Oil depot set on fire in M79 attack

[Mekong]

A tank containing aviation fuel at the oil depot of the Thai Petroleum Pipeline Co (Thapline) in Pathum Thani's Lam Luk Ka district was set on fire early Wednesday morning in an M79 grenade explosion, Energy Minister Wannarat Charnnukul said.

 

Mr Wannarat quoted police as saying that two rounds of M79 grenades were fired onto Thapline's oil depot in a suspected sabotage but only one of them exploded, setting fire on a tank containing aviation fuel to be supplied through a pipeline to Suvarnabhumi airport.

 

He said only one half of the tank was filled with fuel when the fire broke out. The fire was put out in one hour after the attack which took place at about 1.15am.

 

Mr Wannarat said that before the rally by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) the Energy Ministry set up a war room to maximise security for oil depots, oil refineries, power plants and transmission lines.

 

He said the attack took place despite the precautions against possible sabotage. The minister admitted it was difficult to protect the Lam Luk Ka oil depot from being attacked from a long distance.

 

Mr Wannarat said there was an attempt to sabotage the transmission facilities of Wang Noi power plant last week but did not elaborate.

 

However, this morning's incident did not affect the supplies of aviation fuel to Suvarnabhumi airport because Thapline has altogether 19 fuel tanks. Most of the fuel is supplied to the airport through a pipeline.

 

"I would like to make a plea to any groups which may concern that they should not aim to destroy public property becausing doing so could cause the people to suffer. Oil and electricity are important property of the country," said the energy minister.

 

Anuporn Assadornnithi, Thapline's manager for operations, said security guards reported that they heard a loud explosion at about 1.15am in the oil depot, setting fire on a fuel tank.

 

Emergency operations teams rushed to the scene and were able to put out the fire at about 2.30am. No body was hurt.

 

Atthapol Rerkpiboon, PTT vice executive president for communications and social affairs, said PTT, a major shareholder of Thapline, had been reported of the incident.

 

Link

[acockasian]

This is exactly the type of incident that could signal the beginning of the complete and total breakdown of the Thai economy.

[ThaiHome]

Not really. This is much more typical of the easy, symbolic acts that have been going for some time. There are far better targets if the intent is to really damage the economy.

TH

[Coss]

"This is much more typical of the easy, symbolic acts that have been going for some time"

 

But what happens if an easy target becomes something much much more?

 

You have to remember that the buildings falling down on 9/11 surprised even Bin Laden.

 

Someone might set fire to a petrol tanker and blow up a whole refinery.

 

Let off a gas bomb in a police station and lose a school.

 

Who knows what trouble idiots can foment.

 

Coss

[Wallenda]

Who knows what trouble idiots can foment.

 

Coss

 

Easy to imagine some loon getting the idea to use a suicide bomb to simultaneously demonstrate his dedication to the cause and also take out as many of some despised party as possible. I think we might actually fit that bill quite nicely -- great way to sway some of the loony undecideds. Nana Plaza particularly susceptible.

 

Stirring poor uneducated people into a frenzy is dangerous stuff. This is Mr T's game right now. Blueprint for disaster. It was Pol Pot's game a generation ago. Of course Thaksin doesn't have the same degree of nuttiness and propensity for violence as PP did. But I woudln't be surprised to see some atrocities coming from the red side before this is over. Probably on small scale though. We've already seen it on the part of rebels in the south. Decapitations of schoolteachers and bombings were their flavor down there.

 

 

 

[Mekong]

Not really. This is much more typical of the easy, symbolic acts that have been going for some time. There are far better targets if the intent is to really damage the economy.

TH

 

TH

 

I disagree with you, in my opinion this was a calculated attack on a very strategic target since the Thapline depot in Pathum Thani is THE DEPOT that supplies all avation fuel via pipeline to Suvarnabhumi airport. If the attack had suceeded it would have had a more crippling effect on the ecconomy than the Yellow Shirt airport occupations.

 

The main "Red Shirt" offices for Pathum Thani district are less than 750 Meters from the Thapline depot on the other side of Lam Luk Ka road and it would not surprise me if the attack originated from there.

[KimDidMeGood]

Stirring poor uneducated people into a frenzy is dangerous stuff. This is Mr T's game right now. Blueprint for disaster. It was Pol Pot's game a generation ago. Of course Thaksin doesn't have the same degree of nuttiness and propensity for violence as PP did. But I woudln't be surprised to see some atrocities coming from the red side before this is over. Probably on small scale though. We've already seen it on the part of rebels in the south. Decapitations of schoolteachers and bombings were their flavor down there.

 

Well, the reds are no fundamentalist Muslims. I don't see this appearing as a pattern. Moreover, a lot of them are not at home in Bangkok so they will certainly think twice before doing anything that could stir a brutal backlash from the locals.

 

On the other hand, provocation can and will be used by isolated individuals from both sides and, then it's impossible to predict how it could escalate.

 

[Flashermac]

Update ...

 

4:02pm

 

 

<< Pol Lt-Gen Krisda Pankhongchuen, the Region 1 Provincial Police chief, said later that two investigators - Pol Maj-Gen Methi Kusolsang, the Pathum Thani police chief, and Pol Col Preeda Pongsethsan, deputy forensic police chief of Pathum Thani - had since examined the scene and reported the tank had likely been hit by a [color:red]rocket propelled grenade (RPG)[/color].

 

They had recovered an RPG fragment near an oil tank.

 

He said the RPG round made a hole about one and a half inches in diameter, penetrating the steel tank and setting the contents on fire.

 

The fire had been extinguished in about an hour and the hole had been plugged. >>

 

 

BP

[Coss]

Amazing that it didn't go sky high.

 

Must a been a small grenade

[Flashermac]

Today the Post is saying again that it was an M79 fragmentation grenade.

 

<< Workers told police when they heard the explosion at the fuel depot they rushed to the scene to see flames shooting up the side of tank number T-401D, which supplies fuel to Suvarnabhumi airport.

 

The grenade caused a 4cm hole in the tank, but failed to ignite the main body of fuel because of protective double layering. At the time of the attack, the tank held only 9 million litres.

 

The hole was about 1.5 metres from the ground, Pol Col Naradej Thiprak, superintendent at the Khukhot police station in Pathum Thani, said.

 

The fire was extinguished in about an hour and the hole has been plugged. There were no injuries.

 

Police believed the assailants fired the grenade from the nearby motorway, which is not more than 200 metres from the depot. Three bottles of energy drink were found on the motorway, they said. >>

 

 

BP

 

 

Apparently these Takkyite heroes have never heard of anything except frag grenades. If I'd done something nasty like that, I'd have used a frag grenade first and then willy peter. Bet that would make it burn!