BURNING ISSUE
Lessons we should learn from the Erawan Shrine bombing
Pravit Rojanaphruk

BANGKOK: -- It's been a week since the deadly blast at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine, and yet the investigation is still mired in confusion and contradiction.

As citizens and residents of the capital, the best we can do now is be persistent in demanding that the investigation be kept transparent and competent - perhaps a tall order given that the country's administration is overseen by the military that has a propensity to keep secrets.

Other than pushing for a competent investigation into the bombing, Thais should also learn to be open-minded and stop making baseless accusations on who might be behind the bombing based on political predisposition.

Fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his red shirts, Suthep Thaugsuban and his multi-coloured shirts, junta leader-cum-premier General Prayut Chan-o-cha and his men, and even the CIA have been readily accused of being behind the bombing.

For those who may not be readily convinced, there are even photoshopped sketches of the bomber looking somewhat like Thaksin, Suthep and Prayut that have been spreading on social media.

Flinging accusations at people without any evidence is not helpful at all.

While I don't believe in hiding behind the facade of political unity in order to deal with an incident such as this one, there are certain points we can all agree upon.

Firstly, we should all join together and turn this tragedy into an opportunity to boost the culture of safety.

On Saturday afternoon, less than five days after the bombing, I visited the Erawan Shrine and found myself unnerved when an Asian tourist left her large plastic bag unattended for several minutes. I even took a photograph of this bag and shared it widely on Facebook and Twitter - and many responded with similar horror.

Security guards at some posh department stores and Skytrain stations appear to have heightened their security checks, but based on my personal experience, these checks are mostly superficial.

Isn't it high time that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the government start running campaigns teaching people to cultivate a culture of safety and security? These campaigns will certainly be more helpful instead of the nice-sounding, but vague mottoes like "stronger together".

Though I don't condone living in fear, we must accept that there is a difference between caution and fear.

Let no bomber have us cowed into a life full of fear, but instead have him force us to focus more on public safety.

Then there's the question of mourning, or apparent lack thereof in this case.

No flags were flown half-mast, and just four days after the blast, the premier even found the time to play with an albino python in front of the

media - perhaps he was pretending that nothing had happened.

Of course, nobody can be forced to feel sad or sorry for those who lost their lives, but it seems that life goes on as normal for far too many people.

Though millions of us do not know any of the people killed or injured in the attack, we must understand that it wasn't just an attack on the 100 or so worshippers at the shrine, but an attack on our way of life and Thai society as a whole.

On August 17, at around 6.55pm, 20 people were killed and more than a 100 injured indiscriminately in the blast - and it could have been you or me.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Lessons-we-should-learn-from-the-Erawan-Shrine-bom-30267453.html


-- The Nation 2015-08-26

Lesson 1. The authorities can not find their arse with both hands. Elvis has left the building.

The reporter missed an important fact that everyone else seems to be ignoring. The bombing took place right under the nose of the RTP. The Erawan shrine is less than a 2-minute walk from the RTP headquarters.

Lesson learned: saving face is the most important thing for the resposue authorities prior to real safety.

how about ensure CCTV is working? Police keep their traps shut? they collect all evidence to ensure not being embarrassed by BBC reporters and IF someone tries to deliver evidence to the National Police HQ they don't say "we are shut"

that's a good start?

Lesson 4: Never go to a shrine.

Edited August 26, 201510 yr by Lukecan

Maybe time for plan D,find a patsy,

regards Worgeordie

I think the most defining lesson learnt (rather, repeated mistake) is the release of unfounded information to the public by whoever wants to from the authorities side.

It is always nice to be kept "up to the minute" on what is happening from the public viewpoint, but it is not mandatory.

From the media/social media side, give the authorities a chance to get it right, rushing an investigation, any investigation will lead to mistakes. The police are under great pressure to solve incidents within hours/days which would normally take weeks/months in any 1st world country.

I think people will just point to others that need to learn lessons, not good people like themselves.

There will be no lessons learned..............everything will remain much the same unfortunately!

how about ensure CCTV is working? Police keep their traps shut? they collect all evidence to ensure not being embarrassed by BBC reporters and IF someone tries to deliver evidence to the National Police HQ they don't say "we are shut"

that's a good start?

and find out who is responsible for the CCTV not working and sack him.

The reporter missed an important fact that everyone else seems to be ignoring. The bombing took place right under the nose of the RTP. The Erawan shrine is less than a 2-minute walk from the RTP headquarters.

Yeah buddy, that's the ticket. Should have been checking every bag in the area. Asking people for their ID's/passports. ask questions about why these people are at the shrine, piss tests, cavity searches, and DNA tests should also be provided anywhere in a 2km radius of any police station. Oh, and why wasn't anyone monitoring these cameras??!! If only the police would do their job, right?....

The only people that learned something are future bombers.

They learned how completely incompetent the RTP are, and just how easy, in the full glare of grainy CCTV cameras, multiple witnesses and drivers, just how easy it is to wear the most obvious clothing and blow up a target in the middle of downtown Bangkok, less than 5 minutes from police headquarters...and disappear into the night on a motorcycle taxi leaving no motive, no clue and no suspect.

One could easily make the case that at some point in the future, this will all happen again...with the same result.

National day of morning should have been held.... but the priority was to clean up the shrine faster then some of the people got medical assistance.

We were in highest alert when a neighbor left a huge plastic bag outside the door. Turned out it was his trash.

Lesson Nr. 1: Get outside help a.s.a.p. Thailand is not equiped to deal with cases like this - and it probably never will until they get their noses out of their own <deleted>.

" We do not have CSI!!!" My question: why not, when you are a country with 70 milion people, and the " hub" of Asia? Pathetic.

how about ensure CCTV is working? Police keep their traps shut? they collect all evidence to ensure not being embarrassed by BBC reporters and IF someone tries to deliver evidence to the National Police HQ they don't say "we are shut"

that's a good start?

Why did the Daft ,BBC gobshit not bring it to any Police station that was open ?Not that a few extra ball bearings will prove or help anything .

Lessons we should learn from the Erawan Shrine bombing ... don`t let the bastards change a single thing about your life. IRA, ISIS, whoever. Keep on living!

how about ensure CCTV is working? Police keep their traps shut? they collect all evidence to ensure not being embarrassed by BBC reporters and IF someone tries to deliver evidence to the National Police HQ they don't say "we are shut"

that's a good start?

Why did the Daft ,BBC gobshit not bring it to any Police station that was open ?Not that a few extra ball bearings will prove or help anything .

He took it to the police HQ and was told that it was closed. Tend to agree with your choice of adjective and noun for Head, though

Lesson 4: Never go to a shrine.

Jup. Praying isn't gonna save you. If only people would understand that their imaginary friend ("deity") is man-made.

That at any time any government has the illusion of control.

Maybe time for plan D,find a patsy,

regards Worgeordie

Over due, surprised they have not knocked up somebody, anybody, just to save face.

how about ensure CCTV is working? Police keep their traps shut? they collect all evidence to ensure not being embarrassed by BBC reporters and IF someone tries to deliver evidence to the National Police HQ they don't say "we are shut"

that's a good start?

The BBC reporter embarassed himself by trying once again to use grubby journalism for his own political agenda.

http://www2.manager.co.th/mwebboard/listComment.aspx?Mbrowse=13&QNumber=393071

It would help if he stuck to things he knows something about instead of that sarcastic charade he made which reflects badly on the whole BBC.

If they did anything, those police should have arrested him for tampering with evidence.

No police force in the world bothers to gather up every ball bearing or piece of shrapnel.

Lessons learned?

Clean up fast- thorough investigation is less important then glossing over!

No day of mourning, no flags on half-mast- victims are not as important as the all mighty face and the even more mighty Baht!

Never visit victims in the hospital- snide remarks about US- shows are better for the image, than shaking the hands of burn- victims!

and so on and so forth...

Unfortunately, absolutely nothing will be learned from this fiasco. In fact the exact same thing could happen again tomorrow or a year from now and the end result would be the same, bomber escapes, people die, RTP faff about and achieve zilch. This cycle could go on forever and nothing will change until the RTP are rebuilt from the ground up.

Living/working/ & observing Thai culture it was not a surprise to see: (Lesson 1: It is normal not to do maintenance until something falls apart so not all the CCTV security cameras were working. (Lesson 2: Save Face:Cover the embarrassment quickly & pretend it never happened. There were numerous street cleaners and police helping to clean up and put the corner back to normal before all the evidence was collected) (Lesson 3: Smile and say yes to questions and not say the truth.) (Lesson 4: Blame someone else and not take responsibility... the government did admit that they lacked the training and equipment; however, the military should be held accountable not being pro-active not thinking of the what-ifs in this era of terrorist attacks --too much energy has been put into purchasing subs instead of being professionally trained for this kind of disaster. A submarine cannot stop terrorists...

Thailand learning lessons from the past is kind of an oxymoron, isn't it? So why bother - keep partying!

It's an interesting thing about freedom. And in the wake of the recent bombings in Bangkok, it's interesting how people are so up in arms about the cameras not working, delays in the case, etc. I for one, like the fact that my every movement can't be tracked from the day I leave my home to my destination. I like the fact that the police do not possess biometric technology to spot me using a computer. I like the corruption because it's in my favour, however, I can empathize with the people who oppose it. When I look at 1st world countries, I think, where's the freedom?

The reporter missed an important fact that everyone else seems to be ignoring. The bombing took place right under the nose of the RTP. The Erawan shrine is less than a 2-minute walk from the RTP headquarters.

Err! no one told us that until now.

A lesson I've learned is that if I see an unattended backpack in a crowded place ... RUN!