A Brief History of Bombs in Thailand

[Fabricus]

There are two types of men in this world: those who are interested in bombs and those who aren't.

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It's quite normal to hear bombs in and around central Pattani. Occasionally you get to hear isolated explosions, but usually they go off in pairs or groups of four or five.

Back in May 2014 a trio of bombs exploded shortly after 7pm. Five minutes later another one went off. And then another, and then another. I started counting the explosions. I remember counting to 6 or 7; I vaguely remember counting to 15; I recall the total hitting 20.

I went out onto the balcony to see what was happening; lots of other people did likewise. Between 7pm and 8 pm I counted 31 bombs. It was unbelievable: it was like watching a firework display without fireworks. From time to time the horizon lit up in bright orange flashes, but other than that there was nothing to see.

This was the most extraordinary night of my life.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/729133-three-killed-in-pattani-bomb-blasts/

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A month earlier and more than 1050 km to the north, a team of construction workers in Bangkok's Lad Phrao district found an unexploded bomb dating back to WWII. The builders sold the bomb to a nearby scrap metal dealership who, assuming the device was 70 years old and consequently inert, attempted to open it with blow torches. You can figure out by yourselves what happened next: 6 men were blown to pieces and a seventh died en route to the hospital. The explosion left a crater 3 meters deep and caused a fire that destroyed several neighboring buildings.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/03/world/asia/bangkok-world-war-2-bomb/

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This, then, is a thread about bombs in Thailand. I'll add more later.

[NickJ]

What kind are you going to make?

[Fabricus]

Bangkok: 14 February 2012

A widely reported incident took place in Sukhumwit Soi 71 on 14 February 2012. Three Iranians were at home tampering with explosives when a device detonated and destroyed the roof of their rented house.

One of the Iranians was cornered soon after by police in Sukhumwit 71. He tried to throw a grenade at them but it exploded at his feet and blew his legs off. A second Iranian was captured hours later at Suvarnabhumi; the third fled to Malaysia and was arrested the following day at KL airport.

Police claimed the Iranians were planning to use their explosives to assassinate Israeli diplomats.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/15/world/asia/explosions-in-bangkok-injures-suspected-iranian-national.html?_r=0

[pgrahmm]

Just asked a question regarding this and Loy Kratong in the CM section...

Interested to see what the reponses might be....

[Fabricus]

Just asked a question regarding this and Loy Kratong in the CM section...

Interested to see what the reponses might be....

Fair enough, but I'm not aware of any bombs ever having been detonated in Chiang Mai.

Pattani: April 2015

The loudest explosions I've ever heard were in central Pattani, April 2015. I remember the bombs well: I was watching Martin Scorsese's The Aviator at 2am when two enormous bangs woke up just about everyone in the city center. A third, distant explosion then took out the power supply. Two more bombs caused further damage a few miles from the city. No one was killed or hurt.

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1427968367

Hat Yai: March 2012

On 31 March 2012 the Lee Gardens Hotel in Hat Yai was bombed, killing 4 people and injuring about 300. The explosion was caused by a pair of car bombs parked in the hotel's basement. In a separate incident 2 car bombs struck Yala on the same day, killing 10 people and injuring scores of others.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Car-bomb-suspected-in-Hat-Yai-hotel-30179148.html

Hat Yai: May 2014

This video is quite good -- it shows the aftermath of a car bomb in Hat Yai. This kind of stuff is common in the three provinces (Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat), but seldom caught on camera.

[Crazy chef 1]

Certainly I case for Walt,Dave Walt....

[Fabricus]

Certainly I case for Walt,Dave Walt....

I'm talking about bombs. These are real events. They kill people. Whether you like it or not, this is an aspect of Thailand that has a profound impact on the lives of thousands of people in the deep south.

And all you can do is stalk and act like a childish prick.

Seriously, piss off and creep round someone else.

[Crazy chef 1]

Certainly I case for Walt,Dave Walt....

I'm talking about bombs. These are real events. They kill people. Whether you like it or not, this is an aspect of Thailand that has a profound impact on the lives of thousands of people in the deep south.

And all you can do is stalk and act like a childish prick.

Seriously, piss off and creep round someone else.

Not quite eloquent...I mean the last two sentences... Edited November 25, 2015 by Crazy chef 1

[Fabricus]

Hat Yai Airport: April 2005

This was a major incident which killed 2 people, injured more than 50, and led to the temporary closure of Hat Yai international airport.

The bomb was concealed inside a bag and exploded in the departure hall. Among the injured was a man whose leg was blown off.

Two other bombs were detonated in Songkhla province the same day.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/04/content_430804.htm

[Fabricus]

RE: Thursday / Friday August 11-12 2016

The summary seems to be ---------

Thursday, Aug 11

1. TRANG. A bomb exploded at 3 pm

2. HUA HIN. Two bombs exploded at 10.15 pm

3. HUA HIN. One more device went off at 11 pm.

Friday, Aug 12

4. PHUKET. An early morning bomb exploded at 7.45 am.

5. SURAT THANI. A bomb was detonated at 8 am.

6. PHUKET. Another bomb went off at 8.45 am.

7. HUA HIN. Two more more bombs exploded at 9 am.

8. PHANG NA. Two bombs at 10 am.

 

[thaihome]

Hasn't been all in south.

This is first I remember in Bangkok. During 2008 protests hand grenades were going off almost daily it seemed like.

 

 

Quote

The 2006 Bangkok bombings occurred on 31 December 2006 and 1 January 2007, during New Year's Eve festivities inBangkok, Thailand. Four explosions went off almost simultaneously in different parts of the city at around 18:00 local time (11:00 UTC), followed by several more explosions within the next 90 minutes. Two explosions also occurred after midnight. In total, eight explosions were reported during the night.

As of 1 January 2007, three people were confirmed dead and more than 38 injured.^[1] One additional bomb exploded inside a cinema, but went unreported until the next day due to fears of negative publicity. The next morning, a bomb exploded in a mosque in Chiang Mai, the largest city in northern Thailand. Authorities ordered all public New Year's Eve events cancelled, including the countdown at the CentralWorld shopping center and the alms-giving at Sanam Luang.^[2]

^{https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Bangkok_bombings}

 

 

[Fabricus]

7 hours ago, thaihome said:

Hasn't been all in south.

This is first I remember in Bangkok. During 2008 protests hand grenades were going off almost daily it seemed like.

 

Interesting.

 

Your WIKI quote mentions a bomb at a mosque in Chiang Mai, but the source (a link to Associated Press) doesn't work. This is a major problem with Wikipedia: sources aren't properly archived (ie, added to ARCHIVE.ORG) and often suffer from what Wikipedia describes as "link rot".

 

This forum picked up on the story: 

Interesting news today is that the bombs a few days ago in the south are similar to those used in Pattani.

 

 

Edited August 15, 2016 by Fabricus

[Fabricus]

Monster of a bomb exploded last night in Pattani.

 

http://www.tnamcot.com/content/542045

 

The news is reporting it went off at at 23H30 -- I heard it at exactly 23H20.

 

News is also reporting a 100kg device. If true, this was one of the biggest ever in Pattani. The big ones (audible for several miles) usually peak @ about 50kg.

Edited August 24, 2016 by Fabricus