Late in the evening on Monday night, a high- intensity explosion devastated a popular tourist spot in Bangkok, a Hindu shrine dedicated to Lord Brahma. The first attack of such a massive scale, it left 27 people dead while wounding scores of others in the crowded area of the Ratchaprasong intersection, unlike the bomb blasts that had occurred in February this year at a shopping mall, wherein there were no casualties.
The casualties involved 8 foreigners, including four Chinese, two Malaysians, a Singaporean and one from Hong Kong. The injured also include several Chinese and Taiwanese citizens. However, no Indian casualties have been discovered, despite the Erawan shrine in downtown Chidlom district being visited mostly by Hindus and Sikhs. The two bombs were placed inside the shrine, one near the iron grill surrounding the shrine and the second one attached to a device on an electric pole. The shrine itself was not damaged, but the walls were reduced to rubble. Cars, motorcycles and other vehicles were blown away from the impact of the explosion, which was suspected to have used nearly 5 kg of TNT.
Although rare and unusual, the attack is thought to have been directed towards adversely affecting the country’s economy and tourism, hence primarily targeting foreigners. The blasts were also accordingly placed in Bangkok’s commercial center, which is surrounded by international mall and hotel chains, visited largely by Buddhists and East Asians. The Defence Minister of Thailand, Prawit Wongsuwan declared, “It was a TNT bomb… those who did it targeted foreigners and to damage the tourism and the economy.” The tourism industry accounts for nearly 10% of the Thai economy, especially after the political turmoil in May 2014, when the Military seized power.
No terrorist or anti-coup Red Shirt groups have claimed responsibility for the attack. Nevertheless, the separatist Muslim insurgents of Southern Thailand and Northeastern pro-democracy groups are the prime suspects. Yet, the Royal Thai Army chief, General Udomdej Sitabutr, has negated these claims by stating, “This does not match with incidents in southern Thailand. The type of bomb used is also not in keeping with the south”. Plus, it is unlikely that the Red Shirt group may have initiated this attack, since they are for democracy and would not kill innocent people or harm the economy in seeking power. An investigation was put under order right away, as the patrol groups and sniffer dogs at the blast site on Tuesday morning show. The street is still covered in shards of glass, blood, metal shrapnels and other debris.
Report by Khushi Desai
