by Tan Copsey
picture via preetamrai.
Thailand is in the grips of paranoia after a miserable New Years Eve – six bombs going off around the Bangkok city centre.
The Bangkok post notes that ‘more than 1,000 people have reported that they found suspicious objects that they were afraid could be an explosive on Wednesday alone, but none of them have proved real so far’.
The Lost Boy expands upon this noting that , ‘It’s unclear whether or not any of the hoaxes today are related. If they are not then we are in the middle of something that seems to be escalating out of control. Nobody has stepped up to take responsibility for the bombings on Sunday’.
Which is funny - because according to Thailand’s charming military rulers, supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra were, rather conveniently, behind the bombs. Defence Minister Gen Boonrawd Somtas was reported in The Nation today as saying ‘highly likely that the perpetrators are men in uniform’ and that ‘It's 90 per cent sure that it is politically motivated and only a handful of groups of people have the potential to mount these attacks’. Thaksin himself has completely denied that he or his supporters were involved, not that he would necessarily know.
One can’t help but think that this seems an obvious case of political opportunism on the part of the increasingly unpopular regime. The notion that the regime themselves were behind the bombs has even been aired (they do wear uniforms!) – but even the wild types viewing things from the internets grassier knolls must concede that these bombs were scarcely in the interest of a country that is so dependent on tourism. There has also been speculation that, despite the assertions of the Generals to the contrary, this has something to do with the ongoing situation in the South of the country. Bangkok Pundit suggests that responsibility for the attacks most likely lies with either ‘southern terrorists’ or ‘rogue elements’ within the army. In support of this it is worth noting that bombs of this sort are not exactly unknown in the South, and that Thai Governments of both military and democratic stripes have continued to exacerbate the situation and persecute Southern Muslims.
Of course we have as yet seen very little evidence of anything, one of the joys of a military government of this type is that they are under no real pressure to back up their claims, after all they have the guns. So the paranoia continues and tourists cancel their holidays. The resumption of democracy in my favourite corner of South-East Asia seems a long-long way away.
