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January 1, 2007

Thailand: Bomb Attacks Away From Muslim South

As Thailand celebrated its New Year's Eve celebrations, the capital was hit by a series of eight bombs. The Bangkok explosions killed two individuals. A 26-year old man, Ekkachai Ruangpoom, who was injured at an explosion which took place at the Victory Monument, later died in hospital during an operation. As well as causing three deaths, the bombs injured 36 people, including nine foreign tourists. 18 victims still remain under treatment at seven hospitals.

Two of the three people who died were at the Victory Monument, where a blast happened near a bus station around 6.15 pm local time. The first bomb took place five minutes earlier at Saphan Khwai in the capital. The other explosions followed within a space of a few minutes at other locations - Klong Toey market, at the Tesco Lotus' superstore in Prachachuen, and at a police box. A second blast took place at the Victory Monument. One blast happened outside the capital, at a police traffic post in Nonthaburi province.

The other two individuals who died were named as Songkran Kanchana and a 61-year old caretaker of a Chinese shrine, Suvichai Nak-iam. Suvichal had been at Klong Toey market when he was injured, and died shortly after in hospital. A ten-year old girl was also injured in the same blast. On New Years' Day, King Bhumibol Adulyade, Queen Sirikit donated flowers to the victims, which were delivered by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Among the foreign injured were two Britons, including 55-year old Paul Hewitt, three Serbians and a 35-year old Hungarian tourist, named as Marianna Kovacs.

The presence of the bombs in the capital, in the north of the country, has raised numerous questions. Initially there were fears that the bombs were the work of Muslim activists from the southern four provinces (Songkhla, Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala) where an insurgency has raged since January 4, 2004. SInce then, the prime minister in the post-coup government, Surayud Chulanont, claimed that the bombs were the work of former politicians who were recently ousted.

The senior figure in the post-coup establishment is General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin. He had led the bloodless army coup on September 19, while the prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was at the United Nations in New York. The New Year's Eve bombings took place while General Sonthi, a Muslim, was performing Haj in Mecca. He flew back to the country when he heard the news. The General dismissed suggestions that the bombings may have been part of a counter-coup, saying: "We checked, and no one has such intentions."

The senior forensics expert in Thailand, Pornthip Rojanasunant, of the Forensic Science Institute, claimed that the bombs were different to those used by insurgents in the Muslim south. She made a statement, saying she would reveal more details of the Institute's findings to the public. A military source claimed the explosions were caused by ANFO - Ammonium nitrate fuel oil. This contains 94% ammonium nitrate (the substance used by Timothy McVeigh to attack the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1995, killing 168 people) mixed with 6% gasoline.

At three of the bomb-sites were found the initials IRK. These are the initials of a Muslim insurgent group who recently received training in Afghanistan in guerilla warfare in urban conditions. None of the main southern groups have these initials. I have not been able to find details of this group, and it appears to be named only by Thailand's Council for National Security (CNS). A source within the CNS claimed that the finding of the initials seemed too obvious and deliberate to make the authorities think the group was behind the series of attacks.

The letters were written on a pillar at the Victory Monument, a phone booth near Gaysorn Plaza, a phone booth near Pratunam Pier (where another bomb blast happened around midnight on the morning of January 1) and at a phone booth near Big C Rajdamri. Police claimed the initials may have been coincidental graffiti.

The north of Thailand is where support for Thaksin Shinawatra's Thai Rak Thai party is strongest, and where opposition to the coup is strongest.

However, on the morning following the attacks, there was an explosion in a mosque in Chiang Mai city at around 8.45 am. Chiang Mai province lies next to the border with Burma (Myanmar). The bomb injured a 34 year old worker at the mosque, Nasis Ahmad, who is Burmese. An official from the mosque, Solae Sawangsiripol, said that when Nasis arrived at the mosque, he found an object wrapped in duct tape. Nasis had heard a motorcycle speeding away, the official said.

However, a police investigator cast doubt on this account. Lt Col Noppakhun Kiratikarnkul said that his initial probe appeared to show that the bomb had not been thrown from a motorcycle, but had been dropped by the victim.

On Thursday December 28, eight Muslims were arrested in an apartment in Bangkok. Three teenagers and five men were taken away and charged with possession of marijuana and also possessing weapons and ammunition. They had literature on the southern insurgency in the apartment. The weapons were three pen guns, five 9-mm ammunition rounds, and one .357 bullet.

While there remains a possibility that the insurgent attacks may have moved to the north, the atrocities in the southern provinces have continued unabated. On Friday, December 29 two Buddhist teachers were shot and set on fire in Yala province.

Chamnong Chupatpong, director of Ban Bado elementary school, was traveling in a pickup truck in tambon (borough) Yupo with another teacher, Manoe Sonkaew. They were shot by four insurgents, who then dragged them out of their vehicle. The two teachers were dragged about 20 yards, where they were laid in the road, doused in gasoline, and set alight. The truck was also set on fire. The insurgents laid spikes in the road, to delay access to the emergency and security services.

The wife of Chammong said that villagers stood by and did nothing while her husband and his fellow schoolteacher were killed. She said: "My husband has been helping them and educating their children for the past decade, and the differences in our religious beliefs was never an obstacle. But this shows that our good deeds were not reciprocated."

Kawin Chupatpong said that her father had also helped the local Muslims by raising money to help them to build a mosque. "He even used his own money" she said.

Chammong was aged 59, and the other man was aged 52. Their bodies were burned about 100 meters from their school. The night before, a 24-year old Muslim defense volunteer was killed in a drive-by shooting in Narathiwat province.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 1, 2007 11:31 PM

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