Three More Bombs Explode At Central World, Pratunam, Khao Sarn Road

[Jai Dee]

Interior Ministry sets up special operation centre

The Interior Ministry Monday set up a special operation centre which will function on around-the-clock basis for seven days from January 1 to 8.

Pongpayome Wasaphuti, permanent secretary for Interior, said senior officials from various agencies of the Interior Ministry agreed that the country was in an irregular situation so the centre should be set up.

The operation of the centre might be extended if the situation remained irregular after the period.

He said the centre would support other government agencies in dealing with the situation.

Source: The Nation - 1 January 2007

[Jai Dee]

Pol.Gen.Achirawit urges officials to verify

Royal Thai Police Deputy Commissioner and Spokesman, Pol.Gen.Achirawit Suphanphesat (อชิรวิทย์ สุพรรณเภสัช) has assigned Department of General Science to inspect signs found in the bomb areas.

Pol.Gen. Achirawit has asked officials of Department of General Science a meeting to follow up the further details of the bomb blasts in Bangkok. Officials have cast doubt over sign “IRK” found at the bus stop at the Victory Monument and at the telephone booth of Geysorn Plaza. Pol.Gen. Achirawit has instructed officials to find that sign at other bomb scenes and find what it means.

The investigating officers will cooperate with forensic science institute to investigate the case.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 01 January 2007

[jii]

well what do i know really. as what do any of us know really. BUT if you look at the bali bombings the prices of all hotels and holiday packages droped a ton. at the end of the day everyone has to eat to something. and some money is better than their already way to high prices. ok indo aint thailand so i cant say for sure.

Bali is a tourist destination. If Phuket had been the location, you would clearly be able to draw the distinction - after all, Phuket was severely damaged by the tsunami and actually experienced this major price flux.

Bangkok, however, is not what one would call a tourist destination. And its economy is primarily driven by the residents, not the tourists.

ok your right on that one. for people in the know. BUT lets bring up the subject of green tourist. first off if you remember back when there was the bali bombing guess how greatly greatly benefited from that? thailand thats who. an incredible number of people did cancel bali and switch to phuket and other parts of thailand. so we know now that more a few of the tourists that come to thailand are green and easily scared. so if they came here cause they were scared shitless of bali i bet theyll once again pick up their bags and head to the next country. ###### ive been held at gun point in cambodia and robbed. i was smart thou and only brought the usual $5 usd with me. did that make me get on the next bus out of there? not at all. and i still go back to this day. i bet alot of these green tourists just cant handle the situation. and they just see on cnn or bbc or abc or dw or whatever news and see bombing in bangkok thailand and not realizing or fully understanding that its far from phuket and get overly scared. im sure tourism all over the place will go way down.

[onethailand]

asd, I don't know where you get your images, but I for one sure do appreciate them

The point is, were these graffiti there before or were they made at the time the explosives were planted. If later, was any camera covering the area to see who had a spray can with him/her? I guess a few extra low light cameras around the center and a few officers checking them out wouldn't hurt. Afterall, they installed them to check bus numbers before...

Good point. No further knowledge of this issue yet though.

[Nawtilus]

There it is then, the bombs were just a way of getting rid of the same graffiti in each and every spot.

We can all rest now in peace...

[Jet Gorgon]

lol naw

[onethailand]

first off if you remember back when there was the bali bombing guess how greatly greatly benefited from that? thailand thats who. an incredible number of people did cancel bali and switch to phuket and other parts of thailand.

True.

i bet alot of these green tourists just cant handle the situation. and they just see on cnn or bbc or abc or dw or whatever news and see bombing in bangkok thailand and not realizing or fully understanding that its far from phuket and get overly scared.

Probably true. I got flooded with emails after the tsunami once people realized it had taken place in Thailand - not knowing that Bangkok is 800 kilometers to the north and all we had was a little shaking from the earthquake.

im sure tourism all over the place will go way down.

Don't think so. Certainly hope not. But many people will simply ignore the news unless it actually takes place in Phuket or Samui or other tourist hotspot. As long as bombings don't take place at Suvarnabumi Airport (fingers crossed), most people will see it as just a way station since they connect directly to their flights elsewhere.

What you are suggesting is no different than a bomb going off in Manila, and visitors to all of the Phillipines are suddenly down significantly. It hasn't happened in the past, and there is little about the situation here that suggests any different.

There are plenty of visitors to this forum that are probably on their way to LOS sometime soon - and again I haven't personally seen any sign that they are planning to cancel their trips, especially those off to parts other than Bangkok.

Edited January 1, 2007 by onethailand

[mitrapaap]

Graffiti with I.R.K? Where did u see this news? Can u provide the link please, I couldn't find it on the net. Would like to read more..

Thanks.

He claims to be able to read this alien language.

The point is, were these graffiti there before or were they made at the time the explosives were planted. If later, was any camera covering the area to see who had a spray can with him/her? I guess a few extra low light cameras around the center and a few officers checking them out wouldn't hurt. Afterall, they installed them to check bus numbers before...

The pictures are not good enough to identify IRK, I would not even make the decision whether it's western or Thai alphabet.

[jii]

first off if you remember back when there was the bali bombing guess how greatly greatly benefited from that? thailand thats who. an incredible number of people did cancel bali and switch to phuket and other parts of thailand.

True.

i bet alot of these green tourists just cant handle the situation. and they just see on cnn or bbc or abc or dw or whatever news and see bombing in bangkok thailand and not realizing or fully understanding that its far from phuket and get overly scared.

Probably true. I got flooded with emails after the tsunami once people realized it had taken place in Thailand - not knowing that Bangkok is 800 kilometers to the north and all we had was a little shaking from the earthquake.

im sure tourism all over the place will go way down.

Don't think so. Certainly hope not. But many people will simply ignore the news unless it actually takes place in Phuket or Samui or other tourist hotspot. As long as bombings don't take place at Suvarnabumi Airport (fingers crossed), most people will see it as just a way station since they connect directly to their flights elsewhere.

What you are suggesting is no different than a bomb going off in Manila, and visitors to all of the Phillipines are suddenly down significantly. It hasn't happened in the past, and there is little about the situation here that suggests any different.

There are plenty of visitors to this forum that are probably on their way to LOS sometime soon - and again I haven't personally seen any sign that they are planning to cancel their trips, especially those off to parts other than Bangkok.

in a sort of unrelated but related to me anyways and amusing. i just got a phone call from my girlfrined sisters husband warning me not to go the lotus. this lotus that i goto all the time was the one that was hit yesterday. in the 6 years ive known them ive never once heard them speak englsih as i can speak thai

anwyays all i get out of him on the phone is him yelling at me lotus, lotus danger-lus, danger-lus. dont go dont go i dont know where he mangaged to learn that from. so will i be the first one to cancel my holiday plans to the lotus? decesions. decesions.

[samtam]

Now Bangkok can hold its head high amongst other (bombed) world capitals such as London and Madrid, and cities such as New York. These cities have survived, and we will survive too. The most shameful thing is the gutless (nameless) bombers aren't even claiming responsibility, which somewhat defeats the object of a terrorist attack.

[Jai Dee]

Police and a sniffer dog examine a corner in Big C Supermarket on Ladprao raod after a bomb threat was made in a telephone call.

Source: The Nation - 1 January 2007

[onethailand]

The pictures are not good enough to identify IRK, I would not even make the decision whether it's western or Thai alphabet.

FYI, I didn't read it - the police did - it was the news announcers who said so, I am crap at graffiti

I saw the pictures on TV - they were all slightly different but at least one clearly resembled IRK.

[freitag1]

Just to let you know guys... This IRK has a certain graffiti style and either the terrorists are into graffiti or it is just a tag from a graffiti artist or a graffiti crew.

I don't know if terrorists would think how their tag could look cool before they do it...

Edited January 1, 2007 by freitag1

[mg842006]

I can’t seem to figure why every civilization found violence the smartest means to resolve differences.

For the fact that matters, their action is not up to the level to stand out as one of the actual mechanics of Muslim’s terrorism. too subtle to click that way.

Soon or latter all the forensic evidences will lead us straight back to what we have already guessed, to the bunch of sick souls and washed up papa’s boys.

Excuse me.

[stumonster]

an excerpt from an interesting article at asia times online which may explain why they were quick to point the finger at pro-thaskin people.

"Thaksin has an immense amount of money still here, and his network of political and business cronies, who benefited from the spoils of his term in power [from 2001 until the coup]are still in place, and remain a threat," Prasong said.

"Thaksin may be too scared to come back now, but he has the money and loyal fixers to lay a framework for his return. So Surayud has always to be on his guard," he added, referring to interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, a former army commander and member of the Privy Council, which advises His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/HL22Ae01.html

[hammered]

an excerpt from an interesting article at asia times online which may explain why they were quick to point the finger at pro-thaskin people.

"Thaksin has an immense amount of money still here, and his network of political and business cronies, who benefited from the spoils of his term in power [from 2001 until the coup]are still in place, and remain a threat," Prasong said.

"Thaksin may be too scared to come back now, but he has the money and loyal fixers to lay a framework for his return. So Surayud has always to be on his guard," he added, referring to interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, a former army commander and member of the Privy Council, which advises His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/HL22Ae01.html

Thanks. That was a very interesting article

[thaihome]

Now Bangkok can hold its head high amongst other (bombed) world capitals such as London and Madrid, and cities such as New York. These cities have survived, and we will survive too. The most shameful thing is the gutless (nameless) bombers aren't even claiming responsibility, which somewhat defeats the object of a terrorist attack.

The list gets longer and longer; Jakarta, Manila, New Delhi, Mumbai, Lima, Baghdad (how could we forget that one), Riyadh, Beirut, Tel Aviv, Cairo. I am sure I forget some.

TH

[womble]

an excerpt from an interesting article at asia times online which may explain why they were quick to point the finger at pro-thaskin people.

"Thaksin has an immense amount of money still here, and his network of political and business cronies, who benefited from the spoils of his term in power [from 2001 until the coup]are still in place, and remain a threat," Prasong said.

"Thaksin may be too scared to come back now, but he has the money and loyal fixers to lay a framework for his return. So Surayud has always to be on his guard," he added, referring to interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, a former army commander and member of the Privy Council, which advises His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/HL22Ae01.html

Thanks. That was a very interesting article

Yes it was truly facinating....

thanks.

[onethailand]

Just in case people didn't know - Asia Times Online is the successor of Asia Times, which was published by the Manager Group - owned by Sondhi Limthongkul.

[hammered]

Just in case people didn't know - Asia Times Online is the successor of Asia Times, which was published by the Manager Group - owned by Sondhi Limthongkul.

And it should also be pointed out that Mr. Tasker who wrote the article also has a record of fair journalism to the point of resisiting political interference.

[bkkandrew]

Did anyone hear an explosion two minutes ago in the Ratchada area? I certainly just have. Dull thud type bang...

[rafval]

Did anyone hear an explosion two minutes ago in the Ratchada area? I certainly just have. Dull thud type bang...

yes, certainly quite a big bang whatever it was

[wolfmanjack]

well what do i know really. as what do any of us know really. BUT if you look at the bali bombings the prices of all hotels and holiday packages droped a ton. at the end of the day everyone has to eat to something. and some money is better than their already way to high prices. ok indo aint thailand so i cant say for sure.

Bali is a tourist destination. If Phuket had been the location, you would clearly be able to draw the distinction - after all, Phuket was severely damaged by the tsunami and actually experienced this major price flux.

Bangkok, however, is not what one would call a tourist destination. And its economy is primarily driven by the residents, not the tourists.

A better example would be Manila, which experiences a bomb in some shopping plaza 1-2x a year. Its hotel prices have not changed after similar incidents.

As a traveller, sure I would be a bit apprehensive. But that still does not stop me from going to Manila on business, nor would it significantly affect the local economy.

The flaw in your logic is that you think everyone knows that Phukhet is not any where near bangkok. When the tsunami hit people were calling to see if i was okay. I live in Chiang Mai. When people hear about something bad happening in one part of thailand they think it is everywhere and now that one went off here in Chiang Mai they may be right.

[onethailand]

The flaw in your logic is that you think everyone knows that Phukhet is not any where near bangkok. When the tsunami hit people were calling to see if i was okay. I live in Chiang Mai. When people hear about something bad happening in one part of thailand they think it is everywhere and now that one went off here in Chiang Mai they may be right.

I assume you're referring to my post - if you saw the follow up post, you would see that I actually said the same thing about the tsunami and people calling me.

However, the logic is more like this - Phuket - where's Phuket? What country? Thailand? Oh shit, I know so-and-so in Bangkok/Chiang Mai/whatever. Better call.

Now, going the other way, Bangkok? Oh, that's Thailand. Is it anywhere near Phuket/Samui/Chiang Mai? Nope. Were there any bombs reported in Phuket/Samui/Chiang Mai? Nope (well, there was a grenade in Chiang Mai). Better call.

So they call, and find out that the bombs are no where near Phuket/Samui - and figure "Whew. I can't rebook my holiday leave anyhow, so might as well enjoy myself if it's not going to be a problem".

The grenade in Chiang Mai does not appear to be related. My first thought was the same - but then I thought about it again - a mosque - and then it occurred to me that someone must've had a dispute, or else blamed the bombings on the Muslims, and decided to show his/her dissatisfaction.

BTW I'm not trying to be overly optimistic (or pessimistic). I do think, however, that at worst the tourism trade will not slow by more than 5%. A single incident in any of the popular tourist areas, however, if picked up by the mainstream press, would have a much larger impact.

Edited January 1, 2007 by onethailand

[Nawtilus]

Did anyone hear an explosion two minutes ago in the Ratchada area? I certainly just have. Dull thud type bang...

I think it was Lookchin and BuriramBoy goin at it

[freitag1]

Just to let you know guys... This IRK has a certain graffiti style and either the terrorists are into graffiti or it is just a tag from a graffiti artist or a graffiti crew.

I don't know if terrorists would think how their tag could look cool before they do it...

So if graffiti said TRT we'd immediately jump to conclusion it was Thaksin's people? Get serious. If these people had an agenda other than ruining the celebrations and showing the weakness of the government, they'd have proudly taken the responsibility.

Nobody has. Probably because they don't want anyone to know who did it. That would suggest they might have just as well put some stupid spraying on the wall to shift the attention to someone else.

They only thing about the spray cans they should be concerned about is fingerprints on them or locating them and finding out where they were bought and by who.

I'm not sure if you understand me. IRK is graffiti from a graffiti artist or crew. The graffiti culture has a particular style of writing their tags. This style is also visible in the IRK tag. So either the terrorists are graffiti artists who know how to do this particular style (which is soooo unlikely) or this is just a name of an artist or crew here in Bangkok.

[bino]

Did anyone hear an explosion two minutes ago in the Ratchada area? I certainly just have. Dull thud type bang...

yes, certainly quite a big bang whatever it was

I was out on my balcony in Lad Prao, and I heard something from that direction. At this distance like a muffled thump from a distant firework.

[hammered]

Now Bangkok can hold its head high amongst other (bombed) world capitals such as London and Madrid, and cities such as New York. These cities have survived, and we will survive too. The most shameful thing is the gutless (nameless) bombers aren't even claiming responsibility, which somewhat defeats the object of a terrorist attack.

The list gets longer and longer; Jakarta, Manila, New Delhi, Mumbai, Lima, Baghdad (how could we forget that one), Riyadh, Beirut, Tel Aviv, Cairo. I am sure I forget some.

TH

We shouldnt forget all those European cities bombed in the seventies, or the Turkish ones bombed recently. There has also been a fair deal of terrorism in Iran too, recently. Then we could get into Africa.

It may be easier to compile a list of places that havent been victim to terrorism.

The fact that so many get forgotten ( I cant name the towns of most) may be testement to how well places get over this kind of thing. On the other hand it may be our own ignorance. Who knows.

[Who, me ?]

Did anyone hear an explosion two minutes ago in the Ratchada area? I certainly just have. Dull thud type bang...

I think it was Lookchin and BuriramBoy goin at it

Here is Lookchin real face !!!

lookchin

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Find Member's Posts Today, 2007-01-01 19:09:29 Post #43

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From: Bangers, of course!

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actually I did make the story up!

nice to get a good thread going!

Take care ya all!

[thaigene2]

No way. This gets stupider all the time and in typical ill-thought out fashion. "yes, we'll have a campaign of small explosions on New Year's Eve - scare the sh+t out of everyone. Hopefully only a few injuries. Then we'll blame it on Thaksin's guys. Everyone will believe that. We're Pooyai. They have no choice but to believe us."

Then as it sinks in that some people will question things..because some have a real IQ and didn't rise through society on graft/corruption/gunagxi/pooyai connections/plagarism at university etc, etc....and thus the knee-jerking starts.

"Was it the Muslims from the South?" asked the reporters.

"No!" Was the IMMEDIATE answer..then more knee-jerk. "Quick! Lob a grenade into a Muslim temple - and make sure it is in Thaksin's changwat to add emphasis."

"Done Sir!"

"Okay, that will shut them up. We're smart. We're Pooyai. They'll believe us"