Somyot admits Bangkok bombs link Uighur deportation and human trafficking gang

[webfact]

Pol Gen Somyot admits bombs link Uighur deportation and human trafficking gang



BANGKOK: -- National police chief Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmoung admitted on Tuesday that the twin bombings at the Erawan Shrine and Sathorn pier on August 17-18 were linked to Thailand’s decision to send 109 Uighur illegal migrants back to China and the crackdown on human trafficking gang in Thailand.

He said that the twin bomb attacks, especially at the Erawan Shrine which killed 20 foreign tourists and Thais and injured over 120 others, were a revenge against the deportation of the Uighurs and the smashing of the human trafficking racket.

However, he admitted that there were no information or evidences to link the attack of a Thai consulate in Turkey with the network responsible for the two bombings in Bangkok.

He disclosed that one of his deputies, Pol Gen Chakthip Chaichinda, would lead a police team to Malaysia to get information from the Malaysian police who are now holding two Malaysians and a Pakistani under suspicion of involvement with the Bangkok’s bombers and their supporters.

But he said that it wasn’t sure whether the three suspects could be extradited into Thailand for interrogation.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/pol-gen-somyot-admits-bombs-link-uighur-deportation-and-human-trafficking-gang


-- Thai PBS 2015-09-15

[khwaibah]

No shyt Sherlock. A blind man could of seen this.

[dick turpin]

Finally.....

[canopus1969]

May they reap what they sow

[Tatsujin]

Blind leading the blind ...

[CWMcMurray]

Looks like China was right and the rest of the world was wrong ...

Uighur were not peaceful refugees, but terrorists

[Thailand]

Looks like China was right and the rest of the world was wrong ...

Uighur were not peaceful refugees, but terrorists

All of them were/are terrorists?

[zaphod reborn]

Looks like China was right and the rest of the world was wrong ...

Uighur were not peaceful refugees, but terrorists

One more admission to make dear Mr. PM, that ISIL was running a very well organized terrorist smuggling ring in Thailand under the protection of RTP and the immigration police.

[ourmanflint]

But didn't they say this in the days following the bomb, but then went on to add a few other motives as well. Makes you wonder if they did receive a warning before the bomb went off?

[webfact]

Police: Bangkok Bombing was Revenge for Uighurs
By Khaosod English

BANGKOK — Thai police have ruled that the bomb attack that killed 20 people in Bangkok last month was an act of revenge against the military government’s deportation of Muslim Uighurs to China.

Coming after weeks of studiously avoiding mention of a Uighur link, police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said today the perpetrators had two motives for staging the 17 Aug. attack: the recent crackdown on human smuggling networks and the deportation of 109 Uighur refugees in July.

“It was because Thai authorities destroyed the illegal businesses of transnational human trafficking network. They were obstructed, so they were angry,” Police Gen. Somyot said today. “The other issue was the Thai authorities’ decision to send 109 Uighurs back to China.”

Until today, officials had reportedly been under orders not to mention Uighurs by name. On Saturday, police pulled a just-issued photograph identifying their 12th suspect as a “Uighur” and again asked the media not to use the word.

It’s not the first time the Chinese Uighur issue has become politically problematic for Thailand.

In March 2014, more than 200 Uighurs were discovered in the south of Thailand. They were en route to Turkey, fleeing alleged persecution in China. They were deported to the People’s Republic at the request of Chinese authorities, who insisted the refugees were their citizens - and were on their way to train in terror camps. Many of the women and children were deported to Turkey, but 109 others were forced to return to China.

Human rights organizations condemned the deportation, arguing they would face mistreatment once back in China, but Thailand’s military government, which came to power in the May 2014 coup d’etat, said it was merely complying with international laws.

Images in Chinese media of the Uighurs loaded onto an airplane for the trip home with hoods over their heads further incensed those sympathetic to their cause.

Speculation over possible links between the Erawan Shrine bombing and the Uighur deportation arose almost immediately after the attack, but Thai officials have been keen to play down the issue, suggesting instead that the incident was revenge for steps taken by authorities against the rampant illegal immigration businesses.

Five suspects including one man under arrest have been identified as Turkish nationals. Another suspect in custody and one at large are Chinese nationals from Xinjiang province, the Uighur homeland.

Source: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1442302214


-- Khaosod English 2015-09-15

[MaxLee]

So in other words, what the RTP chief is saying: "Screw the few victims that were injured and killed in the bomb blast, as long as we can rug the rest under the carpet for the sake of saving face"

[IamNoone88]

I still don't buy it. Suddenly, all this expertise becomes available to acquire bomb making material, plan and execute with a carefully constructed network of supporters in a foreign country ....... and then keep quiet about it with no public claim for the reasons? And because a few Uighurs were deported it was a revenge attack? Why not claim responsibility if that was the objective instead of playing a guessing game? Hardly accomplishes anything. This is much deeper and more extensive, me believes......

[Nickymaster]

Looks like China was right and the rest of the world was wrong ...

Uighur were not peaceful refugees, but terrorists

All of them were/are terrorists?

No. But it happens often that a few spoil it for the majority. Therefor the majority itself should deal with the few. A foreign country doesn't need to take a risk.

[webfact]

Uighur deportations motivated bomb attack: police chief
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Police Commissioner General Pol Gen Somyot Pumpanmuang said Tuesday that deportation of ethnic Uighurs to China was a motive behind the Erawan Shrine bombing that killed 20 people and injured over 100 others.

Somyot said the deportation of 109 Uighurs in July destroyed the business of human traffickers who smuggled the Uighur people via Thailand, prompting the traffickers to retaliate.

."We suspect the bombings were in retaliation. The traffickers are angry that we destroyed their businesses and angry that police shut down their illegal networks

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Uighur-deportations-motivated-bomb-attack-police-c-30268831.html


-- The Nation 2015-09-15

[Oziex1]

I still don't buy it. Suddenly, all this expertise becomes available to acquire bomb making material, plan and execute with a carefully constructed network of supporters in a foreign country ....... and then keep quiet about it with no public claim for the reasons? And because a few Uighurs were deported it was a revenge attack? Why not claim responsibility if that was the objective instead of playing a guessing game? Hardly accomplishes anything. This is much deeper and more extensive, me believes......

Agree, once again things just don't resonate, why in Thailand it is the Chinese who are persecuting them. As for people smuggling, detonating a bomb in public for what.

Problems with people smuggling, when exactly was this dismantled? and if it was surely trying different routes and paying higher bribes would solve that problem.

I think this is baffling the Thai authorities and about to lead to great fear for the people at the top, a new game about to be played that will find the coup leaders out of their depth.

[jaywalker]

The "Wee-gurs" much like like every other foreigner got fed up with the term "Crackdown" is why it happened.

[Eric Loh]

Śo it was not the anti government groups that the junta was quick to blame. Lots of red faces from the military upper echelon.

[NextStationBangkok]

Chicks are coming out and marching !

[peterrabbit]

BIG loss of face

[Thailand]

Looks like China was right and the rest of the world was wrong ...

Uighur were not peaceful refugees, but terrorists

All of them were/are terrorists?

No. But it happens often that a few spoil it for the majority. Therefor the majority itself should deal with the few. A foreign country doesn't need to take a risk.

r

You mean it's a bit like some of the expats that spoil things for others here so everyone should suffer?

[lvr181]

"...But he said that it wasn’t sure whether the three suspects could be extradited into Thailand for interrogation...."

The Police Chief is unfamiliar with his country's laws? Huh, really?

[user82374298374]

One wonders if a claim of responsibility and rationale for the bombing was made, but was ignored/mishandled/lost/suppressed by the authorities.

I doubt it was suppressed, because I don't think that there's any way something like that could be kept secret for long in Thailand. My guess is that a claim of responsibility and rationale was made by the bombers, and it was somehow mishandled.

[kcirtapyelrah]

Try looking in the direction of the army itself, perhaps it was meant to implicate a certain persons and group of people but backfired when the police went off in the wrong direction inspired by the reward. If you look at the footage of the boom being placed, it’s clear that there are three people involved, the guy that vacated the seat for the bomber and the guy he stood next to in an effort to shield the bomber from view, they look fit as butchers dogs and full of confidence, they give me the impression they have no fear of repercussions. Do you believe the army and the people at the top really want democracy? The bomb was not an ordinary homemade device, it was ether c4, semtex or something comparable to cause such devastation.

I still don't buy it. Suddenly, all this expertise becomes available to acquire bomb making material, plan and execute with a carefully constructed network of supporters in a foreign country ....... and then keep quiet about it with no public claim for the reasons? And because a few Uighurs were deported it was a revenge attack? Why not claim responsibility if that was the objective instead of playing a guessing game? Hardly accomplishes anything. This is much deeper and more extensive, me believes......

[webfact]

Thai police chief links Bangkok blast to Uighur trafficking
NATTASUDA ANUSONDISAI, Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's national police chief said Tuesday that authorities are now certain that last month's deadly bombing at a Bangkok shrine was related to the trafficking of Uighur Muslims from China to Turkey.

Somyot Poompanmoung's comments marked the first time authorities have publicly linked the Aug. 17 bombing to the smuggling of Uighurs, after weeks of hinting at it and saying only that authorities believe the attack was carried out by human traffickers angered by a crackdown on their network.

In the past week, several Turkish and Chinese links to the bombing appeared to strengthen the theory that the attack was to avenge Thailand's forced repatriation of more than 100 ethnic Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gurs) to China in July. The deportations stirred anger in Turkey, where the Thai Consulate in Istanbul was attacked by a group protesting the expulsions.

Uighurs, an ethnic minority in western China, are related to Turks, and Turkey is home to a large Uighur community.

"It's a network that smuggles Uighurs from one country to the other," Somyot told reporters. "The bombing at Rajaprasong resulted from the fact that Thai authorities destroyed or disrupted their human trafficking network and they couldn't continue their business."

Rajaprasong is the area of Bangkok where the bombing at the busy Erawan Shrine occurred. The blast killed 20 people and left more than 120 injured.

Thai authorities have avoided calling the bombing an act of terrorism, which they fear would harm Thailand's image as a tourist destination. For the same reason, authorities said they wanted to avoid singling out motives linked to specific countries or religious groups.

Somyot said that the bombing and the attack of the consulate in Istanbul "came from the same cause," apparently referring to the trafficking network. "We destroyed their business, which caused anger," he said.

On Monday, police said that a key suspect in the bombing traveled on a Chinese passport and had fled to Turkey.

The suspect, identified as Abudureheman Abudusataer, left Thailand on Aug. 16 for Bangladesh, said national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri. He said information gathered by Thai police and Bangladeshi officials showed that the man departed Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, on Aug. 30 and traveled to Istanbul as his final destination, via New Delhi and Abu Dhabi.

Thai police had previously said the man may have directed the bombing.

"He departed Dhaka on Aug. 30 for Delhi by Jet Airways," Prawut said. "From Delhi, he continued his travel to Abu Dhabi, and from Abu Dhabi he traveled on Aug. 31 to Istanbul. This is his final destination. It's clear."

A senior Turkish government official, however, denied that the man had escaped to the country.

Two other key bombing suspects have been arrested and are in custody, charged with possession of illegal explosives. One of them was captured from an apartment on the outskirts of Bangkok where police also discovered bomb-making material — and was in possession of a fake Turkish passport, police said.

The other was caught near the border between Thailand and Cambodia, and carrying a Chinese passport. Police said his fingerprints were found on a container with explosive material confiscated from the apartment.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-09-15

[ianf]

I still don't buy it. Suddenly, all this expertise becomes available to acquire bomb making material, plan and execute with a carefully constructed network of supporters in a foreign country ....... and then keep quiet about it with no public claim for the reasons? And because a few Uighurs were deported it was a revenge attack? Why not claim responsibility if that was the objective instead of playing a guessing game? Hardly accomplishes anything. This is much deeper and more extensive, me believes......

I have been faced with some derision for my theories about this. You are quite right not to buy into this lie. The masterminds behind this are quite adept at leaving a false trail in order to confuse the issue. Even the Thai Government, it seems, are falling for this lie. Why would the Uryghurs do this and not seek to make political capital from it? It makes no sense. This bombing can be traced right back to the US & NATO. Indeed, in February two pipe bombs were found just down the road near the shopping malls and the police were quick to link these to the bombings and explosions that occurred between 2010 and 2014. Further, the bomb used at the shrine appeared to be of similar construction. Yes, there is a link to Uryghurs who have several organisational structure funded by the US. So there is a link there which is why it is quite easy for people to take the next step and talk about 'revenge'. However, that is mere piffle. To make the next leap you have to look at what America is doing in the Middle East and the Havoc it has caused, you have to look at it's instigation of the Arab Spring and you have to look at it's continuing support of Thaksin. Therein lies the link. With Thaksin in power NATO can be assured of a strong ally with it's face towards the West and it's back to China. One of the policies of this current regime is to turn the other way and drift away from the US and NATO and look increasingly towards China. The bombing must be seen in this context. Anything else is a diversion created by international interests (that include Amsterdam and Adelman - both Thaksin cohorts).

[ianf]

Try looking in the direction of the army itself, perhaps it was meant to implicate a certain persons and group of people but backfired when the police went off in the wrong direction inspired by the reward. If you look at the footage of the boom being placed, it’s clear that there are three people involved, the guy that vacated the seat for the bomber and the guy he stood next to in an effort to shield the bomber from view, they look fit as butchers dogs and full of confidence, they give me the impression they have no fear of repercussions. Do you believe the army and the people at the top really want democracy? The bomb was not an ordinary homemade device, it was ether c4, semtex or something comparable to cause such devastation.

I still don't buy it. Suddenly, all this expertise becomes available to acquire bomb making material, plan and execute with a carefully constructed network of supporters in a foreign country ....... and then keep quiet about it with no public claim for the reasons? And because a few Uighurs were deported it was a revenge attack? Why not claim responsibility if that was the objective instead of playing a guessing game? Hardly accomplishes anything. This is much deeper and more extensive, me believes......

That's one theory but I think my theory is more plausible. Remember also that this present undemocratic government replaced another government that was equally undemocratic. Indeed Thaksin's regimes were dictatorships. He didn't start using the word 'democracy' until suggested to him as part of a longer term strategy by Robert Amsterdam and his other PR manipulators. Off course it worked a) because it gave the reds an issue and purpose which was previously sadly lacking and it diverted attention away from Thaksin's real politics which is based on unilateral dictatorship and later the same but labelled 'democracy'. There is no rule of law in Thailand and without the rule of law there is no democracy.

[Your Thainess]

If the Uighurs/Turks were involved, it was due to anger over Thailand's forced repatriation of Uighurs to China under very inhumane conditions. (Not saying Thailand deserved such extreme retaliation, of course.) This bozo is now trying to spin it so it seems Thailand was cracking down on smuggling networks? No. The Uighurs who were repatriated had asked for formal asylum. They had outed themselves. They were indeed smuggled into Thailand, but the officials either did not know or were paid to not care.

[empireboy]

No shyt Sherlock. A blind man could of seen this.

Apparently, he eventually did!

[zaphod reborn]

If the Uighurs/Turks were involved, it was due to anger over Thailand's forced repatriation of Uighurs to China under very inhumane conditions. (Not saying Thailand deserved such extreme retaliation, of course.) This bozo is now trying to spin it so it seems Thailand was cracking down on smuggling networks? No. The Uighurs who were repatriated had asked for formal asylum. They had outed themselves. They were indeed smuggled into Thailand, but the officials either did not know or were paid to not care.

ISIL smuggled over 50,000 Uighurs through Thailand into Istanbul and Syria before Thailand expatriated the 109 to China. It was a minor blip for ISIL, but it did cost them money and the time invested in moving them through Cambodia on their way to Thailand. I wonder how much ISIL contributed to Somyot's casino fund to keep their name out of this? If the international community discovers that ISIL is involved, it brings a whole lot of focus on their international recruitment campaign. I'm not going to even acknowledge the ridiculous conspiracy theories above. Absolutely absurd.

[elgordo38]

Looks like China was right and the rest of the world was wrong ...

Uighur were not peaceful refugees, but terrorists

All of them were/are terrorists?

Yes can we finally use the T word now or is it still classified as an "incident?"