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New Year's Eve Bombs Kill 2 in Bangkok
By DENIS D. GRAY 12.31.06, 1:12 PM ET
Six nearly simultaneous bombs exploded in the Thai capital late Sunday, killing at least two people, injuring 26 and prompting the city to cancel its major New Year's Eve celebrations just as revelers had begun to gather ahead of the countdown.
Just after midnight, two more bombs went off near Central World Plaza, the sprawling mall in downtown Bangkok where the largest public festivities were to take place, the iTV television network reported. Eight people were injured in the later blasts, iTV reported.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings, which capped a year of unrest in Thailand, including a military coup three months ago and a mounting Muslim insurgency in its southernmost provinces.
National police chief Gen. Ajirawit Suphanaphesat said he did not believe insurgents were behind the attacks in Bangkok, a major international banking and technology hub for Asia.
Police and soldiers fanned out across Bangkok to guard entertainment venues and important sites. Roadblocks went up in some places.
Several embassies issued warnings on their Web sites to avoid Bangkok's city center. The British Embassy urged its citizens "not to travel into the city until further notice."
Bomb attacks are rare in the Thai capital. Several small bombs exploded during the recent political turmoil but they were apparently set to create unrest rather than cause casualties.
Bangkok's Mayor Apirak Kosayothin canceled the two major public New Year's Eve countdown celebrations and other smaller ones.
"Due to several bomb explosions in Bangkok and for the sake of peace and security, I would ask all of you to return to your homes now," Apirak told some 5,000 revelers at the Central World Plaza, hours before the second set of bombs went off. The crowd began to disperse calmly.
"No, I'm not scared. I'm from England. There are bomb scares all the time," said Keith Waters, who had hoped to celebrate the first New Year's with his Thai bride.
Major public celebrations were also canceled in the northern city of Chiang Mai.
"It is not worth risking," said Maj. Gen. Bandop Sukhonthaman, the provincial police chief.
In Bangkok, some fast food outlets closed early. Hotels stepped up security, searching cars on their premises, and some canceled their expensive New Year's Eve dinners.
"I heard there was a bomb scare, but I don't actually know what is going on. All I know is that I paid 300 dollars at the Arnoma Hotel, and they had to end early," said Eric Peterson from Guam.
But festivities continued in some areas of Bangkok, including the city's most famous red light district, Patpong Road, where hundreds of foreign tourists carried on celebrating. And at midnight, fireworks lit up the sky in both Bangkok and Chiang Mai, with many residents still gathered in the streets of both cities.
Following the initial spate of bombings, police said two people died of their injuries at hospitals and Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla said that 26 people were injured, including 14 treated in hospitals.
Among the injured in the second set of bombings, after midnight, were six foreigners, according to officials at the Police Hospital. One, a woman, was rushed to the hospital with one of her legs blown off, iTV said.
"I heard a loud explosion and I thought it was fireworks. I ran there and saw a bleeding woman at the bus stop," Somrak Manphothong, a receptionist at the Saxophone bar near where one of the earlier bombs went off. "Another guy was lying on the floor, covered with blood, and his wife was shaking his body."
At a vegetable market in the Klong Toey slum, where another bomb went off, a pool of blood and egg yolks covered the roadside next to an overturned motorcycle.
In September, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a bloodless coup by Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin. The military installed Surayud as the interim prime minister until elections in October 2007.
But Thaksin still enjoys widespread support and a number of arson attacks in provincial areas have been blamed on his followers.
"There are two potential suspects, Muslim insurgents and Thaksin's residual power. I tend to think it's residual power. I suspect the previous regime," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University.
Bombings and shootings occur almost daily in Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, where an Islamic insurgency that flared in January 2004 has killed more than 1,900 people.
Muslims make up the majority in overwhelmingly Buddhist Thailand's deep south, where they have long complained of discrimination.
The insurgents have carried out numerous attacks in the south, but are not known to have launched any in Bangkok.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
New Year's Eve Bombs Kill 2 in Bangkok
By DENIS D. GRAY 12.31.06, 1:12 PM ET
Six nearly simultaneous bombs exploded in the Thai capital late Sunday, killing at least two people, injuring 26 and prompting the city to cancel its major New Year's Eve celebrations just as revelers had begun to gather ahead of the countdown.
Just after midnight, two more bombs went off near Central World Plaza, the sprawling mall in downtown Bangkok where the largest public festivities were to take place, the iTV television network reported. Eight people were injured in the later blasts, iTV reported.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings, which capped a year of unrest in Thailand, including a military coup three months ago and a mounting Muslim insurgency in its southernmost provinces.
National police chief Gen. Ajirawit Suphanaphesat said he did not believe insurgents were behind the attacks in Bangkok, a major international banking and technology hub for Asia.
Police and soldiers fanned out across Bangkok to guard entertainment venues and important sites. Roadblocks went up in some places.
Several embassies issued warnings on their Web sites to avoid Bangkok's city center. The British Embassy urged its citizens "not to travel into the city until further notice."
Bomb attacks are rare in the Thai capital. Several small bombs exploded during the recent political turmoil but they were apparently set to create unrest rather than cause casualties.
Bangkok's Mayor Apirak Kosayothin canceled the two major public New Year's Eve countdown celebrations and other smaller ones.
"Due to several bomb explosions in Bangkok and for the sake of peace and security, I would ask all of you to return to your homes now," Apirak told some 5,000 revelers at the Central World Plaza, hours before the second set of bombs went off. The crowd began to disperse calmly.
"No, I'm not scared. I'm from England. There are bomb scares all the time," said Keith Waters, who had hoped to celebrate the first New Year's with his Thai bride.
Major public celebrations were also canceled in the northern city of Chiang Mai.
"It is not worth risking," said Maj. Gen. Bandop Sukhonthaman, the provincial police chief.
In Bangkok, some fast food outlets closed early. Hotels stepped up security, searching cars on their premises, and some canceled their expensive New Year's Eve dinners.
"I heard there was a bomb scare, but I don't actually know what is going on. All I know is that I paid 300 dollars at the Arnoma Hotel, and they had to end early," said Eric Peterson from Guam.
But festivities continued in some areas of Bangkok, including the city's most famous red light district, Patpong Road, where hundreds of foreign tourists carried on celebrating. And at midnight, fireworks lit up the sky in both Bangkok and Chiang Mai, with many residents still gathered in the streets of both cities.
Following the initial spate of bombings, police said two people died of their injuries at hospitals and Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla said that 26 people were injured, including 14 treated in hospitals.
Among the injured in the second set of bombings, after midnight, were six foreigners, according to officials at the Police Hospital. One, a woman, was rushed to the hospital with one of her legs blown off, iTV said.
"I heard a loud explosion and I thought it was fireworks. I ran there and saw a bleeding woman at the bus stop," Somrak Manphothong, a receptionist at the Saxophone bar near where one of the earlier bombs went off. "Another guy was lying on the floor, covered with blood, and his wife was shaking his body."
At a vegetable market in the Klong Toey slum, where another bomb went off, a pool of blood and egg yolks covered the roadside next to an overturned motorcycle.
In September, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a bloodless coup by Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin. The military installed Surayud as the interim prime minister until elections in October 2007.
But Thaksin still enjoys widespread support and a number of arson attacks in provincial areas have been blamed on his followers.
"There are two potential suspects, Muslim insurgents and Thaksin's residual power. I tend to think it's residual power. I suspect the previous regime," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University.
Bombings and shootings occur almost daily in Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, where an Islamic insurgency that flared in January 2004 has killed more than 1,900 people.
Muslims make up the majority in overwhelmingly Buddhist Thailand's deep south, where they have long complained of discrimination.
The insurgents have carried out numerous attacks in the south, but are not known to have launched any in Bangkok.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
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