Thread: March Protests : Bombs and Things ..............

"Starting from today, the military deployed at checkpoints, government buildings and military bases will be armed in order to prevent ill-intentioned people from inciting unrest," Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd told reporters.

Channel NewsAsia - Thailand raises stakes against Red Shirts - channelnewsasia.com

Two bombs exploded in Public Health Ministry compound near a building where the Cabinet used as a venue for its special meeting.


Two bombs attack in Public Health Ministry where cabinet meets

Police release sketches of suspected grenade attackers at Defence Ministry



BANGKOK, March 23 (TNA) - Pol Lt-Gen Santan Chayanont, chief of Bangkok's Metropolitan Police Bureau have released sketches of two men suspected on involvement in the rocket-propelled grenade attack at the Ministry of Defense Ministry last Saturday.

Drawn from descriptions given by witnesses, the sketches give visual impressions similar to the images recorded on the ministry's surveillance cameras.

The first suspect is a man 1.8 metres tall man, with a shaved head, but the second wore a cap.

Police said they had determined the identities of the suspects, and are now gathering evidence to seek arrest warrants for them.

According to the initial investigation, police believed that the RPG attack the Ministry of Defense was unrelated to the M79 grenade attack at the first Infantry Regiment on March 15 and the M67 fragmentation grenade attack at a highway maintenance office in Thonburi Monday night.

Police said that the case was complicated, but the Metropolitan Police Bureau advised it would speed up the investigation to find those responsible.

A street sweeper was slightly wounded when the RPG was fired outside the ministry. Police found a pick-up truck carrying an RPG launcher, an M67 grenade, and a supply of ammunition about 500 metres from the explosion site.

mcot.net

Police have issued the warrant of arrest and set Bt500,000 bounty on ex-policeman Lance Corporal Bandit Sithithum, 43, for charges related to using the rocket propelled launcher to attack the Defence Ministry on Saturday.

Half a million baht bounty on ex-policeman for firing RPG at Defence Ministry

from the blogworld ....................

B-41 shell exploded in Bangkok did not come from Cambodia: PQRU
Heng Soy
Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Tith Sothea, mouthpiece of the Council of Ministers' Press and Quick Readion Unit

22 March 2010
By Leang Delux
Radio France Internationale
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

The Cambodian Council of Ministers rejected the claim made by a Thai Channel 3 TV presenter regarding the explosion of a B-41 shell in Bangkok on Saturday morning. The TV presenter claimed that the shell could be imported from Cambodia. Tith Sothea, the mouthpiece of the Press and Quick Reaction Unit (PQRU) of the Council of Ministers, declared that this comment is baseless and that Bangkok used the news to serve its own political interest.

Cambodia rejected a comment made by Thai Channel 3 TV which indicated that B-41 rocket launchers that were discovered during a armed fight in Bangkok on Saturday morning were imported from Cambodia. This comment displeased Cambodia and earned Cambodia’s reaction.

Tith Sothea, mouthpiece of the Press and Quick Reaction Unity (PQRU) of the Council of Ministers, told reporters on Monday 22 March that the comment made by the Thai Channel 3 TV does not have clear basis, and that it was intended to incite, disrupt relationships and create tensions between the two countries.

Tith Sothea added that any country can have B-41 rocket launchers, and even Thailand itself owns numerous of them. He indicated that Thailand used to provide guns and refuge to third-parties to attack the Cambodian government [most likely referring the anti-Vietnamese fights during the 80s].

Tith Sothea indicated that the Abhisit government always used propaganda to fool the national and international opinion, in particular, by linking its problems with Cambodia.

Tith Sothea said that Thailand has a strict law to prevent flow of armaments and drugs into Thailand. In fact, according to Thai news media from the end of last week, Thai border police have tightened the checking on Cambodians who crossed over to Thailand under the present circumstance whereby the Red Shirts are demonstrating in Bangkok.

The Thai news media quoted Thai border police in Aranyaprathet, Sa Kaeo province, as saying that special forces are strengthening the border checking, including body patting, in order to prevent the transport of armaments and drugs into Thailand.

ki-media.blogspot.com

Chiang Mai Amends Security Policy after Grenade Attack
24 March 2010

Chiang Mai will be amending its security policy after assailants launched an M-79 grenade attack near a department store.

The grenade is believed to be a military practice round and officials are confident the incident is intended to stir fear.

Yesterday, an M-79 grenade was found near the Central Airport Plaza Department Store. Fortunately, the grenade did not detonate. Authorities have launched an investigation to track down the assailants.

The grenade is reportedly a practice round used in military exercises. Police believe the assailants shot the round on Monday night before it was found the following morning.

The attack is believed to be an intent to stir fear rather than target humans and property.

The forensic department of the Provincial Police Bureau 5 found that the M-79 grenade was a live round but did not detonate possibly because of the way it landed.

Investigators said the grenade could have been fired from the pedestrian bridge at a nearby intersection.

Chiang Mai provincial police chief Police Major General Sommai Kongwisaisuk has called a meeting with all responsible parties to amend security measures within the area.

Police are reviewing footage from security cameras around the scene to collect further information on the grenade attack.

thailandoutlook.tv

Bomb Discovered in Front of Bank in Chiang Mai
25 March 2010

A M26 grenade was left in front of Bangkok Bank's ATM in Sankampaeng district in Chiang Mai province.

Fortunately, it did not go off and the authorities have now successfully defused it.

thailandoutlook.tv

Authorities Retrieve Bomb at Attorney General's Office
26 March 2010

Authorities are able to retrieve a M67 bomb left along the fence of the Attoney General's Office on Ratchadapisek Road.

They are now looking through footage of surrounding closed circuit cameras to see if a culprit can be identified.

This is the latest in a series of bomb attacks in Bangkok and its metropolitan areas in the last two weeks.

thailandoutlook.tv

Is it colour CCTV?

Will it be a red shirt??

A bomb exploded outside a building inside the Customs Department compound in Klong Toey district Saturday morning.

Bomb explodes inside the Customs Department

A grenade was fired into the state-owned NBT television station late Saturday night, injuring at least four people.

Another grenade hits NBT

A hand grenade was thrown into Army-run Channel 5 Tv station on Phaholyothin Road on Saturday night, injuring at least one soldier.

Grenade thrown into Channel 5 station

the above is for the record only , there are separate threads on both incidents elsewhere in news .

Thailand Bombings 2010 - Google Maps

At this rate the army are going to run out of ammo soon.

Thanks for all your hard work Mid, in keeping this record, it's very useful. Cheers.

Ten injured in blasts targeting TV stations
28-03-2010

Two television stations became targets of bomb attacks last night in the most violent day since the red shirts began their rally two weeks ago to force a House dissolution.

Shortly before 7pm, an M67 grenade was lobbed at the Army-run Channel 5 studio, wounding seven people, four of them seriously. Two of the wounded were soldiers guarding the compound.

At about 9.30pm, an M79 grenade was fired into the state-run NBT (Channel 11) studio located on Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road.

The bomb exploded at the tent where soldiers were on guard, wounding four of them. They were taken to Phra Mongkut Hospital.

Police investigators said the grenade might have been tossed from the elevated tollway in front of the TV station.

Friday's attacks coincided with a march by the red-shirt protesters earlier in the day to several locations in Bangkok to force soldiers stationed temporarily there to move out.

The casualty toll from yesterday's attacks was the highest since four grenades were fired on March 12 into the First Infantry Regiment base, wounding two soldiers.

It was followed by a series of grenade attacks targeting government buildings like the Defence Ministry, the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Public Health Ministry, on the day the Cabinet convened its weekly meeting.

The bomb attack on Channel 5, which is located near Victory Monument, caused a hole about 25 centimetres wide on the footpath, about 50 metres from the entrance to the studio.

Police collected a piece of a firing pin from the scene and concluded it was an M67 grenade. Investigators suspect the incident was related to the political situation.

Out of seven victims, four people including the guarding soldiers - identified as Private Chaiyasit Chaopho-en and Private Nareupong Uthensud - were severely wounded and rushed to nearby hospitals, said deputy Metropolitan Police chief Maj-General Euapong Komarakul Na Nakorn. The grenade was the same type as that used in the attack on the Legal Execution Depart-ment in the Bang Khunnont area, he said.

The security camera at the entrance showed two men on a motorcycle wearing helmets were the assailants, he said.

Police suspect the grenade bounced off the fence's wire netting and fell outside where the guarding soldiers stood, he said.

One of the wounded civilians, Jakkapong Sawangthaveewong, said he and seven other people were in a Nissan van heading towards the expressway gate when they passed the TV station's entrance and heard a loud blast that temporarily deafened them.

The van's rear left tyre burst and they pulled over and rushed their injured friends to a nearby hospital, said Jakkapong, who sustained a slight cut to his hand.

Earlier in the day, an explosion hit the Customs Department and assault rifle fire was directed at a Bangkok Bank branch in Phayao. But it remained unclear if the incidents were related to the political confusion.

asianewsnet.net

God I wish this would happen in Britain, it's so exciting.

Originally Posted by CaptainNemo

God I wish this would happen in Britain, it's so exciting.

You have a democratic vote and checks and balances if you don't like the government vote for someone you do like.

Two m79 grenades were fired at the 11th Infantry Regiment in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district at about 4.30am on Sunday, reports said.

Four on duty soldiers at the military camp were wounded, one of them in critical condition. They were taken to Bhumipol hospital.


Grenade attacks at 11th Infantry Reg.

Someone seems to want the soldiers to see the Redshirts as the enemy.
Perhaps something of a build up to the big crack down.

Originally Posted by Panda

Someone seems to want the soldiers to see the Redshirts as the enemy.
Perhaps something of a build up to the big crack down.

Suthep, Nevin Chidchop, where are u?

Yes Mid. Thanks for your dedicated work on this and other threads. Greatly appreciated.

MID, i would like to add my thanks for the work you have done on the forum , keeping us up to date in what is going on in Asia.

Originally Posted by Hamster

Originally Posted by crocodilexp

Where do the bombs come from? I bet the origin of the bombs can be linked to the... army maybe? Even if they were "stolen", that's ultimately army's responsibility and failure to guard them.

Who stands to benefit from the attacks? Not the reds, certainly...

It is exactly the reds who stand the most to benefit from the bombings.

1) If they can get the government to flinch first and engage in violence then the reds win

2) If they can get the the military to go apeshit and forcibly shut down the demonstrations the reds win

3) If they can get the military to stop supporting the appeasement Abhisit government the reds win

4) If they can get a splinter group to attack the redshirts in the night the reds win

In fact, the only scenario where violence ensues in which the reds lose is if they get caught throwing grenades.

"The Reds win". Do you mean that in the above scenarios Abhisit would dissolve the government and call fresh elections? #3 being the exception as if the military stopped supporting the Abhisit government he would be stuffed.

No. Sorry, I wasn't clear. I mean there is no downside. And that the reds will only gain a large amount of additional support for the PTP at the next elections, whenever they may be.