Bombs rattle tourist district

Bombs rattled a popular tourist district in downtown Bangkok, Tuesday afternoon, resulting in embassies in Thailand reinstating their travel warnings to citizens to maintain a heightened awareness when visiting the Thai capital.

US citizens were told to monitor the Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet website, that posts worldwide cautions and travel alerts.

Meanwhile, the British Embassy in Bangkok issued a travel advisory within hours of the explosions.

Police reported the first explosion occurred in a house on Sukhumvit Soi 71 after three men ran from the house, and one of them, initially identified as Saeid Moradi,28, tried to hail a taxi.

When the taxi failed to stop, he threw a grenade at it, only to have it bounce off the car and explode severing his legs. In addition, shrapnel wounded five adult passers-by. He threw a third bomb at a police van near Kasem Phitthaya School, but no students were injured.

Police later said they arrested Mohammad Hazaei, 42, a male, Iranian citizen, at Suvarnabhumi Airport as he was about to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur. He is now under interrogation. A third male suspect remains at large.

Bangkok police chief Pol Lt-General , Winai Thongsong, said a search at the rented house turned up an unspecified amount of C-4 explosives and some home-made bombs.

In Moradi’s backpack, police found clothing; receipts issued to a Yasef Moradi by a hotel in Pattaya; Bt8,500 and US$2,800 in cash; and a large amount of cash in Iranian currency.

Much to the media’s surprise, prime minister deputy general secretary, Thitima Chaisang, denied the incidents were acts of terrorism.

“This is not sabotage or related to recent travel advisories issued after last month’s terrorism scare.”

She added: “Intelligence analysis said the suspects were arguing with one another and the incidents is being treated as  normal crimes.”

Critics will treat this as a ridiculous response considering the C-4 explosives were used taking the incident well out of the arena of “normal crimes”.

Foreign Ministry spokesman, Thanee Thongphakdee, said an official conclusion on the incidents would be made soon to determine the specific nature of the crimes. “Don’t jump to the conclusion that this was an act of terrorism.”

Police last month arrested Atris Hussein, a Lebanese man with Swedish nationality whom they said had ties to Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group based in Lebanon, and suggested he might have been involved in setting up a terror plot in Thailand. Hezbollah later denied any links with Hussein.

Source - ttrweekly