Bangkok Bomb Blast Kills 27 In Thailand Capital With Tourists Among Dead

Obama's murdering CIA busy little bees in ASEAN  

EXPRESS.CO.UK
By Peter Henn and Rob Virtue
08/18/2015

Police chief Prawut Thawornsiri said the blast, near a shrine at a major Bangkok intersection, was caused by a bomb.

The possible terror attack, which took place at around 7pm local time, or 1pm BST, happened near the Erawan Shrine, next to a five-star hotel, in the centre of the Thai capital's Chidlom district.

The shrine is to the Hindu god Brahma, but is also a centre of worship for Buddhists and is a popular site for tourists.

The explosion was at the Rajprasong intersection, which is often used for political demonstrations.

Reports from local media say four foreigners are among 27 dead but the official figure according to public health officials is currently at 15.

Thai authorities said there was also another bomb found at the scene but it is understood this was not detonated.

It has been reported there was a third bomb placed on a sky train but this also failed to go off.

Thai deputy national police chief Aek Angsananond seemed to confirm it was a terror attack when he told reporters: "We still don't know for sure who did this and why.

"We are not sure if it is politically motivated, but they aim to harm our economy and we will hunt them down."

Witnesses say they saw pieces of human flesh near the blast site, and a soldier later told onlookers to move back, saying they were checking for a second bomb.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Dramatic CCTV footage has been released showing people fleeing the blast.

Reports suggest two Chinese people and one Filipino are among the dead.

Government officials said the bomb, which some report was planted on a motorcycle and others say was on a bench, was targeted at tourists.

The shrine is said to be particularly popular with Chinese visitors.

Bangkok authorities have asked locals for blood donations to help the injuried.

Thailand's capital has been relatively peaceful since a military coup ousted a civilian government in May last year.

This came after several months of sometimes violent political protests against the previous regime.

However, in recent months tensions have risen as the ruling junta has made clear it may not hold elections until 2017 and wants a constitution that will allow some type of emergency rule to take the place of an elected government.

Car bombs are rare in Bangkok, but have been more common in southern Thailand, where a separatist insurgency has been flaring for several yeas. However, there have been two previous terror attacks in Bangkok this year.

On February 1 there were two explosions at the Siam station of Bangkok’s Skytrain (BTS) system, near the entrance to the Siam Paragon shopping mall, which left one person injured.

Weeks later, on April 10 a car bomb exploded in the underground car park of the Central Festival shopping mall in Bho Phut on the island of Koh Samui.

More than 900,000 Britons visit Thailand each year, with the Foreign Office advising of a 'high threat' of terrorism in the country.

The Foreign Office said the British embassy was monitoring the situation. It urged tourists in the region to "take extra care."

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