5 (maybe more) car bombs explode in Southern Thailand, 1 only 20 KM from me

Scary stuff

Ive been in Thailand about a week now and I had no idea what has been happening even though I live in Malaysia.

The government has been suspended for some time now and there are meant to be new elections on Feb 2nd, the opposition party have already boycotted it and things are looking a bit grim.

Massive rallies and protests are an everyday occurrence and the protesters in Bangkok have vowed to stay on the streets till new elections happen and the lady prime minister (an unbelievable hottie) resigns from politics.

It seems there are 2 sides, those on the side of the government and police then theres the royalists and army.
Im having a hard time getting a coherent picture as on top of the government issues there is also a Malay Muslim separatist movement happening near Malaysia.

So today there were rallies held all over Thailand and of course the biggest was meant to be in Bangkok, alot of the Army stationed in the south were brought upto Bangkok to handle the expected riots, in Bangkok it was actually quite peaceful but down sth at least 5 bombs were exploded at police stations, malls and customs houses

20 wounded in Bomb blasts

Bombs Explode in Sadoa

Im currently in Hat Yai which is the major city in the province that the bombings took place. News online is very sketchy and I noticed in 1 of the articles linked it says a blast is unconfirmed, I can confirm it officially, A guy who owns a bar here had his car damaged in the "unconfirmed" blast. I found out about the bombs from his wife.

There has been talk that they are just getting started and they will be targeting tourist areas, was meant to be out drinking tonight but a few of us decided it may be better to stay in.
Im staying in 1 of the bigger hotels here and have decided to check out tomoz and move into a guesthouse used more by locals, not looking forward to the roaches or cold showers but on the positive side Ill save a heap of money and am less likely to get blown up.

Ill find out as much as I can tomoz and will update this thread, would be interesting to hear from any other members in Thailand and get some info on just what exactly is going on

Cheers

I feel sorry for people living in areas where this kind of stuff is happening. It will impact their lives until they die. I don't understand why the people doing these kind of things think they are appropriate. They terrorize people who did nothing to them. If they have a grudge against a certain group of people, they shouldn't take it out on people who have done them no harm. Their philosophy is very disturbing, They should target the people who are causing the problem not innocent people.

rickymouse
Their philosophy is very disturbing, They should target the people who are causing the problem not innocent people.

Even better would be if they didnt target anyone in ways like this.
The word on the street is that this was done by the army to get people on their side, basically to discredit the Prime minister further and get the people all worked up.

I do agree that it seems self defeating if it is separatists doing the bombing, trying to prove you could run an area better by blowing up the people and businesses in that particular area doesnt seem like good PR to me

reply to post by IkNOwSTuff


So you are fairly safe now I take it?

Please try to keep us informed as much as possible as you seem to be right on the front line.

I'm guessing this wasn't part of your overall plan for this trip was it, getting caught in the middle of a turf war on a national level.

Stay safe..

reply to post by IkNOwSTuff

I do agree that it seems self defeating if it is separatists doing the bombing, trying to prove you could run an area better by blowing up the people and businesses in that particular area doesnt seem like good PR to me

To groups that do these types of acts any PR whether it's good or bad is looked at as the same.

tsurfer2000h
reply to post by IkNOwSTuff

 

So you are fairly safe now I take it?

Please try to keep us informed as much as possible as you seem to be right on the front line.

I'm guessing this wasn't part of your overall plan for this trip was it, getting caught in the middle of a turf war on a national level.

Stay safe..

LOL definitely not part of the plan, Im actually here to expand my Malaysian business and it really couldnt be worse for me since what I do is catered towards the tourist and expat community.

I dont feel like Im in any danger but I will try and stay away from tourist traps while here in the Sth, will also take the precaution of getting out of my hotel as its exclusively for foreigners.

For once I hope this important news doesnt get any coverage in the Western MSM, If my Mum hears about this she will freak the feck out

reply to post by IkNOwSTuff


Well, stay safe and watch what you say about the government in those areas. Especially while you are in a foreign country.

rickymouse
reply to post by IkNOwSTuff

 

Well, stay safe and watch what you say about the government in those areas. Especially while you are in a foreign country.

Luckily for me I know absolutely nothing about the gov or the situation.

Sorry not absolutely nothing, I know the Prime minister is stunning



And that is as far as my knowledge of politics in Thailand goes

Just saw this on TV5. They gave a very brief description of the events, speech from the PM and a few protesters, and then showed an opposition official distributing large sums of money among the protesters, right in the middle of the street. A strange moment indeed. Just from the report, I didn't really understand the reason behind this boycott, beside insatisfaction with the current government.

Then I went looking for other news sources, and found this :

Antigovernment Protesters Vow to Block Elections and ‘Shut Down’ Thailand

On Sunday, protesters in Bangkok, who rallied beside shopping malls decorated for Christmas and New Year, said they were sure that if elections were held the governing party would return to power. The party, they said, does not respect the country’s king and passes “populist” policies that benefit farmers and other government supporters but that harm the country as a whole.

“Our country is an agricultural society — we are not ready for democracy,” said Saran Seedum, a 24-year-old university student from southern Thailand.

“I think we need to restore the absolute monarchy,” he said, echoing a surprisingly common sentiment among protesters. “Let the king appoint good people to run the country.”

Darunee Kerdkhao, 48, a teacher who lives in Bangkok, said she had joined the protest because the governing party had a lot of money and she feared that the votes of “simple minded” citizens in northern parts of the country could be bought.

“The protesters here are all educated people,” she said.

If this information is reliable, then this isn't an anti-government protest. This is an anti-democracy protest.