Bangkok Bomb: Deadly Blast Rocks Thailand Capital

[Jack Peterson]

 Seems Nowhere is safe for Tourists.  :no: 

 

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33963280

 

JP  :unsure:  :tiphat:

 

 

[sonjack2847]

 Seems Nowhere is safe for Tourists.  :no: 

 

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33963280

 

JP  :unsure:  :tiphat:

Too much of this going on in this world.When will it end?

[Jack Peterson]

 

 Seems Nowhere is safe for Tourists.  :no: 

 

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33963280

 

JP  :unsure:  :tiphat:

Too much of this going on in this world.When will it end?

 

I personally don't know much about Thailand what they make and export but if these people are attacking Tourism (as Tunisia)

 

It may well be a good way to kill a country let alone people. JMHO but.........

 

JP :tiphat:

[mogo51]

Woke this morning to the terrible news of a terrorist bomb attack in Bangkok, which killed 21 people at least..

Deepest sympathies to the victims and their families many of whom are foreigners visiting the country.

 

Lets hope this is an isolated incident and the perpetrators are quickly arrested.

 

Makes me wonder what induces others to engage is such senseless acts that shows no regard to human life.

RIP to all victims.

[sonjack2847]

Lets hope this is an isolated incident and the perpetrators are quickly arrested.

Thailand's junta leader said Tuesday a suspect had been identified in the bombing of a packed Bangkok religious shrine, condemning the blast that killed at least 20 people as the "worst ever attack" on the kingdom.

The attack occurred on Monday in one of the Thai capital's most popular tourism hubs, ripping through a crowd of worshippers at the Hindu shrine close to five-star hotels and upscale shopping malls.

Chinese, Hong Kong, Singaporean, Indonesian and Malaysian citizens were among the 20 people killed, police said.

More than 100 other people were injured as the blast left body parts strewn across crushed pavement, alongside shattered windows and incinerated motorcycles.

Junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha on Tuesday branded the bombing the "worst ever attack" on Thailand, as he gave the first indications of who authorities believed were responsible.

"Today there is a suspect... we are looking for this guy," Prayut told reporters, adding the man was seen on closed circuit television at the blast site.

Prayut said the male suspect was believed to be from an "anti-government group based in Thailand's northeast" -- the heartland of the kingdom's Red Shirt movement that opposes the military junta.

Bangkok has endured more than a decade of deadly political violence, with the junta ruling the nation since May last year after toppling the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra.

The Red Shirts are a grassroots network of rural and urban poor that are loyal to Yingluck and her self-exiled brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a populist politician who was a previous prime minister.

But no-one claimed responsibility for the assault and security analysts expressed scepticism over the government's lightning move to cast suspicion on its opponents.

"Even if they (Red Shirts) are hell-bent on bringing down the government I just can't see them targeting a Hindu or any other religious shrine," Zachary Abuza, an independent expert on Thai security, told AFP.

"That would really alienate many of their supporters."

Muslim rebels from the country's far south have also waged a separatist insurgency for more than a decade that has claimed thousands of lives, mostly civilians.

But they have never been known to carry out substantial attacks in Bangkok, and Abuza as well as other analysts said Monday's bombing did not follow the insurgents' typical modus operandi.

Paul Chambers, director of research at the Institute of South East Asian Affairs in Thailand, said groups with links to military factions also had to be considered as potential suspects.

- Tourists 'targeted' -

Junta leaders said the bomb was aimed at damaging the country's tourist industry, which is a rare bright spot in an otherwise gloomy economy, and tarnishing the junta's reputation.

"(The attackers) had the clear target of destroying our economy and tourism.... and discrediting the government," Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon told reporters.

Thailand's baht currency slumped to a more than six-year low on Tuesday and shares fell in Bangkok over concerns the attack could damage the tourism sector.

The blast site remained cordoned off early as bomb experts photographed the area scouring for clues, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Police also tightened security across Bangkok, with hundreds of schools closed and checkpoints thrown up across the city.

- Panic, fear -

Built in 1956 the Erawan is an enormously popular shrine to the Hindu god Brahma but is visited by thousands of Buddhist devotees every day.

The bomb was detonated shortly before 7:00 pm (1200 GMT) in the middle of the city's rush hour, sending a fireball into the sky as commuters and tourists fled in panic.

As dawn broke, Thais expressed fear about more potential violence in the coming days.

"I'm worried about Bangkok, I don't know what will happen next," one woman, who only gave her name as Rivewan, told AFP.

Around 1,000 people queued for hours at a nearby blood donation centre, many crying as they waited to be seen by nurses.

"This shouldn't have happened to the Thai people," Pongchai Kulsitthiwong, a 45-year-old mobile phone seller told AFP, tears rolling down his cheeks while waiting to give blood.

- Power struggle -

Bangkok's power struggle has seen repeated rounds of deadly street protests and bombings for nearly a decade.

But none on Monday's scale.

Armed elements on both sides, in a kingdom awash with military-grade weapons, have been known to instigate unrest at key moments.

Many observers had predicted a fresh round of violence after the military seized power from Yingluck Shinawatra in last year's coup.

Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by a 2006 coup, sits at the heart of the political divide.

Parties led by him, his sister or their proxies have won every election since 2001 thanks to the votes of the rural north and northeast.

But the clan is loathed by the Bangkok-based royalist elite.

Monday's attack drew quick expressions of grief from around the world. The US government released a statement warning its citizens to avoid the area, while also voicing sympathy for the victims.

--

[Jollygoodfellow]

Merged two topics together as about the same incident. 

[sonjack2847]

Thai police said yesterday investigators believe a man seen in security video wearing a yellow T-shirt and carrying a backpack set off the explosion at a central Bangkok shrine that killed 20 people and injured more than 100.

“The yellow shirt guy is not just the suspect. He is the bomber,” Police Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri, a police spokesman, told The Associated Press.

Prawut earlier released several photos of the man, with and without the backpack, on social media. The images were apparently taken from closed-circuit video at Erawan shrine on Monday before the central Bangkok bombing. He confirmed that the man is suspected in the bombing when contacted by The Associated Press.

Video footage posted separately on Thai media appeared to show the same man sitting on a bench at the crowded shrine, then taking off the backpack and leaving it behind as he walked away.

Thai authorities identified five victims as Thai and four as Chinese — two of them from Hong Kong — along with two Malaysians and one Singaporean, and said the nationalities of the other eight victims remain unknown.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Charles Jose said yesterday afternoon that the embassy in Bangkok had confirmed that a Filipina was among the injured victims in the Bangkok explosion.

“She sustained injury to her hearing due to the blast,” Jose said.

Jose said the Filipina requested that her identity and other personal details not be revealed.

“She is in Bangkok together with (a) foreign family, she will return to the country soon,” Jose said.

Thailand’s junta chief Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday branded the bombing the “worst ever attack” on Thailand, as he gave the first indications of who authorities believed were responsible.

“Today there is a suspect... we are looking for this guy,” Prayut told

reporters, adding the man was seen on closed circuit television at the blast site.

Prayut said the male suspect was believed to be from an “anti-government group based in Thailand’s northeast” — the heartland of the kingdom’s Red Shirt movement that opposes the military junta.

Bangkok has endured more than a decade of deadly political violence, with the junta ruling the nation since May last year after toppling the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra.

The Red Shirts are a grassroots network of rural and urban poor that are loyal to Yingluck and her self-exiled brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a populist politician who was a previous prime minister.

But no one claimed responsibility for the assault and security analysts expressed skepticism over the government’s lightning move to cast suspicion on its opponents.

“Even if they (Red Shirts) are hell-bent on bringing down the government I just can’t see them targeting a Hindu or any other religious shrine,” Zachary Abuza, an independent expert on Thai security, told AFP.

Muslim rebels from the country’s far south have also waged a separatist insurgency for more than a decade that has claimed thousands of lives, mostly civilians.

But they have never been known to carry out substantial attacks in Bangkok, and Abuza as well as other analysts said Monday’s bombing did not follow the insurgents’ typical modus operandi.

Paul Chambers, director of research at the Institute of South East Asian Affairs in Thailand, said groups with links to military factions also had to be considered as potential suspects.

The prime minister called Monday’s explosion at a busy intersection “the worst incident that has ever happened in Thailand,” and he promised to track down those responsible.

“There have been minor bombs or just noise, but this time they aimed for innocent lives,” Prayuth said. “They want to destroy our economy, our tourism.”

Without elaborating about possible perpetrators, the prime minister said yesterday, “Today we have seen the closed-circuit footage, we saw some suspects, but it wasn’t clear. We have to find them first.”

The improvised explosive device scattered body parts, spattered blood, blasted windows and burned motorbikes to the metal. The explosion went off around 7 p.m. in an upscale area filled with tourists, office workers and shoppers. No one has claimed responsibility.

Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said authorities had no idea an attack had been planned.

“We didn’t know about this ahead of time. We had no intelligence on this attack,” the defense minister said.- Rainier Allan Ronda, Delon Porcalla, Mayen Jaymalin, Cecille Suerte Felipe, AP, AFP, Reuters

[mogo51]

The Junta when releasing the photo of the suspect stated  they believed he was Arabic.  I looked at it and clearly looked Asian appearance

to me.  Another case of Thais being in denial of thefacts and trying to blame others for everything.

Somebody will give him up if he is still about.  I believe it is connected to the Southern Thailand Rebels, but that is only an  educated guess.

[sonjack2847]

A Filipino was among the victims of the explosion that happened in Central Bangkok on Monday evening, a local television reported.

At least 16 people were killed and several others injured when a bomb exploded in front of Erawan Shrine, a popular tourist spot in Thailand's capital.

Among those reported dead were one Filipino and two Chinese foreigners.

The explosion occurred around 6:30 p.m. When the streets were packed by locals and foreigners, police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said.

More than 80 people were injured in the incident and were brought to the city's medical facility for treatment. (With reports from AFP)

[sonjack2847]

BANGKOK – Two men who were identified as suspects in a bomb attack in central Bangkok have turned themselves in to Thai police, according to media reports yesterday.

However, the two have denied any links to the attack, BBC and CNN quoted Thai authorities as saying.

BBC reported that the men insisted that they are tour guides. Police are questioning the duo, the broadcasters added.

The pair were seen in security camera footage, standing in front of a man who left a backpack at a bench minutes before the explosion occurred at Erawan Shrine on Monday night. The attack killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 120 others, including tourists.

Thai authorities said earlier yesterday that international terror groups were not likely to be the culprits, but appealed for help from Interpol in tracking down a “foreign” man suspected of planting the explosive device at the Hindu shrine. 

At least 10 people may have been involved in the bombing, Thai authorities said.