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Did a bomb just go off in BKK?


TheCorinthian

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Bangkok Post

25 Jul 2010

 

 

 

Bomb injures 8 in Bangkok

 

 

A bomb, hidden in a black plastic bag, went off at a bus stop in front of Big C Ratchadamri today at about 5.45pm, reports said.

 

Six men and two women, including a bus driver, were injured by the blast. They were sent to the Police General Hospital. One was seriously wounded.

 

Two cars were damaged by the explosion.

 

Police at Lumpini station are investigating and believe the explosive was a homemade bomb.

 

 

6.44PM

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Got a line from the Embassy Guard a few were just killed outside a polling place near central world.

 

 

By Ploy Ten Kate

 

BANGKOK | Sun Jul 25, 2010 9:03am EDT

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A bomb exploded in Bangkok on Saturday, wounding at least eight people, as the city voted in a by-election that could signal whether recent unrest has changed Thailand's political landscape.

The bomb was hidden in a trash bin at a bus stop in the heart of the commercial district on Ratchadumri Road, an area occupied by thousands of "red shirt" anti-government protesters for several weeks until an army crackdown on May 19.

 

A Reuters witness said eight people were wounded.

 

The by-election for a Bangkok seat in parliament could indicate whether unrest that killed at least 89 people in April and May will hurt Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's ruling party in national elections next year.

 

"The race is very important for both parties because the result, as well as the margin won, will be seen as a symbolic statement in a tense and divided political landscape," said Karn Yuenyong, director of the independent Siam Intelligence Unit.

 

The seat was expected to be won by the ruling Democrats whose fractious six-party coalition has a 75-seat majority in the 480-seat parliament.

 

But the margin could offer a critical measure of support for the anti-government "red shirt" protest movement in Bangkok after their festive, flag-waving rallies in March descended into gunbattles and riots in April and May that frightened off tourists and hurt Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.

 

Unofficial results of the vote in Bangkok's Constituency 6 are expected before 8 p.m. (1300 GMT).

 

The opposition candidate, businessman Korkaew Pikulthong of the Puea Thai Party, has been in jail since May for allegedly encouraging violence, a charge he denies. He has put his chances of winning at 50-50 while campaigning from prison, saying he has public sympathy for being held without bail.

 

He faces formidable odds but a victory would be a powerful blow to Abhisit and "symbolically show there is real opposition, even in Bangkok, to the government's recent action," said Karn.

 

EMERGENCY DECREE

 

Korkaew's party, closely allied with self-exiled and graft-convicted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is facing Democrat Panich Wikisreth, a former deputy Bangkok mayor allied with royalist "yellow shirts" who led a successful 2006 campaign to oust Thaksin by military coup.

 

Korkaew says the government has helped his rival by maintaining a state of emergency in Bangkok since April 7, allowing authorities to detain opponents without charge, censor the press, ban gatherings and freeze bank accounts.

 

A candidate for a Thaksin-allied party lost the seat in 2007 to the Democrats by just a few thousand votes. It became vacant again when the incumbent died.

 

No single party has historically dominated the district of about 536,000 people. Thaksin's now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party has won the seat in the past.

 

The vote is the first in Bangkok since troops forcibly dispersed thousands of protesters in a May 19 operation that sparked deadly rioting. Nearly 40 buildings were set ablaze, including the stock exchange and Thailand's top shopping mall.

 

(Additional reporting by Ambika Ahuja; writing by Jason Szep; editing by Andrew Roche)

 

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Politics aside, Thailand is beginning to suffer a similar fate to South Africa, in that Tourism will wane on the back of perceived danger.

 

Most especially when now, a traveller has the opportunity to get blown up in shopping malls across the metropolis.

 

Much like the phenomenon of "Donor Fatigue" when donor nations tire of pouring money into the bottomless pit that some countries have become, travellers will soon be unable to mask, the images and reality of explosions and body parts in the street, with fatuous marketing bullshit like "Amazing Thailand, Amazing Value".

 

JMHO

 

Coss

 

 

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http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/187876/city-bomb-blast-kills-one

 

City bomb blast kills one

 

* Published: 26/07/2010 at 12:39 AM

* Online news: Local News

 

A bomb has exploded in front of a department store in the Ratchadamri shopping district, killing one person and injuring eight.

 

A bomb squad scours a bus stop in front of the Big C superstore on Ratchadamri Road where a bomb exploded early Sunday evening. (Photo by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin)

 

The bomb went off on Sunday at a bus stop in front of the Big C department store opposite CentralWorld shopping complex, which was torched during the red shirt riots on May 19.

 

The bomb, hidden in a black plastic bag, exploded about 5.45pm. Seven men and two women, including a Burmese woman, were injured while waiting for their buses.

 

Two of the victims sustained serious injuries, and one has since died.

 

Weerasak Sae-tae, 40, who has serious injuries, was admitted to Hua Chiew Hospital.

 

The dead man, admitted to Police General Hospital, was named as Thawatchai Thongmak, 51.

 

Mayuree Khongsungnern, a bus conductor who witnessed the blast, said she saw flames coming from a pile of garbage near the bus stop before the bomb went off.

 

Her No 2 bus, which was waiting for passengers, was slightly damaged in the blast.

 

Police found three batteries, a soft drink can, electric wires and electronic circuitry at the scene.

 

They believe the bomb was triggered by an alarm clock.

 

Police sealed off areas around the scene from Ratchaprasong intersection to Pratunam intersection for fear of further possible bomb blasts.

 

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is holidaying in Koh Samet, declined comment until authorities have evaluated the situation.

 

Democrat candidate PanichVikitsreth, who won yesterday's by-election in Bangkok's Constituency 6, said he did not want to drag the explosion into the by-election, as there was no evidence of violence during his election campaign.

 

Thepthai Senpong, spokesman for Mr Abhisit, warned the opposition Puea Thai Party against concluding that the bomb was engineered by the government as a pretext to keep the emergency decree in place.

 

The decree is in place in Bangkok and 15 other provinces.

 

The National Reform Committee, chaired by former prime minister Anand Panyarachun, has called on the government to lift the decree, saying it jeopardises the government's reconciliation efforts and could breach people's rights.

 

Mr Thepthai called on all sides to withhold comment on the blast until more details were known, as unfounded claims could tarnish the country's reputation and might cause public confusion.

 

Earlier, Mr Abhisit said the government will have to consider the fate of the decree carefully.

 

Speaking during his weekly radio and television programme, Mr Abhisit said opinions are divided on the lifting of the decree.

 

Some security officers want to keep the decree as they are still worried about the political situation in their provinces.

 

However, business groups want the government to end the decree.

 

The National Security Council is analysing the situation, and the government will investigate any allegations about security agencies abusing the decree, he said.

 

Meanwhile, acting secretary-general of the New Politics Party (NPP) Suriyasai Katasila said the government should give the public a say in whether the emergency decree should be lifted.

 

Lifting the decree will boost public confidence. However, if the government wants to keep the decree in place, it should provide reasons for doing so, he said.

 

The Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation should not be the sole agency to decide whether to lift the decree or keep it in place, he said.

 

Chiang Mai Governor Amornphan Nimanand said the decree is still needed in his province, as some groups with ill-intentions were ready to cause trouble.

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http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/187951/army-blast-unrelated-to-by-election

 

Army: Blast unrelated to by-election

 

* Published: 26/07/2010 at 10:07 AM

* Online news: Breakingnews

 

The bomb explosion in front of Big C superstore on Ratchadamri road on Sunday evening is unlikely to be related to the by-election in Bangkok's constituency 6, Army Region 1 Commander Lt Gen Kanit Sapitak said.

 

"I believe the explosion was done by ill-intentioned people who wanted to create a situation and I don't think it had anything to do with the by-election," Lt Gen Kanit said on Monday morning.

 

Asked whether the explosion would cause the extending of the declaration of a state of emergency in Bangkok and 15 other provinces, he said the government and security agencies will make the decision.

 

The homemade bomb, hidden in a black plastic bag, exploded near a bus stop about 5.45pm at a bus stop in one of Bangkok's most important commercial districts. Seven men and two women, including a Burmese woman, were injured.

 

One of the victims, a 51-year-old man, died of his injuries last night.

 

Police said it would be difficult to track down who was responsible as most closed-circuit television cameras around the area were still inoperative. The area was at the centre of the prolonged red-shirt protest led by the anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship that was dramatically ended by the military on May 19..

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Bangkok Post

26 Jul 2010

 

 

Police: M67 used in Sunday's bombing

 

 

An M67 grenade was used in the bomb attack on Ratchadamri road on Sunday, national police adviser Panupong Singhara na Ayudhya said.

 

"A closed-circuit television camera was able to capture the image of a suspect who could be responsible for the explosion," Pol Gen Panupong said after a police meeting at the Metropolitan Police Bureau on Monday.

 

He said the explosive was an M67 grenade that was triggered by a timing device.

 

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he had ordered the police to find and arrest the perpetrator urgently.

 

The explosion occurred at a bus stop outside Big C superstore in Ratchadamri area. One person was killed and eight others were injured.

 

 

 

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