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

[seadoo]

The Australian Government was quick to respond sending out this advice to all Australian's advising not to travel to Bangkok, obviusly not good for Tourism or the Economy.

We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution because of the high threat of terrorist attack. We continue to receive reports that terrorists may be planning attacks against a range of targets, including places frequented by foreigners.

A series of bombs exploded in Bangkok on New Year's eve. There is a possibility of further attacks in coming days. Australians are urged to avoid unecessary travel in Bangkok.

There is uncertainty over the political situation following a military takeover of the Government on 19 September 2006. Martial law remains in place in parts of the country.

You should avoid demonstrations, political rallies, and concentrations of military personnel. You should monitor the media, and follow any instructions issued by local authorities.

http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/vie.../Thailand"" target="_blank">AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT SMART TRAVELLER ADVICE

[Jaonghais]

What kinds of bombs are these? Are they remotely controlled or do they have timers(I'd assumed the latter)? Grenades seem out of the q after the one found planted in a tire?

Whomever responsible has obvious access to the man power and materials, not to mention brains. A lot of preparation must've gone into this.

These are fear tactics; "The only thing to fear is fear itself."

Also, again, if/once a list of names is obtainable, please pass it on, thanks.

These are fear tactics; "The only thing to fear is fear itself."

FEAR= F = false

E = evidence

A = apperring

R = real

[Maestro]

can someone please tell me whether a bomb actually exploded at buddy bar, koh san road.?

some say yes some say no.

The latest report was that it was a false alarm.

Khao San

- A suspected bomb in Buddy Bar turned out to be false alarm.

Lumpini Night Bazaar

- A suspected bomb Bar turned out to be false alarm.

--

Maestro

[Galong]

this is not good news but if one looks at the big picture these guys were very un organised as the bombs were only small and did minimal damage.

killed a few people but nothing on the scale of bali or other bombing sites.

just think how easy it would be to destroy thailands tourist industry by 2 well placed and powerful bombs.

you place one in the middle of koh san road and the other at nana plaza.

Gee Terry, can you come up with some other better target ideas for the criminals? Telling them how to do more damage is a wonderful idea.

[new farang]

At 10:08 AM this morning I heard (from my house near Silom) what sounded to be a loud boom/explosion coming from the Silom Area. I don't want to cause any scare because I really can't confirm anything, but I wanted to see if anyone had any reliable information to either confirm or explain what that very loud boom was from? Any info at all would be helpful.

This whole situation is so sad and I hope peace will soon be restored to this great country.

[Levent]

this is not good news but if one looks at the big picture these guys were very un organised as the bombs were only small and did minimal damage.

killed a few people but nothing on the scale of bali or other bombing sites.

just think how easy it would be to destroy thailands tourist industry by 2 well placed and powerful bombs.

you place one in the middle of koh san road and the other at nana plaza.

Gee Terry, can you come up with some other better target ideas for the criminals? Telling them how to do more damage is a wonderful idea.

You don't honestly think that the criminals wouldn't have thought of that, do you? I don't think they need a public forum to get their ideas from...

Believe me, if it were a group like Al Qaeda and they were planning to inflict damage similar to the Bali or Madrid or London bombings, they would have targeted the places mentioned, and also tourist centres like Pattaya, and that with much more powerful bombs.

[opothai]

condolances to the victims and a speedy recovery to the injured.

seems to obvious to to point the finger of blame,

if it's insurgents then the backlash could be very bad indeed.

if it's internal then thailand will be in termoil.

but one thing for sure, tourism will definately suffer, this year.

hope they get the cold blooded ba+tar+ds behind this

[Jai Dee]

Chavalit says he has no information about Bangkok bomb attacks

Former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said Monday that he had not yet received information abut the bomb attacks in Bangkok on New Year Eve.

"But what happened were terrible things, which terrified people," Chavalit said.

Source: The Nation - 1 January 2007

[Jai Dee]

Bangkok bomb death toll rises to three

The death toll of bomb explosions in Bangkok on New Year Eve rose to three when another victim died during a surgery Monday morning.

Ekkachai Ruangpoom, 26, died at the King Mongkut Hospital during an operation.

EKkachai was injured by an explosion at the Victory Monument.

Source: The Nation - 1 January 2007

[Jaonghais]

At 10:08 AM this morning I heard (from my house near Silom) what sounded to be a loud boom/explosion coming from the Silom Area. I don't want to cause any scare because I really can't confirm anything, but I wanted to see if anyone had any reliable information to either confirm or explain what that very loud boom was from? Any info at all would be helpful.

This whole situation is so sad and I hope peace will soon be restored to this great country.

Curfew. Is that the next thing that we can expect?

[BigSnake]

Down right SCARY, seem like a bomb coming to a shopping center near you. Lord I hope not Thailand has enough problems "enough said"

Hoping for a VERY very Happy New Year, however it is off to a bad start

[flyfrog]

Who would gain from an action such as this? Not an easy Q but Muslims would not and Thaksin would not. I think the plot for separatists from the north is to try and make this look like a Muslim action! Then the present administration will get the blame for being unable to control the situation in the South. A great deal of the posters here is currently playing right into the hands of these assassinators!

It’s obvious isn’t it?

No it isn’t! Just another guess!

Viking

I agree complete, another sad situation. Very bad for us, people who run a business with tourists, hopefully this will not affect the tourisme in Thailand in 2007. We had the bird flue, SARS, Coup d'ETAT, Tsunami and we survived and continued, let's do the same and ignore the situation and continue life as they did in London.

[freitag1]

Even though this might sound stupid for some of you but I don't care and will live my life here in Bkk as usually. As long as such bombs don't blast whole malls the odds that it will hit me are pretty small. It's very tragic what happened yesterday and I feel sorry for all families who lost someone and for all injuried in these events. The obscure thing is that I guess the overall death statistic of this years celebrations will show less dead people than the year before (just because more people stayed at home and less drunk driving and accidents probably happened).

[onethailand]

"Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont declared that the bombings in Bangkok were the work of an as yet unknown group dissatisfied with the current political situation in Thailand. He added that the chance of the bombings being related to the unrest in southern Thailand was very small."

The above is my translation of an excerpt of the live broadcast just past noon.

[Jet Gorgon]

Thanks for the new news, onethailand.

[onethailand]

There was a bit more to the live broadcast, but basically the PM assured that the government would take care of the injured and deceased at government cost, and he apologized to the Thai people for not being able to prevent the bombings even though the government had taken many precautions to the best of their ability. And he offered his condolences to those affected.

The bit about who was responsible was NOT mentioned in his speech - it came up immediately afterwards in response to the first question posed by a reporter.

BTW I am not Thai so my command of Thai is far from perfect - but should be more than good enough. Any of you who heard or watched the broadcast please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

[Jai Dee]

Officials carrying out forensic investigation into bomb blasts last night

Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army, Gen.Anupong Phaojinda (อนุพงษ์ เผ่าจินดา) disclosed that the bombs in Bangkok last night are now under forensic investigation. Primary conclusions say the same group of people is behind the incidents.

According to Gen.Anupong, officials still cannot identify the bombers. They believe that the incidents aimed to discredit the government, not to cause a major damage. He said the bomb blasts last night are considered not severe enough and different from those occurring in the deep South.

Gen.Anupong added that he does not believe that the Southern insurgents will create violence situations outside the region. Further investigation into the bombs will provide more information about the masterminds.

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

[Colby]

I think there is a simple solution to all this. Since we are living in a country where people are not willing to die for their causes (thankfully) like in some other parts of the world, simply offer a 10M Baht reward to anyone who leads the authorities to the successful capture of the people who planted the bombs. It is sure to lead us to the ones who did it who were probably just mercenaries anyway and not the actual brainchild behind it. Then dispose of all the captured terrorists publically via firing squad on television. That should be enough to deter future attempts of this nature. But the action must be swift and strong to show that the government is not going to stand for this both to a domestic and international audience.

[gentman]

This stinks.

They actually knew of 30 planned bombings but not where and when. Surayud was on standby in his office which makes your assumption look pretty idiotic. Surayud doesn't want to be PM unlike Toxin who did everything to become PM.

What type of Unintelligents are they? They knew and they don't know where? NOW they know where!!! Only when someone got hurt..

[Ungabunga]

It's also reported this morning that bomb(s) were found in the Big C Festival Centre, North Pattaya but there's too much rumour to confirm this - without anything officuial on the news channels - has anyone got any (reasonably solid) information if Pattaya was affected also? I also hear that Walking Street was evacuated at 3am (to the annoyance of the ladyboys, who would have just started their shift) but again, it's a bit sketchy.Would appreciate it if anyone can shed any light. Cheers.

[Jai Dee]

Anti-coup groups may behind the bomb blasts in BKK : PM

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont indicated domestic politics, particularly anti-coup groups, rather than the Muslim insurgency was behind the multiple bomb attacks on the New Year's eve.

A man injured from bomb attack was pronounced dead on Monday succummed to dead on Monday, becoming the third victim of the attacks..

Surayud did not identify ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra or his allies as possible culprits, saying anyone who lost power as a result of the military takeover could be to blame.

The eight bombs that exploded across Bangkok on New Year's Eve and early Monday also wounded 38 people, including nine foreigners.

"Based on the government's information and intelligence agencies, it was the work of people who lost power, but I cannot clearly say which group was behind it," he told reporters.

He was speaking after meeting chiefs of security organisations.

"The perpetrators wanted to have a political impact and make Thai people feel political instability," he said.

The blasts that rocked the capital that was gearing up to celebrate the new year forced the cancellation of New Year's celebrations in Bangkok and other major cities.

Surayud said he did not think the blasts were linked to the insurgency in the south, despite similarities between the blasts and the near-daily attacks in the region.

"It is very unlikely that it was linked to the southern violence, because it is much easier for the insurgents to mount an attack in the three southern provinces" than to target Bangkok, he said.

Source: The Nation - 1 January 2007

[Jai Dee]

Interior Minister condemns bombers, requesting resolute suppression measures

Interior Minister Aree Wong-araya (อารีย์ วงศ์อารยะ) has condemned bombers, while calling for resolute measures against the criminals.

In response to the year-end bombs in Bangkok, Mr. Aree said that people and officials should not relate the bomb blast with the violence in the deep South. Yesterday was Hari rayu (Eid ul-Adha) of Muslims and Muslims people have given much importance to the day. The allegation saying that the bomb incidents related to the violence in the deep South might offend Muslims.

As for news claiming about possible relation between the bomb blast and new round of coup d’etat, Mr. Aree views that there is no evidence to prove the news.

Mr. Aree refused to give further details, adding that officials will follow the investigation processes and put more efforts to provide security for people.

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

[Jai Dee]

A bomb found in Warin Chumrab District in Ubon Ratchathani Province

A bomb was found in Warin Chumrab (วารินชำราบ) District in Ubon Ratchathani (อุบลราชธานี) Province.

The Deputy Commander of the Second Region Army, Major General Pichet Wisaijorn (พิเชษฐ์ วิสัยจร) and Deputy Commander in Chief of provincial police region 3 Pol. Maj. Gen. Ausawin Narongpun (อัศวิน ณรงค์พันธ์) have rushed to inspect the scene at Kasemsuk (เกษมสุข ) Road in Warin Chumrab District. The bomb reportedly was defused.

According to officials, they assumed that the ill-intentioned people are trying to stir up the situation.

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

[Jai Dee]

Police says bombs last night are M-4

Royal Thai Police Deputy Commissioner and Spokesman, Pol.Gen.Achirawit Suphanphesat (อชิรวิทย์ สุพรรณเภสัช) said during a press conference that the bombs exploded last night are M-4 bombs which are made of ammonium nitrate. They were hidden in metal boxes measured at 5 inches long by 3 inches wide by 1 inch thick. The bombs were attached with digital clocks.

The spokesman added that the quartermaster unit of the Royal Thai Police is investigating whether the blasts have anything to do with the Southern insurgency or relate to the bombing at the Chang Klan (ช้างคลาน) Mosque in Chaina Mai earlier this morning. However, a primary investigation found that the explosive object in Chiang Mai is different from those in Bangkok.

Meanwhile, Pol.Lt.Gen.Jongrak Juthanon (จงรัก จุฑานนท์), the assistant commissioner-general of the Royal Thai Police, was appointed to chair the investigative team of this case. At present, police officers are watching pictures recorded by CCTVs around the Central World Plaza to find suspected bombers.

The bomb attacks last night in Bangkok have injured 38 and killed three persons, nine of the injured are foreigners, 29 are Thais.

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

[Jai Dee]

One bomb victim at Rajvithi Hospital remains in critical situation

A doctor said a bomb victim, who was admitted to the Rajvithi Hospital, remained in critical situation Monday.

Doctor Thawee Ratanachu-ek said Samruay Sidao, 37, remained in the intensivecare unit.

He said doctors performed a surgery to re-attach his main vein in the right arm. The vein was cut by a bomb shrapnel.

Thawee said the right arm might not function fully after it heals.

Source: The Nation - 1 January 2007

[george]

Thaksin denies involvement in Bangkok bomb attacks

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra Monday denied his involvement in the bomb attacks in Bangkok on New Year Eve, his legal adviser said.

Noppadol Pattama said Thaksin, who was in Bejing, expressed his sorrow over the attacks.

"He insisted that he did not even think about creating disturbance or violence so that he could return to power," Noppadol said.

"Thaksin said he is worried and feels that is unfair to link him and the old power clique for the bomb attacks."

-- The Nation 2007-01-01

[george]

Surayud blames old power clique behind Bangkok bomb attacks

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said Monday that the old power clique was behind the bomb attacks in Bangkok on New Year Eve.

He said the southern violence had nothing to do with the Bangkok bomb attacks.

He said he was not referring only to the previous government but to all those who had lost political interest.

"So far, we cannot identify which groups were behind the attacks but we already have targets of our investigation," Surayud said.

-- The Nation 2007-01-01

[Jai Dee]

Porntip says Bangkok bombs different from southern explosives

Khunying Porntip Rojanasunant, acting director of the Forensic Science Institute, said explosives used in Bangkok bombs were different from those used by Islamic insurgents in the deep South.

She said she would present details of findings by her institute before making the details public.

Source: The Nation - 1 January 2007

[Jai Dee]

Foreign Affairs Ministry voices concern over foreigners injured by bomb blasts

Ministry of Foreign Affairs voices concern over foreigners injured by the bombs last night, while requesting the ministry’s officials to do their utmost to assist them.

Kitti Wasinond (กิตติ วะสีนนท์), the Director-General of the Department of Information under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, revealed that he had instructed the officials to cooperate with embassies of the countries whose people are among the casualties in providing aids to them.

The foreign injured include three Serbians, two British, and four Hungarians.

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

[Jai Dee]

BKK Gov requests people to stay at home for security reasons

Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayothin (อภิรักษ์ โกษะโยธิน) has requested people to stay indoors and to remain calm. He added that should people travel to other places, they should take the public buses or BTS.

Mr. Apirak said that officials will be on standby at busy areas to ensure security. He has urged people to inform authorities should they see suspicious circumstances. Garbage in Bangkok has been collected frequently to prevent people planting bombs inside the trash cans.

As for Children’s Day on Jan 13th, officials will evaluate situation and will discuss on whether the exhibition should be held.

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