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Bangkok: Bomb blast near Erawan 17 Aug 2015 (merged threads)

Old Aug 17, 2015, 12:03 pm
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For those qualified to post in Omni and Omni/PR (180 days on FT and 180 posts), political conversations on this tragedy can occur in this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni-pr/1703225-deadly-bombing-bangkok.html

Emergency Message for U.S. Citizens: Explosion at Erawan Shrine in Central Bangkok
Embassy of the United States of America in Bangkok
August 17, 2015
http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/mobile//081715_emergency_message.html

This message is to inform U.S. citizens in Thailand that according to local law enforcement, an explosion took place at approximately 7:00 pm August 17, at the Rachaprasong intersection in the central commercial district of Bangkok (near the Erawan Shrine, Central World mall, and overhead bisection of the two Skytrain lines). Media outlets are reporting multiple casualties. Local law enforcement and emergency services are responding and U.S. Embassy personnel are liaising closely with local authorities to gather information. U.S. citizens are advised to avoid the area and monitor local media for updates.
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Bangkok: Bomb blast near Erawan 17 Aug 2015 (merged threads)

Old Aug 23, 2015, 9:54 pm
  #136  
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Bangkok: Bomb blast near Erawan 17 Aug 2015 (merged threads)

Confusion?

One device at Erawan Shrine.

One device at Sathorn Pier.

The two are related. The device at Sathorn Pier may have been dropped off shortly after the explosion at Erawan, but it exploded the next day (timer?).

But today is another day, so maybe a new narrative?
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Old Aug 23, 2015, 10:51 pm
  #137  
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Originally Posted by gilbertaue
What I still dont understand are the "other defused bombs" just after the initial one went off.

There were reports that the police had defused a second and third bomb. Nothing heard of again? Or was that just a big "show" that they did something good?
There were initial reports of other unexploded bombs surrounding the Erawan area but those seem to have all been bluster moreso than reality.
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Old Aug 23, 2015, 10:53 pm
  #138  
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http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/secu...mb-probe-slows

"We will only receive assistance in terms of equipment, but will not allow any representatives from other countries to interfere in our investigation," said Pol Gen Somyot. He insisted police have not yet ruled out any motives.

Translation: We don't want anyone to point out weaknesses in our abilities or disrupt our self serving narrative.
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Old Aug 24, 2015, 3:39 am
  #139  
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Excellent photo-op for National Police Chief.

On the plus side, they installed a WTMD at the entrance to Nana Entertainment Plaza.

Bangkok Bomber May Have Fled Thailand: Police

Outgoing national police chief Gen. Somyot Pumpanmuang, center, and spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawuth Thawornsiri, third from left, speak to reporters on Friday evening in front of a popular go-go bar in Nana Plaza, a red-light venue located on Soi Sukhumvit 4. Photo: Royal Thai Police

BANGKOK Six days after a deadly bomb killed at least 20 people in Bangkok, police said yesterday their prime suspect in the attack may have successfully fled the country.

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail...12&typecate=06


In other news...


National police chief says external and internal affairs arent ruled out yet in Ratchaprasong bombing

Royal Thai Police commissioner Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuong said the police investigating the Ratchaprasong deadly bomb explosion have not ruled out either internal or external affairs as a motive to the bomb attack.
He said any theory that would be ruled out would have strong evidence to support it.

His statement last night came as he was calling on the public to help give information that included their video images on a second suspect in blue shirt seen to carry a bag to the footbridge underneath Taksin bridge on the same night when the bomb went off at Ratchaprasong.

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/nat...rasong-bombing
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Old Aug 24, 2015, 5:01 am
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http://mobile.news.com.au/world/asia...-1227496977238

A "wide" bomb found and disarmed in a construction workers home...
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Old Aug 24, 2015, 7:45 pm
  #141  
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Police say trail for bomber has gone cold

National police chief Pol General Somyot Poompanmuang said yesterday that police were unsure whether the man who planted the explosive at the Erawan Shrine was still in Thailand. "We don't know if the suspect is still in the country, but I have to assume he is, because we have no information about him leaving," he said.

He also said that sooner or later, he was confident the culprit would be arrested.

"The police are working non-stop every day. For as long as I'm alive, I'm confident that the culprit will be arrested. Though I will retire soon, my successor will continue working on this case," he said.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nati...-30267353.html
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Old Aug 24, 2015, 9:43 pm
  #142  
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In other words, we don't have a clue. And we haven't since day one. And generations from now, we will be no closer.

If nothing changes, nothing changes.

Feel safer?
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Old Aug 25, 2015, 5:50 pm
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Misinformation creates the greatest uncertainty.

I think the most frustrating thing is how every English media outlet picks up on whatever Officer Somchai says and publishes it... 1 suspect, 10 suspects, 1 bomb, there was a second bomb fastened to the BTS support leg that was disarmed (anything more heard about this?), there was a woman that tossed the Saphan Taksin bomb, no wait it was on a timer... we're at the point the police are following their own made-up leads now.

Add in the reward money and now we have people just all-of-a-sudden "remembering" driving the culprit to the train station... or to a Soi downtown.

All the while if you not Thai, wear glasses and have shaggy hair, you're being scrutinized - even the guy that got OFF A plane coming into Thailand... If it wasn't so pathetic it would be funny.
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Old Aug 28, 2015, 8:13 pm
  #144  
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Police 'no closer to solving Erawan case'

AFTER questioning some 200 witnesses over the August 17 Erawan Shrine bombing, police investigators are still unable to rule out any of the possible motives, a senior police officer said yesterday.

Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Lt-General Sriwara Rangsiprammanakul said the witnesses questioned included those who sustained injuries in the explosion as well as passers-by.

He said police had yet to come to a conclusion on the motive of the bombing, which killed 20 people and injured more than 100 others, or whether it could be connected to the bomb that was dropped into the water on August 18 at the Sathorn Pier.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nati...-30267711.html



Floundering Bomb Investigation Deepens Doubts About Competency

BANGKOK Less than a year after Thailands last high-profile criminal investigation left observers scratching their heads, the competency and professionalism of its police are under a new level of scrutiny, only this time much more is at stake.

Eleven months on from a widely-panned investigation into the murders of two tourists on a resort island, those hoping last weeks horrific bombing of Bangkoks Erawan Shrine would bring gravitas and professionalism to the ensuing investigation have instead seen the same baffling pronouncements and self-contradictory assertions.

When you consider this follows on the back of a number of high-profile incidents in which the competency of Thai authorities has been called into question, this was the chance to set that narrative correct, said Gregory Poling of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C.

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail...sid=1440762991
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Old Aug 29, 2015, 3:13 am
  #145  
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The BBC is reporting that, "Thai police arrest man in Bangkok in connection with shrine blast two weeks ago."

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34095603

No other information posted.
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Old Aug 29, 2015, 3:42 am
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Originally Posted by dsquared37
The BBC is reporting that, "Thai police arrest man in Bangkok in connection with shrine blast two weeks ago."

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34095603

No other information posted.
Check out Barrows twitter account,good info and breaking news.

https://twitter.com/richardbarrow
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Old Aug 29, 2015, 2:13 pm
  #147  
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Originally Posted by dsquared37
The BBC is reporting that, "Thai police arrest man in Bangkok in connection with shrine blast two weeks ago."

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34095603
Quite clearly, the bumbling incompetence presented by the Thai police has been nothing more than a subterfuge, aimed at lulling the baddies into a false sense of security .......
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Old Aug 29, 2015, 6:02 pm
  #148  
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From the updated article:

"He is a foreigner, but it's unlikely that he is an international terrorist, it's a personal feud," Mr Somyot told a televised news conference.

"He got angry on behalf of his friends and family members," he added, without elaborating.

Originally Posted by IAN-UK
Quite clearly, the bumbling incompetence presented by the Thai police has been nothing more than a subterfuge, aimed at lulling the baddies into a false sense of security .......
Incompetence? You're being way to kind.
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Old Aug 29, 2015, 8:46 pm
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It does look (now), based on this arrest, like the Turkish Grey Wolves may have orchestrated these two bombs in response to the forced deportation of the Uighurs.

Not sure why the authorities are obfuscating the reason - OK I understand, but it makes them look even sillier to pawn it off as "personal", rather than just acknowledge it as political, and then even re-spin it as positive for having forcibly deported those Uighur "terrorists". But they may want to avoid further incidents so will "walk the middle path"?


A few articles from before the arrest.

Bangkok bombing: new theories turn to Turkish travellers, Grey Wolves

Anthony Davis, a veteran security analyst with IHS-Jane's, has suggested that the most likely perpetrators were ultra-nationalist members of a far-right Turkish militant group called the Grey Wolves.

Speaking on a panel at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Thailand on Tuesday, Mr Davis said the Grey Wolves, an extremely violent group, and the unofficial youth wing of Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party [MHP], took part in attacks on the Thai embassy in Istanbul in response to the Thai military government deporting Uighurs to China in July.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/bangkok-...27-gj90m5.html


Thailand's Shrine Bombing - The Case For Turkey's Grey Wolves

The most likely perpetrators of the deadly Bangkok bombing last week were militant members of a right-wing Turkish organization infuriated by the Thai governments forcible repatriation of Uighur refugees back to China. Anthony Davis, a veteran security analyst with IHS-Janes, made a persuasive case for the Grey Wolves on a panel at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand Monday evening.

He did not rule out the possibility that other foreign militant Muslim organizations could be responsible for August 18 bomb at the Erawan Shrine that killed 20 people and injured 126. He found it extremely unlikely, however, that it was the work of Thai dissident political groups or even of the Muslim insurgents in southern Thailand who have waged a separatist war in three border provinces for the past decade.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susancun...s-grey-wolves/
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Old Aug 30, 2015, 4:02 am
  #150  
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Originally Posted by dsquared37
From the updated article:

"He is a foreigner, but it's unlikely that he is an international terrorist, it's a personal feud," Mr Somyot told a televised news conference.

"He got angry on behalf of his friends and family members," he added, without elaborating.



Incompetence? You're being way to kind.
I particularly like this one:

"The police are working non-stop every day. For as long as I'm alive, I'm confident that the culprit will be arrested. Though I will retire soon ... "

(reproduced from Transpac's post)
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