When you say you want your New Year’s to be “the bomb,” you don’t mean like this. Sunday, Bangkok was rocked by 9 bombs scattered throughout the city, killing 3 and injuring 38. Police said around 10 of the injured were Western tourists. All citywide New Year’s Eve festivities were cancelled and partiers were forced to go home. No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings. The bombs went off in two waves. The first six all exploded within a 15 minute span beginning at 6:30 p.m., Bangkok local time. After midnight, 3 more bombs exploded near the Central World Plaza, an area that was mobbed earlier in the night and had been evacuated by Thai police and military forces. At first, the Thai government assumed the blasts were the work of the Muslim insurgents of southern Thailand who have killed nearly 2,000 people in this region since 2004. However on Monday, reports emerged from Bangkok that the probable bombers were those faithful to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted from power in a September military coup. Thaksin still has a huge number of supporters throughout Thailand who have been tied to prior terrorist acts since the military takeover. As a big fan of Bangkok, and Thailand in general, I hope this country can get a grip on its vulnerable political and economic state. This disaster of a New Year’s Eve will not be good for tourism. And in Thailand, what’s not good for tourism is not good for Thailand.
•Herald Tribune: Bombs Stun Bangkok on New Year’s Eve