Thailand's Tourism & Junta Damaged by 2nd Bomb

Thailand's Tourism & Junta Damaged by 2nd Bomb

By Richard S. Ehrlich

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Jittery and suspicious residents and tourists are
trying to enjoy the tropical pleasures of this sprawling river port,
but with no evidence about who is bombing Bangkok or why, many people
fear more danger ahead.

The coup-installed military regime which seized power in May 2014 is
suddenly unable to continue its stilted propaganda boasts that the
junta is "bringing happiness to the people" by making the country safe
and secure.

"A girl who works in my bank was killed in the bombing," a
white-collar executive said softly.

The worried executive displayed a photo on her iPhone of a smiling
young woman who now had a red heart drawn around her as a funeral
memorial.

"At work, my friends just talk about who they think did it, and they
spend their time looking on Internet for updates," she said.

"I'm afraid."

River ferry passengers ran screaming for their lives on August 18
after someone tossed a small bomb toward a pier along Bangkok's
majestic Chao Phraya river.

The bomb just missed a busy passenger footbridge and splashed into the water.

No one was injured, but the explosion forced a huge volcanic volume of
water into the air, drenching everyone nearby.

The ferry pier is popular with tourists and residents who can climb
aboard motorized boats to cross the river, or travel north or south
along its wide meandering route to other piers and towns.

A horrific pipe bomb blast on August 17, several miles away at a Hindu
shrine thronged with worshippers and tourists, killed at least 20
people and wounded more than 120 others.

After that blast, thousands of security forces cautiously took up
positions throughout Bangkok, but most of this modern capital appeared
relatively relaxed and normal.

Thailand's U.S.-trained and equipped intelligence agencies, armed
forces, police and other personnel are following basic clues such as
CCTV video of the two bomb attacks, talking to taxi drivers and
eyewitnesses, and asking the public to report suspicious individuals.

Authorities have published blurry photographs of a pale-skinned young
man who appeared to have bushy dark hair and wore shorts with a yellow
T-shirt.

Police said he was their main suspect because he appeared on CCTV
video to have brought a backpack into the shrine's open courtyard and
departed without it, moments before the explosion on August 17.

Coup leader Prayuth Chan-ocha, who awarded himself absolute power when
he took over the prime ministry and retired as army chief last year,
appeared to have no hard evidence proving who was launching the
unprecedented attacks.

But the results appear obvious and unavoidable.

The bloodshed's devastating effect is expected to soon impact
Thailand's lucrative tourism industry, which was one of the few money
makers not flattened by junta's lack of economic experience.

Upcoming tourists' cancellations are expected to cause losses for
countless hotels, restaurants, flights, light industries, the service
sector and others who profit from foreign visitors.

The two bomb attacks aimed for Bangkok's softest targets in an
apparent effort to cripple the travel industry and prove the military
regime was helpless to defend its own capital.

Some people voiced complaints that Bangkok's traditionally lax
security at public transportation stations had not been increased
despite the bombings.

On Bangkok's public elevated monorail Skytrain transport system, one
foreign resident said he experienced "zero bag search" during his
morning and evening commutes.

City workers meanwhile scrubbed the streets around first attack,
washing away blood and debris from the August 17 explosion.

In a terse, brief appearance during a nationwide government-controlled
TV broadcast on August 18, Mr. Prayuth appeared worn, distraught and
perplexed.

"There is still a group of individuals in our country who harbor and
carry out their ill wishes against the nation," Mr. Prayuth said
without identifying them.

"They aim to score political gain, or to destroy our economy, or
tourism, or are driven by other motives," he said, indicating his
junta did not know who was bombing Bangkok or why.

"As for foreigners living in Thailand -- including embassies,
consulates, and international organizations -- the government would
like to assure you that we will take care of your safety, your lives,
property and interests, with the utmost effort and we will keep you
informed of the news."

He later told reporters, "Today we have seen the closed-circuit
footage, we saw some suspects, but it was not clear. We have to find
them first."

The military's powerful Internal Security Operation Command (ISOC) was
reportedly pursuing three possible motives, including opponents
against the coup-installed military regime, infighting among the
junta's officials who will soon be promoted or demoted during a
reshuffle, or possible international terrorism by Islamists linked to
Iran and the Middle East.

ISOC "ruled out insurgents from the deep South," said a brief report
in The Nation newspaper which did not elaborate.

In the absence of any transparent accountable investigation, Prime
Minister Prayuth's harsh restrictions on freedom of speech are
expected to result in rumors and propaganda pushed by all sides
anxious to use the explosion for their own political reasons.

Security forces tried to determine if the location of the blast was
symbolic, while no one immediately claimed responsibility.

Ratchaprasong intersection is equivalent to New York's Times Square.

It became a blood-stained site in March 2010 when the military crushed
the last stronghold of a pro-democracy insurrection resulting in 90
deaths, mostly civilians, during nine weeks of clashes.

The intersection is flanked by some of Bangkok's most expensive
shopping malls, five-star hotels and condominiums, and is underneath a
packed commuters' Skytrain monorail serviced by a popular station.

The elegant Erawan shrine, dedicated to a four-faced statue of the
Hindu god Brahma, was also damaged by the bomb attached to a pole
along its decorative iron fence.

The shrine's casualties included some of the throngs of worshippers
and tourists who squeeze into its open courtyard every day and evening
to pray at the gilded Brahma and watch ornately costumed Thai women
perform ritual dances.

The shrine is surrounded by Thai vendors selling flowers, incense,
temple icons and live sparrows trapped in bamboo cages which are set
free by superstitious customers who expect a reward of good luck for
their good deed.

Thailand's population is majority Buddhist, but the monarchy and
government include Hindu deities among its official symbols and
institutions.

The shrine is popular among Buddhists because Siddhartha Gautama --
the Buddha -- was born as a Hindu 2,558 years ago, and Hinduism's
ancient religion's clergy are influential in Thai society which also
absorbs countless animist beliefs.

The military's ISOC is heavily involved in fighting Islamist
insurgents in southern Thailand, and also provides intelligence and
security for this Southeast Asian nation's other major military and
political problems.

Thailand's politicized military has faced difficulty containing the
strategy-savvy Islamist guerrillas in the south along the border with
Malaysia.

Bombs hidden in cars, motorcycles and cooking gas cylinders are
frequently used by the southern rebels, but there has never been any
publicly confirmed attacks here in Bangkok by the insurgents.

Minority ethnic Malay-Thai Muslims, fighting for an independent
Pattani homeland, form a majority in three southern provinces where
fighting on all sides has resulted in more than 4,500 people killed
since an upsurge in 2004.

The explosion was "more likely to be some anti-junta activists,
although the bombing appears to be sophisticated," said
Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations fellow for Southeast
Asia, Josh Kurlantzick.

The "bombing was clearly intended for the highest possible
casualties," Mr. Kurlantzick tweeted.

Thailand's military regime, which has ruled since the 2014 coup, has
been hit with rising criticism even among supporters, mostly because
its bustling economy has flattened since the junta seized power.

The political conflict mentioned by ISOC presumably referred to the
coup-installed regime's difficulty in crushing pro-democracy
supporters angry that their popularly elected prime minister Yingluck
Shinawatra was ousted in the coup and the constitution subsequently
cancelled.

Gen. Prayuth is currently orchestrating a new constitution which his
opponents predict will be a "constitution from hell".

Leaked drafts and proposals suggest the constitution will allow
appointed military regime figures and collaborating technocrats to
continue their domination by severely restricting the number of
elected political seats in the next parliament.

Gen. Prayuth earlier participated in a 2006 coup which toppled Ms.
Yingluck's older and more popular brother, former prime minister
Thaksin Shinawatra, who then fled abroad to avoid a two-year prison
sentence for corruption.

Last week, Mr. Thaksin told his followers to oppose the next
constitution, sparking concerns that fresh confrontations may be
looming.

Hours after the explosion, Mr. Thaksin expressed his condolences on
his official Twitter account, and condemned the assault.

ISOC's speculation that Gen. Prayuth's upcoming reshuffle may be
linked to the explosion may involve his upcoming shuffle of his
hand-picked, lackluster ministers and other administrators.

Some Thai analysts suspect splits may be worsening within the military
and also among the junta's supporters because the regime has not
solved many of this country's woes but has succeeded in promoting Gen.
Prayuth's allies.

In August 2006, after surviving what he described as an assassination
attempt, then-prime minister Thaksin said a car bomb packed with
explosives near his house was a plot by military officers to stage a
coup.

Mr. Thaksin's Defense Minister General Thammarak Isarangkun agreed and
told journalists at the time: "There is a movement to bring the
government to collapse and to kill the government's leader."

One month after Mr. Thaksin expressed his fears, he was ousted in a
non-violent coup.

ISOC's mention of international terrorism reflects previous attacks in
Bangkok by Islamists allegedly linked to Iran and other Shiite groups
in the Middle East.

But those occasional bomb blasts and possible assassination attempts
have usually been described as plots against Israeli diplomats.

For example, in February 2012, three Iranian men were arrested shortly
after setting off a series of clay-like C-4 bombs in Bangkok which
destroyed their rented house, damaged a taxi, blew off the legs of one
of the Iranians, and injured four Thai civilians.

The arrested Iranians allegedly made their bombs by hollowing out
cheap plastic radios, which they stuffed with C-4 explosives, several
magnets, and some steel ball bearings to increase the destruction.

The pin and handle of a grenade was shoved into the side of each
radio, so the attacker could approach a car, magnetically stick the
radio onto the side of the vehicle, and then manually pull a circular
ring to yank out the pin -- similar to a hand grenade.

The Iranians were allegedly building bombs with C-4 explosives in a
Bangkok house when it blew up, apparently by accident, prompting the
trio to flee.

Police said a fourth Iranian man suspected of involvement, plus the
group's alleged Iranian female accomplice, successfully escaped by
flying from Bangkok to Tehran.

Ironically, the entire Ratchaprasong intersection and surrounding area
is one of the most heavily monitored urban crossroads on earth, with
dozens of CCTV cameras mounted at scores of locations, installed after
the bloody end of the 2010 insurrection.

Pedestrians and vehicles approaching and passing through the area can
be observed and recorded from multiple angles, step-by-step non-stop
throughout the intersection and surrounding streets, through live
feeds monitored on screens in a police bunker in a nearby five-star
hotel.

Those CCTV cameras are also linked to internal CCTV cameras inside
surrounding shopping malls, hotels, office and residential buildings
and elevators, which allow police to watch if their target travels
from the street into a nearby building.

Fortunately for the blasts' injured victims, several well-equipped
hospitals and clinics are very close to the site, which police later
cordoned off during their investigation.

Several Thais and foreigners expressed dread that more confrontations
may result.

They also predict Thailand's lucrative tourism industry will
immediately suffer cancellations because many travelers come to
Bangkok for shopping and sightseeing in and around the Ratchaprasong
intersection during their visit.

Louis Vuitton's opulent showroom, the Grand Hyatt Erawan's plush
hotel, and other multinational venues near the site suffered shattered
glass from the explosion.

"The perpetrators are cruel and heartless because they intended to
take lives," National Police Chief Somyot Poompanmoung announced in a
televised broadcast.

"Everyone knows that at 7 p.m. at the shrine there are a lot of people
gathered around there -- both Thais and foreign tourists -- and if
they plant a bomb there they know, or can assume, they will cause
casualties.

"The blast radius of the bomb is about 100 meters (about 325 feet).
The bomb experts say that the bomb weighed about three kilograms
(about six pounds).

"We haven't ruled out any motive. We are putting great importance on
every motive," Mr. Somyot said.

ends

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