in each direction should have been sealed and still sealed

Get on the phone to LONDON and ask Cameron for immediate assistance and help, need a plane full of people not just a couple

[Emster23]

"The General in charge of running the country, I am sure is highly intelligent, he planned and executed his coup faultlessly"

They have lots of experience and know how in staging coups. Not so much (if any) in solving crimes.....

[Tatertot]

The suspect seemed awfully comfortable with that backpack loaded with a bunch of live explosives, as he sat down seeming to lean back against it.... Cool cool customer that one.

Now an official says it was a "perfect" bomb. No evidence available, fragments residue, etc. Difficult to believe.

[mango66]

The top cop is bang on the mark. Such admirable detective skills. There's no doubt that Thais were involved in helping the bomber. The taxi driver that took him to Erawan was Thai, as were the hotel staff who gave him a place to stay.

the hotel owner and staff propably the CORRUPT thais ,

which not register guests to avoid paying taxes !

So they will not announce that he have been in this Hotel !

[Equalizer]

Dont know about you but the guy in this picture looks THAI to me.

[arrowsdawdle]

Wow this guy is pretty delusional! Couldn't find his way around without Thais? Seriously? The Thai people are in big trouble if this is how the people paid to protect them think!

He obviously has never asked a Thai for directions.

[mango66]

If you look at yellow shirt man you will see he his carrying a plastic carry bag after leaving the backpack, maybe he has nothing to do with the bomb but was paid to leave the backpack and pick up his money then call to say job done then whoever are behind the bomb where close by a set it off.

All this showes how in-competent RTP is -

incompetent ? no, it means they are shipherders on their education !!

They need 1 day to check this cctv cameras and another day to find the motorcycle driver,

In other countries where they have intelligence within police,

they would have known that he went to soi 9,

they would know if u can use soi 9 to hide to the next 7- or 11 road -

seal off this soi and check trough !

Too much intelligent work needed for this !!

All this show how incompetent all this GVT Job system is in Thailand;

Only corruption brings you in high position !

Tha real intelligence have no chance in the RTP to get up a ladder on carier !!

[arrowsdawdle]

Dont know about you but the guy in this picture looks THAI to me.

Because he was wearing a yellow shirt?

[Equalizer]

Dont know about you but the guy in this picture looks THAI to me.

Because he was wearing a yellow shirt?

No because the Pol Gen said he was foreign.

[arrowsdawdle]

"The General in charge of running the country, I am sure is highly intelligent, he planned and executed his coup faultlessly"

They have lots of experience and know how in staging coups. Not so much (if any) in solving crimes.....

Committing them on the other hand.....