Bomb attack at central Bangkok tourist attraction kills 18

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Situation under control: Ministry

WIRAJ SRIPONG
THE NATION August 19, 2015 1:00 am

THE FOREIGN Ministry assured foreign diplomats yesterday that the government was able to handle the situation after the deadly blast on Monday night.

"I invited members of the diplomatic corps. This is an explanation session," said Norachit Sinhaseni, the Foreign Ministry's permanent secretary.

The meeting with foreign diplomats was held yesterday after Monday evening's bomb blast.

At least 20 people, including foreigners, were killed.

Norachit added that he had not gone into details regarding the investigation into the bombing, as it was being conducted by security officials and he was not in a position to elaborate.

He said he had instructed all Thai embassies and consulates worldwide to provide details about measures taken by the government regarding the investigation and assistance provided to the victims.

"The Foreign Ministry is here to coordinate and facilitate, in case foreigners are victims of this incident," Norachit said, adding that the Justice and Tourism and Sports Ministries would be responsible for compensation.

Close monitoring

The permanent secretary also said the Tourism and Sports Ministry had set up a war room to closely monitor the situation.

"So far, the government has not declared a state of emergency," Norachit said, adding that none of the foreign embassies had asked for additional security.

Norachit added that the Foreign Ministry would regularly issue statements to keep the foreign community apprised of the situation.

He also said he felt the capital was still safe for tourists.

As for a question posed by the foreign media as to whether the attackers aimed to hurt the tourism industry, Norachit said he was not in a position to make a conclusion on the matter.

Meanwhile, Anusorn Chaiaksornwet, a political scientist at Walailak University, said: "The reasons behind the attack are still inconclusive. The general public should be cautious and well aware while taking in information, especially from social media."

He added that from this moment on, all government agencies should be coordinated when providing information to the general public.

"Being coordinated and regularly informing the public and all stakeholders will help rebuild trust among locals and foreigners," he said.

Anusorn also emphasised that declaring a state of emergency would not improve the situation.

Yesterday, some 108 representatives from 76 countries and 10 international organisations attended the Foreign Ministry's briefing. The ministry has set up hotline numbers: (02) 644 7245/(02) 643 5522/ (085) 065 9927.

 

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UN and foreign governments express sorrow

THE NATION August 19, 2015 1:00 am

Foreigners take in the scene outside Erawan Shrine where a bomb was detonated on 17 August in central Bangkok, Thailand, 18 August 2015. A bomb exploded on 17 August near a Hindu shrine in a busy business district of Bangkok that is popular with tourists.

THE WORLD expressed its sympathies to Thailand after the Monday night explosion, which killed at least 20 people including many foreigners.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was shocked to learn of the bombing. His spokesman said in a statement that Ban expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and to the people and government of Thailand.

"The secretary-general was shocked to learn of the explosion in Bangkok today close to the Erawan Shrine and the loss of life of innocent civilians." He also wished the injured a quick recovery.

France condemned the attack, saying it wished to extend its deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims.

"Those who were responsible for this attack must be identified and brought to justice," Foreign Minister Alexandre Giorgini said.

In a statement, the deputy ministry spokesman said the French Embassy was monitoring the situation closely.

The US government also condemned the violence, while noting that it remained unclear who was behind the blast. The State Department warned US citizens to avoid the area.

Spokesman John Kirby said it was unclear whether any Americans were among the casualties. The US stood ready to help Thai authorities if asked.

The European Union also expressed its "sincere condolences" in a statement late on Monday. "Our thoughts are with the people of Thailand at this time of shock and grief," its statement said.

In this region, countries expressed sympathy, while also monitoring the situation to see if their citizens had been wounded.

"The Malaysian government, through its embassy in Bangkok, is working closely with Thai authorities in determining if any Malaysians were among those affected by the bombing," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

 

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Australian model accused of Bangkok bombing blames ‘jealous haters spreading gossip’ online

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 19 August, 2015, 9:20am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 19 August, 2015, 3:36pm

Ben Westcott
[email protected]

A man wanted for questioning by Thai police in connection with the Bangkok bombing (left) and model Sunny Burns (right). Photo: SCMP Pictures

An Australian model and English tutor who was questioned by Thai police on Tuesday night after being accused online of being the Bangkok bomber said he was in shock and saddened by what had happened.

Sunny Burns, originally from Sydney but currently working as an English "personal trainer" and part-time actor in the Thai capital, handed himself in to authorities after social media users wrongly identified him as being the man police suspect was responsible for the Erawan Shrine bombing, which killed at least 22 people on Monday night.

A selfie taken by model Sunny Burns during his interview with Thai police. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Burns, who has worked as a model in Hong Kong, wrote on Facebook that he was yelled at by a Thai police chief and had his home searched for bombs or bomb-making material, but still said he was treated well by officers overall.

He said he was cleared when CCTV footage emerged of him on his way from the gym to teach an English class in another part of Bangkok.

Watch: Sunny Burns stars in mini soap opera "Keep in Touch"


“This is all because of social media and some jealous hater spreading gossip,” Burns wrote on Facebook. “Mum, I’m safe and more worried about the people injured in the attack.

“Stay safe everyone and pray for Thailand.”

A friend and former colleague of Burns in Bangkok told the South China Morning Post the Australian was “a very nice man who was definitely not a terrorist”.

The Royal Thai Police have been contacted for comment.

Burns told Australian television programme Sunrise on Wednesday morning he was worried he was going to become like Schapelle Corby, an Australian who was imprisoned in Indonesia in 2005 for drug trafficking in a high-profile case.

“I would never wear those [clothes],” he later wrote to his followers on Facebook, referring to the bomb suspect’s yellow shirt. “I’m a fashion blogger.”

Burns was one of two Westerners questioned by Thai police over their similarity to the suspect in the CCTV footage.

A second man, also with curly hair, was taken in for questioning by police at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on Tuesday night – his picture was also widely circulated on social media.

He was later released.

 

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Bangkok residents flock to reopened Erawan Shrine to pay respects to bomb attack victims

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 19 August, 2015, 11:33am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 19 August, 2015, 10:03pm

Samuel Chan in Bangkok and AFP

Bangkok residents flocked to attend a vigil at the Erawan Shrine, scene of Monday's bomb attack. Photo: Sam Tsang

As dusk fell on Wednesday, hundreds of local Bangkok residents flocked to lay flowers at the city's Erawan Shrine to commemorate to those who were killed there in Monday's bomb attack, outnumbering foreign tourists who usually throng the Hindu shrine.

Security appeared to remain at a low level with less than ten police officers and a handful of soldiers seen present at the shrine. No roadblocks had been set up in the surrounding areas.

Nearby luxury shopping malls, however, stepped up security measures with customers being screened by metal detectors at the entrances to many shops.

The shrine’s kiosk which sells incense sticks had reopened by evening and workmen were still busy repairing the adjacent pavilion where traditional Thai dancing performances are usually staged, which was destroyed in the blast.

A Bangkok man looks at a picture of the prime suspect in the bombing issued by Thai police on Wednesday. Photo: Sam Tsang

“I am here to show that we are not afraid,” said American Frank Hull, who was back in Thailand for holiday after having spent several years teaching theology and English at a local Thai university over a decade ago.

About a hundred tourists attended the reopening of the Erawan Shrine on Wednesday afternoon where a blast killed 20 people and injured 125 more, as police hunted a man shown in security footage calmly planting what is believed to be the bomb.

Thai Buddhist monks led prayers this afternoon at the shrine, where tourists - a few of them Chinese - as well as many Thai worshippers gathered to offer prayers to the victims of the explosion, while some 50 international journalists were present at the site.

There was no visible military presence, though three police officers were stationed at the shrine, where the mood was calm. The policemen later even took photos of each other in front of the temple.

Singaporean tourist Kelvin Leong, who is of Chinese ethnicity, said he did not feel uneasy about coming to the shrine despite the attack two nights ago.

“You see, this is about faith," he said, adding that a previous plan to visit Erawan was cancelled. "I can’t afford to miss it again this time.”

An officer poses for a photo in front of the shrine. Photo: Samuel Chan

“I’ve heard the attack was targeting Chinese tourists, but I am not too worried,” said Yang Yong, from China's Yunnan province, who is travelling with his family of six. “Even if it happened [to me], it would be my fate.

“But I expected the Thai government would have stepped up the security right after it happened, so I suppose it’s safe now.”

While the shrine was largely repaired, the iconic four-faced Buddha, a golden statue sitting at the centre of the temple, had a chunk of its chin blown off in the blast.

The twisted metal fence and broken windows of the adjacent Grand Hyatt Hotel are also grim reminders of the blast.

The Buddha's chin was blown off during the blast. Photo: Sam Tsang

The bomb struck early on Monday evening as worshippers and tourists crowded into the Erawan shrine in the Thai capital’s commercial heart, but no-one has yet claimed responsibility.

The unprecedented attack on the Thai capital left at least 11 foreigners dead, with Chinese, Hong Kong, Singaporean, Indonesian and a family from Malaysia among the victims.

More than 100 other people were wounded by a blast that shredded bodies and incinerated motorcycles at one of the city’s busiest intersections.

Police said a second explosion at a Bangkok pier on Tuesday that caused no injuries may be linked, deepening fears for Bangkok residents with police conceding they do not know who was responsible.

Around a dozen Buddhist monks led prayers at the Erawan shrine as it reopened early on Wednesday while devotees, including tourists, genuflected and held joss sticks.

A relative of the dead Malaysians had laid bundles of clothes at the shrine to represent the lost loved ones, according to a monk.

The shrine - a popular tourist attraction that typifies the kingdom’s unusual blend of Hindu and Buddhist traditions - and its surrounding had already been largely restored.

Twisted iron railings were the only immediate sign of the carnage, which police believe was caused by a bomb made up of 3 kilograms of explosives and ball bearings.

One devotee had more reason than most to give thanks.

The shrine is a popular tourist attraction that typifies the kingdom’s unusual blend of Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Photo: EPA

Tourists and worshippers visit hours after the Erawan Shrine reopened. Photo: AP

Tommy Goh, 56, a Thai-Malaysian from Penang, said only a delayed taxi from his hotel spared him from being at the shrine around the time of the blast.

“Every year I come down to this shrine. We were meant to be here around 6.50-7pm [on Monday] but the taxi didn’t arrive from the hotel ... so we went somewhere else,” he said. “Ten minutes later and it could have been so different.”

Police released images on Tuesday showing a man, apparently young, slightly built and wearing a yellow T-shirt and dark shorts, walking into the shrine with a backpack.

In the video he calmly places the backpack underneath a bench and then walks away clutching a blue plastic bag and what looks like a smartphone.

The bomb exploded several minutes later, leading Thailand police to make the man their prime suspect.

A small explosion on Tuesday by a bridge at the city’s Chaopraya river has been tied to Monday’s bomb.

Colonel Kamthorn Ouicharoen, of Thai bomb squad police confirmed the bridge bomb was the same type as the one detonated at the Erawan Shrine.

A woman pays respects at the Erawan Shrine at Rajprasong intersection in Bangkok. Photo: AP

“It’s exactly the same, the equipment used to make it, the bomb size,” he said.

“Police will resume collecting evidence this afternoon,” he added.

Thailand has experienced a near-decade long political crisis that has seen endless rounds of street violence.

But never anything on the scale of Monday’s bomb.

A festering insurgency by Muslim rebels in the Thai south has claimed 6,400 victims, but is a highly localised conflict.

 

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5 out of 7 dead: Happy holiday turns to tragedy for Chinese Malaysian family decimated by Bangkok bomb

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 19 August, 2015, 3:02pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 19 August, 2015, 3:02pm

Agence France-Presse in Kuala Lumpur

The happy family poses at a restaurant in Bangkok: From left are Lim Su See, Neoh Ee Ling, Lee Jin Xuan, Lee Chee Siang, their Thai travel guide, Neoh Hock Guan, Neoh Ka Chuan, and Lim Siew Gek.

Malaysian tourist Neoh Hock Guan was just about to pray at Bangkok’s Erawan shrine on Monday when he dropped the candle he wanted to light.

“When I bent to pick it up, I heard the explosion,” he told the Malay Mail. ”The next thing I knew, none of my family members were in sight.”

Neoh’s wife, son, son-in-law, and four-year-old granddaughter were all killed as the blast ripped through the shrine, twisting metal and shredding bodies in an unprecedented attack in the Thai capital.

It would be several grim hours before their remains were found, the 55-year-old told media. Of the seven family members in the shrine on Monday evening, only he and his pregnant daughter survived.

The remains of a fifth family victim, his sister-in-law, were found Tuesday night, The Star reported.

“This incident is a black mark in our lives,” Neoh told the Malay Mail from Bangkok.

The bombing killed at least 20 people - including 11 foreigners, Neoh’s family among them -- Monday evening and wounded more than 100.

Bodies were peppered with ball bearings and motorcycles incinerated in the blast at one of Bangkok’s busiest intersections. No one has yet claimed responsibility.

A photograph taken earlier in the holiday and published in Malaysian media shows Neoh, a cake seller from the state of Penang, and his family posing happily at a restaurant in Bangkok, their table laden with Thai dishes and glasses of beer.

Their smiling Thai driver is pictured in the same photo making the two-fingered “peace” sign.

Malaysian tourists react emotionally as they hold incense and pray before the sacred Erawan Shrine, as it reopened to the public. Photo: EPA

The ethnic Chinese family had reportedly left Penang by train on Saturday, travelling north through Thailand on a trip that was to culminate in a few days in the capital.

Neoh’s 20-year-old son Neoh Jai Jun, a student at university in Taiwan, had returned home to join them on the holiday, The Star reported.

He died in the explosion, along with Neoh’s wife Lim Saw Gek, his son-in-law Lee Tze Siang and granddaughter Lee Jing Xuan.

Pictured in pink in the family photograph, the four-year-old is the youngest confirmed victim of the explosion so far.

The body of Neoh’s sister-in-law Lim Soo See has yet to be identified, reports said.

“We cannot believe four members of our family have been killed in the bomb blast. What was supposed to be a happy holiday has turned into a nightmare for all of us,” Neoh’s brother Neoh Hock Bee, 48, said.

“I pray the Thai police will capture those behind the attack. They should be punished severely.”

He said the remains of the family members would be flown home Wednesday night.

Thai authorities have said they are hunting a man shown on security footage strolling into the packed shrine and leaving a backpack before the explosion occurred.

The shrine reopened on Wednesday with Buddhist monks leading prayers. An unidentified member of Neoh’s family laid bundles of clothes at the shrine to represent their loved ones, a monk said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Tuesday condemned the attack as a “heinous act” and said Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha had assured him the perpetrators would be punished.

 

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Thai police explore Uygur plot in Bangkok blast as police hunt for ‘foreign’ suspect, two others

Intelligence sent to Thai officials indicate Chinese tourists are possible targets

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 19 August, 2015, 3:13pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 19 August, 2015, 10:37pm

Staff Reporters

A composite image of the suspect released by Bangkok Police. Photos: EPA

The probe on who could be behind the deadly blast in central Bangkok is focusing on a revenge motive by Uygur militants as it has now emerged that Thai authorities received intelligence that Chinese tourists could be a target of attacks.

This comes as Bangkok police on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for "foreign man" - possibly from Europe or the Middle East - seen in footage of the blast, after revealing a sketch of the prime suspect showing a man with fair complexion, dark hair and spectacles.

"He had white skin and must have been a European or have mixed blood, perhaps with Middle Eastern blood," police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said.

Thai police say they are looking for two other male suspects captured on CCTV footage near the scene of the bomb blast, bringing the number of suspects police have said they are actively looking for to three.

"The person in red and the person in white are also suspects," Prawut said in a televised interview, referring to two men seen in grainy closed-circuit television footage along with a man in a yellow T-shirt who police believe is linked to the attack.

Thai police are looking for two other male suspects, one dressed in red and another in white, captured on CCTV footage milling around the main suspect near the scene of the Bangkok blast. Photo: SCMP Pictures

A Bangkok Post report today quoting sources said that the investigations were centring on this theory even as police said they were searching for a man wearing a yellow T-shirt and carrying a backpack who set off the explosion in Erawan Shrine on Monday night killing 20 people and injuring 125.

The newspaper also said that police deployed more officers to the Chinese embassy in Bangkok after it made a request two weeks ago.

And in the most stunning revelation yet, the paper said: “Intelligence from the Special Branch also suggested there could be an attack on Chinese tourists after August 11.”

Thailand has a small community of Uygur migrants. Uygurs are a Turkic-speaking, mainly Muslim ethnic group in China’s far west.

Suspected Uygurs are sequestered at a facility at the Thai border. Photo: Reuters

It is not known if Thai authorities shared the information with the Chinese authorities prior to Monday’s attack.

Yesterday China issued a travel advisory for its citizens, which urged them to stay alert and exercise caution while abroad.

Thus far, Thai leaders, including Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, have declined to be drawn into saying whether the attack was perpetrated by Uygur militants.

Last month, Thailand caused a storm of protest among the Uygur diaspora, sparking clashes in Turkey, when it forcibly returned 109 Uygurs back to China.

The Bangkok Post quoted police sources as saying the Uygur militants may have launched the attack in retaliation for the decision to deport them, a move that drew international condemnation. Thai Muslim and human rights groups accused the government of separating the Uygur families by sending the male migrants to China and the women and children to Turkey.

Thai investigators have not been able to establish the nationality of the man suspected of bombing the shrine, or whether he is still in the country, police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said today.

“I don’t suspect one person, I suspect many people,” he told a news conference on investigations into the blast that killed at least 20 people. “I am confident that there are Thais involved but I am not saying it is just Thais or that there are foreigners.”

He said it was not clear yet if a small second explosion at a port in Bangkok on Tuesday was linked to Monday evening’s deadly blast.

On Tuesday, Prayuth declined to say if the attack on Monday was perpetrated by Uygur militants, saying: “Whether this incident was motivated by domestic politics or an international issue, I don’t want to give you an opinion because it could mislead investigators and cause panic.”

A view of the fortifications at the Chinese embassy in Bangkok. Photo: Samuel Chan

He went on national television after a second blast went off at a pier in Sathorn yesterday, which police said was designed to inflict heavy casualties.

Police said they believed the perpetrator wanted to throw the bomb onto a busy walking platform leading to the pier but missed.

Thai police are hunting for what they described as a “Middle Eastern-looking man” caught on a closed circuit TV camera, whom they are “more than 50 per cent certain” was the bomber.

The Bangkok Post said they were searching for the suspect in Nana sois, a neighbourhood popular with Uygur migrants.

Thai police at work after an explosive device detonated at Sathorn Pier hours after the shrine blast. Photo: EPA

The young, slightly built man wearing a yellow T-shirt and black-framed glasses, was carrying a backpack. He wandered around the shrine, and was seen sitting down and leaving the backpack there and moment later, he was seen leaving the shrine and heading onto the street.

He arrived in a tuk-tuk and left on a motorcycle taxi.

Police said the device which went off at the Erawan shrine, and the one at Sathon pier, were pipe bombs containing ball bearings. They were assembled professionally.

With additional reporting by Reuters

 

[Susanoo]

Hunt for Bangkok bombers intensifies as Thailand issues images of trio of suspects

Two men captured in CCTV footage before Bangkok bombing added to manhunt alongside main suspect described as an 'unnamed foreigner'

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 19 August, 2015, 11:37pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 12:23am

Samuel Chan in Bangkok and Agencies

A Chinese tourist lights incense to be laid at the Erawan Shrine (behind), as it reopens two days after the fatal explosion.Photos: EPA, Reuters

The hunt for the Bangkok bombers intensified last night after Thai authorities issued a formal arrest warrant for an "unnamed foreigner" and placed two other suspects on the wanted list.

Investigators of the blast - which killed 20 people including six Chinese nationals, two of them young women from Hong Kong, and injured more than 125 others - released a detailed sketch of a bespectacled, black-haired man in a yellow T-shirt yesterday afternoon.

A sketch and CCTV footage released by the Thai police show the main bombing suspect and two other men on the wanted list.

The image was apparently based on security camera footage taken from the site of the Erawan Shrine in the minutes before the bomb was detonated.

Last night, the police said two other people seen on CCTV footage at the shrine were now also considered suspects.

"The person in red and the person in white are also suspects," police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said, referring to two men seen in the grainy footage.

Officially, the authorities are keeping an open mind on the motive for the deadly attack and there has been no claim of responsibility. However, the Bangkok Post quoted sources as saying investigators were focusing on a "revenge motive" by Uygur militants after Thailand deported 109 Uygurs back to China last month.

The sources reportedly claimed Thai authorities had received intelligence Chinese tourists could be a target of attacks. Police had carried out investigations in an area of the Thai capital popular with Uygur migrants.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha appealed for the prime suspect - who has a one million baht (HK$217,700) bounty on his head - to surrender because "he might get killed to stop him from talking".

"If the person wants to be safe, he should turn himself in. Officials will find a legal way to provide him with safety. It's better than living in hiding. It would make his life miserable," Prayuth said, adding the man must have been hired to plant the bomb.

National police chief Somyot Poompanmoung believed the suspect did not work alone. "They work as a network [and] know how to escape. No one person can do this," he said.

The prime suspect might not be a foreigner and could have been wearing a disguise, he said.

But national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri later said the prime suspect was overheard speaking a foreign language other than English.

“Foreign language, not English also,” Prawut told reporters. He did not elaborate on how police knew which langauge the suspect spoke.

But police said earlier they had interviewed two motorcycle taxi riders near the shrine, one of whom gave a ride to the suspect.

Prawut also gave a description of the suspected ethnicity of the alleged bomber, using the Thai phrase “khaek khao” - a word often used to describe light skinned Muslims from South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.

"His skin is white and he has a high nose. Whether khaek khao or not I don’t know. But from the footage it looked like that,” he said.

Thailand has a small community of Uygur migrants. Uygurs are a Turkic-speaking, mainly Muslim ethnic group in China's far west.

Yesterday, when the South China Morning Post visited the streets near the blast site in downtown Bangkok, the police presence was heavier than usual because of a bomb hoax.

Among the local shopkeepers and inhabitants, the Post found few willing to talk. "I've never come across any [Uygur], but it's hard to tell just by appearance," shoe shopkeeper Sue, a hijab-wearing Thai woman in her 30s, said. "Most people here are Arabs from the Middle East."

Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse

 

[Susanoo]

Bangkok blast puts Chinese Uygur diaspora back in the spotlight

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 2:24am
UPDATED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 2:24am

Kristine Kwok
[email protected]

Suspected Uygur refugees claiming to be Turks are held at an immigration detention centre in Songkhla province, Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. Photo: Reuters

They choose to flee China in search of the security of obscurity elsewhere, but they rarely escape international attention. Monday's blast in central Bangkok has again put the Chinese Uygur diaspora in the spotlight after Thai authorities said they could not rule out any group as possible suspects.

For decades, Turkic-speaking Uygurs have been fleeing their homes in China's restive Xinjiang autonomous region to escape persecution and violence.

But increasing suppression at home and tightening border control along previously popular routes have resulted in a growing number of the Chinese Muslims travelling via Southeast Asia to Turkey in recent years. Unlike earlier escapees, many of them were well-to-do and they tread the often dangerous expeditions with their family, researchers said.

In some cases, the Uygurs left China with fake passports and often had to endure long journeys by bus, boat and even by foot before arriving at a safe location in Southeast Asia, according to a researcher who has interviewed some recently.

Often equipped with electronic gadgets such as iPhones and iPads, many of the escapees were well-to-do people such as traders and small investors, said the researcher, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The escape can cost them dearly, the researcher said, with some paying up to US$15,000 per person to get to Malaysia.

"There was a family in which the husband is in his early 50s; I asked him why he would spend so much money and risk his family's life, he said it's intolerable [in Xinjiang]," the researcher said.

The escape route took the family of five three months, of which 20 days were spent on a boat and two months in the mountains. The youngest member of the family was 18 months old.

While Thailand caught international headlines by deporting about 100 Uygurs back to China last month, other countries in the region also face a similar diplomatic dilemma over how to handle the Uygurs.

Before a court in Jakarta last month sentenced three Uygur men to six years in prison on charges of attempting to join a local terrorist group, the Indonesian government had faced pressure from China to hand them back, according to a security analyst who refused to be named.

"But there was also resistance from within the Indonesian police that they know perfectly well that they [the Uygur men] are in serious trouble if they go back," the analyst said.

Chinese state media has claimed that Uygurs used Southeast Asian countries as a transit point in their journey to join the Islamic State in Syria. But the researchers and Uygur rights groups said the escapees often would settle in Turkey, where an extensive support network for Chinese Muslims has been in place for decades.

While Thai media reports, citing police sources, have suggested Chinese Uygurs could be linked to Monday's attack, most security experts interviewed by the Post said it was unlikely they were responsible for the bombing.

 

[Susanoo]

Trips cancelled, but tourism expected to rebound

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 2:34am
UPDATED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 2:34am

Samuel Chan in Bangkok, Mandy Zuo and Naomi Ng

Many mainlanders have called off travel plans to Thailand following the Bangkok temple bombing. Photo: Reuters

Many mainlanders have called off travel plans to Thailand following the Bangkok temple bombing, tour agencies say.

Others who booked discounted tickets are waiting to see if they will face any financial loss should they cancel their trips.

The China National Tourism Administration on Tuesday issued a travel advisory warning Chinese citizens already in Thailand or planning to travel there to be cautious and to rework their itineraries.

Bangkok's Erawan Shrine - normally bustling with foreign visitors - was eerily quiet an hour after it reopened yesterday.

"I've heard the attack was targeted at Chinese tourists, but I'm not too worried," said Yang Yong from Yunnan province, who was with his family of six. "I expect the Thai government would have stepped up security … so I suppose it's safe now."

On the mainland, tour agencies reported many cancellations. Anny Lou, an assistant manager at Shanghai's Jin Jiang Travel, said about half of her Thailand tour clients had cancelled their trips.

"The cancelled orders so far even include those departing in September, although we tried to explain to them that this was just one incident," Lou said. "What worries us most now is that this might impact the National Day golden week holiday."

Industry insiders expect the impact from the bombing to be short term, giving the examples of Malaysia and South Korea, whose tourism sectors were dealt heavy blows because of accidents or disease but recovered quickly.

Shi Kaifeng, a spokesman for tour agency Ctrip, said while some had called off their trips, most clients were still mulling of whether to do so as they had bought discounted flight tickets that did not allow for refunds. "I believe that as a traditionally popular destination, tourism to Thailand will recover soon," Shi said.

Malaysia, which was hit last year by the disappearance of its Malaysia Airlines flight 370, had since returned to the list of mainlanders' top 10 tourist destinations, Shi said. South Korea, which was hit by an outbreak of the Middle East respiratory syndrome that claimed 36 lives a few months ago, has also seen its tourist numbers rebound.

Wei Xiaoan, who heads the World Tourism Cities Federation expert committee, said that unlike a warning against travelling to Nepal during an earthquake in April, the tourism authorities' travel alert for Thailand was a low-grade one. The impact on tourism in Thailand would be modest, he said.

Meanwhile, relatives of Shanghai blast victim Shao Qing were making arrangements to fly to Bangkok after receiving notification of Shao's death.

Shao travelled to Bangkok with her husband, Zhang Yu, and daughter, Zhang Yi Han, on Sunday. Her husband and daughter were being treated in hospital and their injuries were not life-threatening, her cousin Jessi Shao said.

As dusk fell in the Thai capital yesterday, locals streamed to the shrine to lay flowers for those killed in the bombing.

Several police officers and a handful of soldiers patrolled the area around the temple as workers repaired a pavilion damaged by the blast.

"I'm here to show that we're not afraid," said American tourist Frank Hull. "If the Chinese people would like to worship a Hindu god, they have every right to do so."

 

[Susanoo]

Hong Kong girl, 9, forced to undergo third surgery for Bangkok blast wounds after complications

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 12:50pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 6:07pm

Samuel Chan in Bangkok and Clifford Lo

[email protected]
[email protected]

Jasmine Chu, nine, had emergency surgery after an earlier operation to remove bomb shrapnel from her thigh. Photo: Chu King-fun

A nine-year-old Hong Kong girl injured in the Bangkok bomb blast underwent emergency surgery this morning to release pressure on her leg muscle near a vein repaired in an earlier operation.

The operation was the third time Jasmine Chu Sum-yu has undergone surgery after she was injured in Monday’s explosion. The two other occasions included a seven-hour overnight operation to remove a large piece of bomb shrapnel from her thigh.

The girl’s father, Chu King-fu, 61, nearly broke into tears while telling the media in Bangkok today that complications had set in.

But he was told by doctors that difficulties following previous surgery were anticipated and today’s operation was necessary to prevent muscular necrosis.

The emergency surgery, prompted by complications, lasted for more than two hours. Chu King-fu said it was a success.

“She didn’t even know the operation was over, and asked me when she would go to the operation theatre. And I told her, it’s over now, and it’s all right,” said Chu, and that’s the only words that he had exchanged with his daughter after the surgery.

“She was not as tense as this morning, because the pain was gone I guess … she appeared relieved.”

Asked if the doctor warned of any possible complication and whether a fourth operation should be expected, Chu said: “The doctor didn’t say whether this would be the last surgery, only that that [operation] was a success.”

“I wouldn’t be assured [of the local doctor’s diagnosis], but this time Dr Leung [Kai-shing, of the Hong Kong] is also of the same view.”

So far, almost 20 tiny pieces of shrapnel had been removed from her right thigh, said the father.

The attending doctor expected Jasmine would be able to be transferred out of the intensive care unit on Friday, but it is likely that she would need to stay in Thailand for a week more before she can return home.

As Chu spoke to the media after a session with a clinical psychologist sent by the Hong Kong Immigration Department, Jasmine had just started meeting the same psychologist for the first time for initial assessment of her psychological condition after the accident.

“There would be a problem a girl would mind though. There’s a scar left in her thigh now,” Chu said, adding that he had yet to see it himself. “But other than that, she now can move just as any other normal person.”

According to Dr Joe Leung Kai-shing of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, Jasmine received an emergency operation on Tuesday to mend her vein and the surgery was done well, but as expected, problems surfaced.

He said pressure on muscles near the vein increased today.

“So an emergency operation was carried out this morning to release the pressure. The surgery was needed and we also agreed,” Dr Leung said.

When the blast happened, Jasmine’s father was walking with a family friend, who was confirmed dead at the scene. Jasmine and another family friend were walking behind, at a space of 20 to 30 people away from the group ahead.

 

[Susanoo]

‘My dear daughter, will I ever see you again?’: Hong Kong families of Bangkok bomb victims hold Erawan Shrine vigil

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 1:13pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 9:59pm

Samuel Chan in Bangkok

Relatives mourn the Hong Kong victims of the Bangkok blast. Photo: Sam Tsang

The families of two Hong Kong women killed in the Bangkok bombing held a vigil this morning at the Hindu shrine where the explosion occurred.

Vivian Chan Wing-yan, 19, and Arcadia Pang Wan-chee, 24, were among 20 people killed by the blast at the Erawan Shrine in the centre of the Thai capital on Monday, which left more than 125 others injured.

All dressed in black and wearing surgical masks, Chan’s parents and several members of Pang’s family took turns to lay flowers outside the shrine’s fence.

The Pang family also hired a monk to mourn for the deceased. The two families did not speak to each other or the media during the 10-minute vigil.

Parents of the 19-year-old victim Vivian Chan Wing-yan hugged each other in tears. Photo: Sam Tsang

“My dear daughter, can you hear me? Will I ever see you again?” murmured a tearful relative of Pang. A middle-aged couple, also members of Pang’s family, turned their sight away from where she was killed and hugged each other in tears.

A psychologist from the Health Authority was at the scene to provide support.

Both families left in a van arranged by the Hong Kong Immigration Department.

 

[Susanoo]

Thai police clear two Bangkok bomb suspects including man from China but main suspect remains at large

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 1:32pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 11:47pm

Reuters and AFP in Bangkok

A police composite sketch of one of the suspected culprits in the bombing (left) and the other two suspects who have been cleared (right). Photo: SCMP Pictures

Thai police said they had questioned and freed one man who handed himself in after being seen on CCTV at the Bangkok shrine moments before a deadly bomb blast, but the prime suspect remains at large.

A Thai man wanted for questioning after he was seen on security camera footage “met police and was released”, national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri told reporters, adding a second man from China in the same shot had already left the country – but neither were “likely involved”.

The main suspect, believed to be a foreigner in a yellow shirt seen depositing a backpack at the scene was still at large, he added.

WATCH: Thai police release drawing of suspect in Bangkok shrine bombing

The two men – the Thai in a red shirt, and the Chinese in white – were initially believed to be possible accomplices of the suspected bomber.

They were seen standing in front of the lead suspect as he took a backpack off and placed it under a bench. They then left the crowed shrine in central Bangkok.

Moments later the bomb exploded killing at least 20 people, mainly foreigners, wounding scores more and sparking a manhunt for the bomber.

“The Thai man is from Chiang Mai,” Prawut said, explaining he had taken the Chinese man to the Erawan shrine on behalf of a mutual friend. The Chinese man returned home a day after the bomb.

Still image from closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage released by Thai police shows the suspects dressed in red and the other dressed in white - but they have been cleared. Photo: Reuters

Thai authorities have given conflicting and contradictory snippets of information on their quest for the bomber.

But they say they are still confident a bespectacled man in the yellow shirt, described in his arrest warrant as a foreigner is the prime suspect.

Yesterday, Thailand’s ruling junta said the attack was "unlikely" to be the work of international terrorists, adding it was not specifically targeted at Chinese tourists.

"Security agencies have cooperated with agencies from allied countries and have come to the preliminary conclusion that the incident is unlikely to be linked to international terrorism," said Colonel Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for the junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order.

A Thai military policeman and his bomb-sniffing dog inspect elephant statues at the Erawan Shrine. Photo: EPA

The Erawan shrine is popular with Chinese tourists. Thailand’s police chief said at least 10 people were suspected of involvement in the attack that killed 20 people, more than half of them foreigners.

"It is a big network. There was preparation using many people," police chief Somyot Poompanmuang told reporters.

"This includes those who looked out on the streets, prepared the bomb and those at the site and ... those who knew the escape route," he said. "There must have been at least 10 people involved."

Thailand said it would seek help from Interpol on finding the first suspect spotted in CCTV footage casually dropping a backpack at the shrine and then leaving moments before the explosion ripped through the popular tourist site. Police are unsure if the man, who was wearing a yellow T-shirt and spectacles, had fled the country.

An arrest warrant was issued for the unnamed suspect and released a composite image of him in glasses and with dark hair, describing him as tall and with fair skin.

In grainy security video, the young man with shaggy dark hair is seen entering the shrine compound with a backpack on, sitting down against a railing and then slipping out of the bag’s straps. He then stands up and walks out apparently holding a mobile phone, leaving the bag by the fence as tourists mill about.

Police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri on Wednesday gave a more detailed profile of the suspected ethnicity of the alleged bomber, using the Thai phrase “khaek khao” -- a word used to describe light-skinned Muslims from South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the bombing, which has no precedent in Bangkok.

A family member places photographs of four-year-old Lee Jing Xuan and her father Lee Tze Siang in front of their coffins. The two and three others in their family were killed in the Erawan Shrine blast. Photo: Reuters

“We will seek help from Interpol today,” Major General Apichart Suriboonya, the head of Thailand’s Interpol unit, said. “We have to use them... if any country has information on the suspect they can send it to us.”

A so-called Interpol "Blue Notice" asks its global membership to collect additional information on a suspect.

“We are doing our best,” Prawut said. “We have received a lot of information from the public since releasing of the sketch... we are investigating those leads."

When asked if the prime suspect was still in the kingdom, Prawut said: ”I don’t know”.

The arrest warrant, issued by a Bangkok court on Wednesday, accused the unnamed foreigner “of premeditated murder, attempted murder and bomb-making”.

The explosion claimed the lives of at least 13 foreigners -- from Britain, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Another 67 people remained in hospital by late Wednesday, 12 of whom were in critical condition.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha has described the bombing as the “worst ever attack” on Thailand.

It remains unclear who has the capacity and desire to carry out the mass casualty attack on a Southeast Asian nation that has not been hit by terrorism on such a scale.

Left with just guesswork, Thai media outlets have cast suspicion on militants from China’s Uygur minority, a group that faces cultural and religious repression in its homeland.

Last month Thailand forcibly repatriated more than 100 Uygur refugees to China, stirring speculation that Monday’s attack may have been an act of revenge.

But Uygur groups are not known to have ever carried out an attack outside China.

Islamic militant groups have targeted parts of Southeast Asia, including bombings on Indonesia’s holiday island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people. But Thailand has not been a prime target.

 

[Susanoo]

Beijing rejects ‘hugely irresponsible’ speculation that Uygur militants were behind Bangkok bombing

No evidence Xinjiang militants exploded bomb, insists Chinese embassy, as Thai junta says it is unlikely international terrorists were involved

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 6:34pm
UPDATED : Friday, 21 August, 2015, 2:07am

Samuel Chan in Bangkok and Agencies

Relatives of Hong Kong victims of the bombing say a prayer outside the Erawan Shrine, scene of the blast, yesterday. Photo: Sam Tsang

China has slammed "hugely irresponsible" Thai media reports that Uygur separatists carried out Monday's deadly bomb attack in Bangkok. Beijing's first comments on the bombing, which killed 20 people and injured more than 120, came as Thai authorities said they no longer believed international terrorists were behind the atrocity.

"Don't you think it is hugely irresponsible for anyone to draw a conclusion without any evidence?" a spokeswoman for the Chinese embassy told the South China Morning Post yesterday in response to media reports suggesting a "revenge motive" by militants from the troubled Xinjiang region after Thailand deported 109 Uygurs back to China last month.

"The Thai authorities are still investigating now; no one should jump to such a conclusion at this stage," she said.

Thailand's junta said they suspected at least 10 plotters were involved in the attack on the Erawan Shrine, which was crowded with tourists, but Chinese nationals were not the "direct target".

"The security agencies have collaborated with intelligence agencies from a lot of countries and have come to the same preliminary conclusion that the incident is unlikely to be linked to international terrorism," military spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree said yesterday in a televised statement.

That leaves the possibility that the perpetrators were locals, feeding speculation that either Muslim separatists waging a low-intensity insurgency in southern Thailand, or domestic political activists, were involved.

But there has been no claim of responsibility so far and authorities have not blamed any group for the country's worst terrorist attack, which they claim was designed to wreck the economy.

The Erawan Shrine is particularly popular with tourists from China and other East Asian countries, and 11 foreigners were among the dead, including five from mainland China and two from Hong Kong.

The families of Vivian Chan Wing-yan, 19, and Arcadia Pang Wan-chee, 24, held a memorial yesterday at the shrine where the two Hongkongers were killed.

"My dear daughter, can you hear me? Will I ever see you again?" murmured a tearful relative of Pang.

Distraught relatives of other victims claimed the remains of their loved ones at a forensic institute. A 50-year-old man from mainland China was overcome by grief while he waited to retrieve the bodies of his daughter and wife.

Police said last night they had cleared two suspects in the bombing. The two two men, identified as a Chinese tourist and his Thai guide, were seen in a security video standing in front of the prime suspect at the shrine shortly before the bomb went off.

According to police, they questioned and freed the Thai man after he turned himself in, while the Chinese man had already left the country.

A mainland man is overcome as he arrives to collect the remains of his daughter and wife. Photo: AP

The two were seen shortly before the main suspect - wearing a yellow shirt and shorts, glasses, and sporting a wispy beard - sat down and left behind his backpack. Described earlier as a "foreigner", he remains at large, and his details have been sent to Interpol.

Checks at airports and other exit points found that no one matching his description had left the country since the attack.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha suggested the main suspect was in disguise. "The criminal altered his appearance," Prayuth said. "It means there was preparation. It was as though he knew a camera was going to be there."

Prayuth had earlier suggested the attack was Thailand's problem and should be resolved internally, but yesterday he called it a threat to the whole region.

National police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said the attack was planned at least a month in advance and a "big network" was involved. "This includes those who looked out on the streets, prepared the bomb and those at the site and ... those who knew the escape route. I believe there must have been at least 10 people involved," he said.

The blast comes at a sensitive time for Thailand, which has been riven for a decade by a sometimes violent struggle for power between political factions in Bangkok. A parliament hand-picked by the junta, which seized power in a 2014 coup, is due to vote on a draft constitution next month.

Critics say the draft is undemocratic and intended to help the army secure power and curb the influence of the country's elected politicians. The government has promised to restore democracy late next year.

Reuters, Associated Press

 

[Susanoo]

Thai police offer US$28,000 bounty for Bangkok blast suspect

Xinhua 2015-08-21 13:36 (GMT+8)

The suspect's sketch released by the police in Bangkok, Thailand, Aug. 19. (File photo/Xinhua)

Thai police on Wednesday offered a reward of 1 million baht (US$28,100) for any information leading to the capture of a suspect of the Bangkok explosion on Monday, which has killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 100 others.

The police released a sketch of the suspected perpetrator who was seen on a surveillance camera at the scene.

Camera footage showed that a foreign-looking young man who was wearing a yellow T-shirt and glasses, left a backpack purportedly with some dynamite inside at Erawan Shrine, a popular tourist destination in downtown Bangkok, shortly before the explosion.

The shrine reopened Wednesday morning amid heightened security, but far fewer tourists visited it than before.

Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha urged the "amateur" culprit to surrender himself to the police, warning he could otherwise be killed.

"The bombing suspect could probably be killed if he did not surrender for his own safety. His life is being fatally jeopardized by those who had hired him and might be looking to silence him," Prayut said.

Meanwhile, police chief Somyot Poompanmoung believed that the bombing was carried out by "a network."

According to the latest update from the Chinese Embassy in Thailand on Wednesday, six Chinese nationals, including four from the mainland and two from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, have been confirmed dead in the blast.

 

[Susanoo]

7 Chinese confirmed dead in Bangkok blast

Xinhua and Staff Writer 2015-08-21 09:14

A woman prays for the deceased at Erawan Shrine, Aug. 19. (Photo/Xinhua)

A total of seven Chinese nationals, including five from the mainland and two from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, were confirmed killed in a Bangkok explosion Monday night, the Chinese Embassy in Thailand said Wednesday.

The latest confirmed fatality was previously labeled as missing, according to the embassy.

Another 24 Chinese, including 19 from mainland China and five from Hong Kong, were being treated in hospitals, the embassy said.

Eight of the 24 were in intensive care units, including seven from the mainland and one from Hong Kong, it added.

A deadly explosion rocked Erawan Shrine, a popular tourist destination in downtown Bangkok, on Monday night, leaving at least 20 people dead and more than 100 others injured.

Thai police has offered a reward of 1 million baht (US$28,100) for any information leading to the capture of the suspect, and released a sketch of a young man wearing a yellow T-shirt and glasses.

 

[Susanoo]

Bodies of two women killed in Bangkok bombing flown home to Hong Kong

Two Hongkongers injured in explosion at shrine are taken to hospital for further treatment

PUBLISHED : Friday, 21 August, 2015, 9:29am
UPDATED : Saturday, 22 August, 2015, 1:56am

Chris Lau and Emily Tsang

Vivian Chan's parents travelled to Bangkok when they learned of their daughter's death. Photo: Sam Tsang

The bodies of the two young women killed in Monday's bombing in Bangkok arrived back in Hong Kong yesterday.

Family members were said to still be in a fragile emotional state, but the parents of Vivian Chan Wing-yan, 19, and Arcadia Pang Wan-chee, 24, had been receiving counselling from the Hospital Authority.

"Thanks to the counselling provided by staff members at the Hospital Authority, their emotional states were OK," said Tong Wing-yee, acting senior immigration officer for international cooperation, at Hong Kong International Airport after returning from Bangkok.

The women were killed with 18 others when a bomb exploded at the Erawan Shrine, a Hindu religious establishment in the centre of Bangkok and a popular attraction among East Asian tourists. More than 125 others - six of them Hong Kong residents - were injured.

Chan's father, businessman Allan Chan Sui-wah, thanked Thai authorities for doing their best to save his daughter, a British national who was studying law in the United Kingdom. He told the Bangkok Post earlier that he had been to Thailand several times and thought it would be safe for his daughter for holiday there.

"Before the bomb, she texted a message via WhatsApp to say she would be praying to Lord Brahma and would contact me later, but she did not," he said.

Vivian Chan died in the blast. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Vivian Chan was in Bangkok with Pang, celebrity hairdresser Ben Lee and his girlfriend.

Chan said he had taken the first available flight to Thailand with his wife, after Hong Kong officials informed him of his daughter’s death at 3am on Tuesday.

“[Thai officials and medical staff] took care of my daughter well. I saw signs they had operated on her body. They did their best,” he said.

More than 2,000 people had joined a Facebook tribute page in her honour this morning, writing their memories of the young Hongkonger.

His daughter's body and that of her 24-year-old friend, Pang, were onboard Thai Airways flight TG638, accompanied by Pang's parents who landed at the Chek Lap Kok Airport at about 5.30pm.

The parents were not seen at the arrival halls used by ordinary travellers.

Chu Yat-on, one of the victims of the Bangkok blast, arrives at Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan. Photo: Edward Wong

Two other injured Hongkongers, Chu Yat-on, 62, and his wife Jaral Jintana, 60, also returned yesterday and were taken to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan.

Dr Joe Leung Kai-shing, consultant in the accident and emergency department, said they were in a stable condition.

Chu, who has already undergone three operations, would need surgery on his leg and his wife would be admitted into the neurosurgery department "due to her pre-existing condition".

Jaral Jintana, 60-year-old woman from Hong Kong, one of the victims of the Bangkok blast, arrives at Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan. Photo: Edward Wong

Tong said this left the number of Hongkongers remaining in Thailand after being caught up in the blast at three, including Jasmine Chu Sum-yu, 9.

"Two immigration officers and one staff member from the Hospital Authority have remained in Thailand to provide them with assistance," Tong said.

"She will need long-term physical therapy and psychological treatment," Leung said, adding she may be left with "serious post-traumatic stress disorder".

Jasmine's father, 61-year-old Chu King-fu, said her mood had picked up. "She knows she's progressed very well. She has been talking and laughing again."

The blast also killed 18 others, including five from mainland China, and injured 125 others.

Additional reporting by Ben Westcott and Shirley Zhao

 

[Susanoo]

Chinese visitors flock to Bangkok tourist sites but remain wary after attack

While some have cancelled trips after the attack, many holidaymakers continue to visit

PUBLISHED : Friday, 21 August, 2015, 6:35pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 22 August, 2015, 4:17am

Agence France-Presse in Bangkok

Chinese tourists walk along Khao San road, popular with many foreign visitors, in Bangkok, days after a bomb attack rocked the Thai capital. Photo: AFP

Busloads of visitors from China flocked to Bangkok’s glittering Grand Palace on Friday but, days after a bomb at another of the city’s popular attractions killed five Chinese tourists, Thailand’s biggest spending holidaymakers are rattled.

Monday’s attack on a Hindu shrine, particularly popular with Chinese devotees, did not prevent Jay Chou and his family from travelling to the kingdom, though it has left them on edge.

“We are closely following the news, we shouldn’t go to any place which is dangerous,” said the 18-year-old engineering student from Shanghai outside the palace where an already heavy security presence was boosted in response to the bombing.

The attack on the shrine, apparently by a still-unidentified young man who placed a backpack with explosives under a bench, killed 20 people and injured more than 100 others.

Most of the victims were ethnic Chinese tourists from around Asia, with five of the dead from mainland China and two from Hong Kong.

Chinese tourists pose for a group picture before visiting the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Photo: AFP

While Thai authorities have yet to make an arrest or say which group was behind it, they have repeatedly said it was clearly aimed at damaging the tourism industry.

Though in the midst of confusing and sometimes contradictory information on the investigation, one message from authorities has been clear – Chinese tourists were not the target.

So soon after the attack in politically volatile Thailand, which before the coup experienced repeated outbreaks of deadly street violence in a decade-long power struggle, it is difficult to gauge the long-term impact of the blast on tourism.

At a hotel popular with Chinese tourists in Bangkok’s Chinatown, assistant manager Praparat Boonsai said some guests had been frightened away.

“We are worried because our customers are cancelling from China,” she said, saying that six checked out early after Monday’s blast and several had cancelled upcoming trips by phone.

Thai policemen flank a Chinese tourist outside the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Photo: AFP

Woranut Srisamboon, a spokesman for the Thai Chinese Tourist Association, said some tour groups had cancelled trips while holiday agents in China were constantly calling to check on security.

Woranut’s VLC Travel company, catering to mainland Chinese tourists, reported 20 groups of up to 40 people strong had pulled out since Monday.

But Woranut said the impact so far had been limited, putting it down to a ”special relationship” between China and Thailand.

“Thailand and China are like brother and sister,” he said with a smile, saying tourism authorities in both countries were in constant touch.

While Hong Kong warned its residents after the attack to avoid travelling to Bangkok, China’s national tourism body only cautioned its nationals to “be aware, pay attention to travel safety, and choose reasonable travel routes”.

In Bangkok’s historic quarter on Friday, long lines of Chinese tourists followed tour guides, many dressed in identical hats and holding up umbrellas to block the midday sun.

Happily chattering in Mandarin, these groups of travellers had stuck to their long-planned holiday itineraries.

At the entrance of the sprawling palace compound, Chinese tourist Lily Chu said she had continued with her holiday plans despite being worried about safety.

The 33-year-old Buddhist even went to pray at the bombed shrine on Wednesday, believing it was important to pay respects to the dead.

“I prayed for people who died... [so they can] rest in peace,” she said.

 

[Susanoo]

Thailand's new police chief in charge of Bangkok blast probe oversaw Koh Tao tourist murders in which police were criticised

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 22 August, 2015, 7:00am
UPDATED : Saturday, 22 August, 2015, 7:00am

Reuters

Chaijinda looks on during a religious ceremony near the Erawan shrine, the site of Monday's deadly blast, in central Bangkok. Photo: Reuters

The investigation into a deadly bombing in Bangkok’s tourist heartland is led by a US-trained officer with close ties to Thailand’s powerful military, who oversaw a high-profile tourist murder case in which the conduct of Thai police was questioned.

Chakthip Chaijinda was chosen as the country’s next police chief on August 14, just three days before a blast tore through the crowded Erawan Shrine in the Thai capital, killing 20 people, mostly foreigners. The current chief retires next month.

Meanwhile, Chakthip is running an investigation which, four days after the Erawan blast, seems no closer to determining who attacked the shrine and why.
READ MORE: Chinese visitors flock to Bangkok tourist sites but remain wary after attack

A citizen mourns for the explosion victims at the reopened Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: Xinhua

The prime suspect is an unidentified young man spotted on CCTV apparently leaving a backpack at the scene.

But police and military have issued confusing and sometimes contradictory statements about the suspect’s appearance, the number of accomplices he may have had and the likelihood of foreign involvement.

As deputy police chief, Chakthip has been the public face of other tourism-related cases in which concerns have been raised about the professionalism of the Thai police.

They include the murder of two British backpackers on the island of Koh Tao in September 2014. Two migrant workers from Myanmar are now on trial amid allegations that police failed to properly seal off the crime scene – a criticism also levelled after Monday’s shrine blast – and bungled DNA evidence.

Police have defended their handling of the Koh Tao killings probe and say they have a watertight case.

Chakthip, 55, declined a Reuters request to be interviewed for this story, saying he was too busy.

A Western diplomat in Bangkok described Chakthip as a “straight shooter” who can cut through red tape.

“He’s known to be organised and a decent investigator,” said the diplomat, who requested anonymity.

Thailand’s military seized power in May 2014 and launched a purge of officials deemed loyal to deposed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her brother Thaksin.

Within days, Chakthip was made acting commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, replacing a Thaksin ally.

According to Thai media reports, his recent appointment as police chief was backed by Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, one of the country’s most powerful men.

“The military trusts him,” said the Western diplomat. “Good or bad, he’s their man.”

There have long been tensions between Thailand’s military and police. That turmoil has been fuelled by a power struggle between a royalist establishment, which is backed by the military, and the political machine of Thaksin, a former police officer with residual support in the force.

Chakthip investigated two bombing incidents earlier this year that wounded a total of nine people in Bangkok and on the resort island of Koh Samui, but “never produced clear findings”, said Paul Chambers, a security expert at the Institute of South East Asian Affairs in Chiang Mai.

Those two incidents and the shrine bombing “could be linked and associated with security officials disgruntled at the junta’s leadership”, said Chambers.

Asked whether security officials might have been involved in the blasts, junta spokesman Winthai Suvaree said: “I don’t think anyone thinks this. Please ask someone else.”

Chakthip received post-blast training at the U.S.-funded International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok in 2003 and later attended a course at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

“Terrorism and bombings are the biggest challenges that come with the job title,” said Chakthip in a 2011 interview published on a U.S. State Department website.

“There are lots of techniques used by the terrorists and they keep changing, challenging the authorities with new tricks, trying to stay ahead of law enforcement.”

 

[Susanoo]

Tourists resembling bomber come under police spotlight

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE August 22, 2015 1:00 am

SWEDISH national Marcus Westberg was working on his laptop when police came knocking - he is one of a handful of foreigners being questioned because of their similar looks to the primary Erawan bomb suspect.

Initially Westberg, who is in Thailand on holiday, thought the questioning on Tuesday afternoon in Bangkok was just part of a routine security check.

But then police asked him to account for his whereabouts on Monday evening, the night a deadly bomb tore through the Erawan Shrine in the city centre, killing 20 people and wounding more than 120 others.

"It was not until they asked to see my phone and started going through my photos that I considered that something might be wrong," he said. "They told me that I very much resembled their main suspect."

Other foreigners have found themselves in a similar predicament since the deadly blast as police scramble to locate the suspect and any accomplices he may have had.

Most appear to have come under suspicion because they share a passing resemblance to the primary suspect, seen leaving a backpack under a bench at the shrine just moments before the bomb went off.

A sketch of the alleged bomber released by Thai police, based on closed-caption TV (CCTV) footage and witness descriptions, shows a young man dressed in a yellow T-shirt with dark shaggy hair, a suggestion of stubble and thick-rimmed glasses.

The same day Westberg was being questioned, an Australian model and aspiring actor called Sunny Burns posted a selfie on Instagram from inside a Thai police station. He said he had handed himself in to police after amateur Internet sleuths started posting his details online as a potential bomb suspect.

Multiple Thai news reporters also posted pictures on Wednesday evening of what they said was a dual French-Swiss national, who was briefly detained on arrival at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok. He too had shaggy hair and thick glasses.

Westberg, who has a beard and neck-length hair, said his encounter with Thai police was "fairly relaxed" and that officers showed "politeness and professionalism" throughout the one-hour conversation.

"We agreed that the man in the CCTV footage had shorter hair and much less of a beard than I, and after joking with me that perhaps I should get a haircut before venturing outside again. They thanked me for my time and cooperation and apologised for any inconvenience," he said.

"I later found out that it had been entirely by chance: A police officer had seen me earlier on Tuesday, thought that I resembled the suspect and alerted his colleagues," he said.

"That was a relief to find out, I will admit."

 

[Susanoo]

Bt10 million in reward offered

THE NATION August 22, 2015 1:00 am

TIP-OFFS SOUGHT ON KEY SUSPECT; BLAST AIMED TO HURT ECONOMY: SOMYOT

THE authorities believe bomb blasts at the Erawan shrine and Sathorn Bridge in Bangkok this week were aimed at discrediting the military government, national police chief General Somyot Poompanmuang has said.

Yesterday, several bomb hoaxes were reported at various locations in the capital.

The National Police Office is now offering up to Bt3million for a tip-off leading to the arrest of the man suspected of planting the bomb at the Erawan Shrine on Monday evening.

This is in addition to a Bt2-million reward that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has offered, according to a Facebook post by his son, Panthongtae. Moreover, Panthongtae said his father would provide another Bt5million to officials who contribute to the arrest, if made.

National Council for Peace and Order spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvari, meanwhile, announced that several agencies believe the blasts were intended to seriously hurt the economy and tourism.

He said inquiries into the blasts were progressing. "But the authorities cannot release details at this point, as that may affect ongoing investigations," he said.

A sketch of the suspected bomber at the Erawan Shrine was released on Wednesday but immigration officials have not spotted him at any checkpoint.

Monday's blast killed 20 people and injured more than 100. The Sathorn Bridge blast did not cause any casualties as it exploded in water near the Chao Phraya River.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday urged the public to be eyes and ears for soldiers and police in a bid to ensure public safety and he called on people to quickly inform the authorities if they see anything suspicious.

However, he said people should not be fearful of the situation to the extent that they stay at home and do not spend money because that would hurt the economy. Several other countries had faced similar security situations or much worse but their people lived normal lives, he said.

"This is our home and country, so don't allow outsiders to play an excessive role. We ought to chart our own future, but we also have to listen to outsiders' voices," he said.

The premier said foreign countries have offered to help the authorities such as the US, which has sophisticated technology that would help with the investigation, especially in terms of identifying a suspect captured on CCTV.

Meanwhile, police yesterday found a suspect package at Benjakiti Park on Ratchadaphisek Road next to Queen Sirikit Convention Centre. When the package was unwrapped, a brand-new rattan ball and sand were found inside, creating the impression it might have been a bomb and causing panic.

A suspicious bag was also found near the Metropolitan Police Bureau. Police said they would summon the taxi driver who left it there for questioning. The owner of the bag told police he accidentally left it in the cab.

Education Ministry permanent secretary Dr Kamjorn Tatiyakavee revealed that an unknown man phoned the ministry and claimed that something bad would happen there.

"Now, we have stepped up security at the ministry compound," he said. "Someone might have wanted to spread a climate of fear."

In related news, examination of CCTV footage has revealed a possible suspect in the Sathorn Bridge attack. Long-distance footage shows the potential suspect walking towards the pier under the bridge on Monday evening - the night before the attack - carrying a plastic bag that could have contained an explosive.

The man kicked the bag into the river around 7.30pm, about half an hour after the Erawan Shrine explosion. He wore a blue shirt and trousers and may not have intended to cause casualties as the bomb exploded in the water.

Police said the suspect could be Thai.