Multiple Bombings in Southern Thailand

Divemaster · 08-11-2016, 21:32

A number of the QPs here are very familiar with the Kingdom, and many of us have been to the places hit. Not sure if it is relevant, but these bombs went off on the queen's birthday.

There as been a Muslim sepratists insugency in southern Thailand for years. However, the provinces involved are well south of these bombings.

Hua Hin
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37049989

Thailand bombs: Hua Hin resort hit by twin blasts

Two bombs have exploded in the Thai resort of Hua Hin, killing one woman and injuring 19 people including foreign tourists.
The bombs were hidden in plant pots spaced 50m (164 ft) apart, and detonated by mobile phones within half an hour of each other, police said.
Local reports say the woman who died was running a food stall in the area of the blasts.
Five foreigners are reported to be among the injured.
Twin bombings are a regular occurrence in Thailand's three southern provinces, which are wracked by an insurgency, but it is rare to find such attacks in Thailand's tourist areas.
Briton Mark Gainsford told the BBC he had been in a bar near the blasts: "I heard people shouting 'Bomb! Bomb!' but I didn't hear any blast.
"I ran out to see if I could help. I saw eight to 10 people injured, on the floor. The police arrived very quickly."
Hua Hin, an upmarket coastal resort on the Gulf of Thailand, is popular with foreign and Thai visitors.
Its royal palace is famous as the preferred home of King Bhumibol Adulyade.

Patong Beach, Phuket

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...b/3036384.html

1 injured after bomb explodes at Phuket’s Patong beach: Reports

PHUKET: At least one person was injured after a bomb exploded at Phuket’s Patong beach, an area popular with tourists, according to local reports.

Bomb disposal officers were dispatched to diffuse another bomb at the nearby Loma beach, The Nation newspaper reported.

At least four people have been killed and more than 20 injured in multiple explosions at three other locations in Thailand – Hua Hin, Surat Thani and Trang – since Thursday afternoon.

Two loud blasts were heard in the Thai seaside resort of Hua Hin on Friday, according to a Reuters witness said, just hours after two other blasts killed one person in the popular tourist destination south of Bangkok.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-3...e=news_central

Thailand blasts: More explosions strike southern Thailand

A series of blasts have hit southern Thailand, hours after two bombs killed one and injured 19 in a seaside resort town.
Late on Thursday twin blasts killed a local food vendor in the popular tourist town of Hua Hin, near the capital Bangkok.
On Friday, the town was hit again by at least one blast at the clock tower.
Another bomb went off in the popular beach resort of Patong, on the island of Phuket
At least three people have been killed and dozens injured across Thailand in Friday's blasts.

I've also heard there was another bomb in Trang. This city is the furthest south of the all the other locations mentioned (roughly between Krabi and Songkla), and closer to the conflict zone, and the only one not a resort town full of foreigners.

Old Dog New Trick · 08-11-2016, 21:44

Shit!

My wife and kid have a reservation next week to stay a few days in Hua Hin. (Well, at least she isn't there now. I know she's someplace else.)

This is becoming more prevalent now to focus on tourism than political parties.

Divemaster · 08-11-2016, 22:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Dog New Trick

Shit!

My wife and kid have a reservation next week to stay a few days in Hua Hin. (Well, at least she isn't there now. I know she's someplace else.)

This is becoming more prevalent now to focus on tourism than political parties.

Make sure they're tracking current events, brother. I'm now hearing reports of a suspicious object found at the Hua Hin train station. However, I don't know if this is ongoing, delayed reporting of a resolved incident, or even just paranoia.

Old Dog New Trick · 08-11-2016, 22:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divemaster

Make sure they're tracking current events, brother. I'm now hearing reports of a suspicious object found at the Hua Hin train station. However, I don't know if this is ongoing, delayed reporting of a resolved incident, or even just paranoia.

Great! They are (were planning) taking the train down.

I'll keep on things this week. Already told her to watch news and decide if she still wants to go.

They'll be leaving end of the month to return home so there's always the airport. Some things you have no control over.

Paranoia has kept the voices in my head from having a boring one sided conversation.

Divemaster · 08-11-2016, 22:36

WE aren't paranoid. We just live in a heightened state of awareness.

Divemaster · 08-11-2016, 23:24

These "suspicious items" were reportedly found along a footpath in Patong. Charlies, what say you? Small IEDs with a connector for a power source?

Divemaster · 08-11-2016, 21:51

http://www.thephuketnews.com/two-bom...KFBJdzypjdD.97

Two bomb explosions in Patong, third found bomb found

PHUKET: Two bombs exploded In Patong this morning (Aug 12), the first close to the police box on Bangla Rd the second at Loma Park. A third Bomb has also been found outside the Baan Thai Hotel.

Notes for those not familiar with the area:

Phuket is an island connected by bridge to the mainland. Patong is the main tourist town on Phuket. When people talk about going to Phuket, they usually mean Patong.

The hotel where the 3rd bomb was found is about a block, maybe two, from the dive shop I use when visiting there. Bangla Road is the main bar/party area for foreign tourists in Patong. There are quite a few bars owned by, and patronized by Australians on Bangla Road. Phuket International Airport (HKT) has direct flights to and from Sydney.

Sdiver · 08-12-2016, 00:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divemaster

I've also heard there was another bomb in Trang. This city is the furthest south of the all the other locations mentioned (roughly between Krabi and Songkla), and closer to the conflict zone, and the only one not a resort town full of foreigners.

Here ya go DM, this story has the four locations in Thailand and how they unfolded ...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ocial-facebook

Quote:

Multiple explosions in Thailand after bombing in Phuket with reports of at least seven attacks across the country as westerners flee resorts in terror

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT BELOW
At least four people have been killed and dozens injured in a wave of co-ordinated blasts in Thailand
First two explosions hit busy street in tourist resort of Hua Hin overnight, killing at least one person
The town, which is close to Bangkok, was reportedly struck again by multiple blasts on Friday morning
Two blasts ripped through Patong on the island of Phuket, a destination popular with foreign tourists
Twin explosions in southern city of Surat Thami have killed one person and injured at least three more
At least 10 foreign tourists have been injured in the strikes, which are not thought to be terror related

.

Divemaster · 08-12-2016, 00:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sdiver

Here ya go DM, this story has the four locations in Thailand and how they unfolded ...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ocial-facebook

.

Yep, saw the Daily Mail pics earlier. Right now I'm tracking sources in Thailand, trying to weed through speculation. Starting to see some surveilance camera pics of possible suspects.

Old Dog New Trick · 08-12-2016, 00:32

It's looking like local dissidents aka the UDD https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit...t_Dictatorship that may be behind this.

Sounds like they are rounding up the usual suspects.

May have wished to cause 'chaos' but people died and everyone fled.

Divemaster · 08-12-2016, 00:52

This looks like it could be an aerosol can blown apart. I can't tell for sure, but looks like a wire coming off of it. That wire looks very similar to the wires on the intact devices.

Sdiver · 08-24-2016, 08:54

How many days did we go without an "incident" ... 1 ... 2 ... ???

Quote:

Another Bombing in Southern Thailand Kills One

BANGKOK—Police in Thailand said one person was killed and several others wounded when two bombs exploded late Tuesday in the town of Pattani, in a predominantly Muslim area wracked by a decadelong insurgency.

The initial blast at about 10:40 p.m. occurred at the rear of the Southern Hotel in the town and didn’t cause injuries. But a second bomb near the site, which was apparently designed to target emergency responders and onlookers, tore through the area. It killed a local woman, 35-year old Oraphan Sriuenhat, the state run Thai News Agency reported police as saying.

The attack comes on the back of a series of coordinated blasts earlier this month which hit some of Thailand’s most popular tourism resorts, including Hua Hin and Phuket, killing four people. Dozens more were injured.

No groups or individuals have claimed responsibility for the attacks, but some police and security officials have blamed southern insurgents from the predominantly Muslim southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed over the past 12 years as guerrillas stepped up a long-running campaign to break away from the rest of Thailand, which is mostly Buddhist.

Chaktip Chaijinda, the national police chief, said Monday that 20 people were involved in those bombs; he said he believed many of them came from Thailand’s deep south.

Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington who has written extensively about the conflict in southern Thailand, suggests a new generation of younger militants could be coming to the fore with the goal of forcing the Thai government to make more concessions.

Investigators have said there are similarities in the construction of the bombs and the improvised explosive devices that are typically planted by insurgents in southern Thailand. Unlike some other militant groups in Southeast Asia, the militants in southern Thailand haven’t declared allegiance to Islamic State and instead are focused on their own, more local objectives.

Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, meanwhile, said Tuesday that more time is needed to determine exactly who was responsible for the fatal attacks in Hua Hin, which is more than 190 kilometers southwest of Bangkok. Junta chief and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha initially said the blasts were the work of individuals opposed to the outcome of a recent referendum endorsing a new constitution that gives the military extensive political powers.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/another-...one-1472006285