Airport Safety In Thailand Raised To Level 3

BANGKOK, August 2015 (NNT)-The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) has raised airport safety levels to level 3 for its 28 airports across the country, following the bomb attack in the heart of Bangkok last night.

According to DCA Director General Parichart Kotcharat, a high level of security at 28 airports is now being carried out rigorously to assure safety for passengers and those visiting the airport.

Stricter passenger and luggage search for any forbidden items and weapons as well as a thorough x-ray scan within the airport terminal have already been enforced.

Level 3, out of 4, is said to have been the highest level of safety ever implemented at the airport. Airport officials are expected to be monitoring surveillance cameras around the clock for any suspicious people or activities.

Soldiers and police have been coordinated to safeguard the airports.

Massive Manhunt On The Way For Bomb Suspect

BANGKOK: -- A massive manhunt is now underway by the police and the military for an Arabian looking man after a video footage of a surveillance camera showed him placed a shoulder bag inside the fence where hundreds of visitors to the Erawan shrine were worshipping, and explosion followed a minute after he left.

National police chief Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuong confirmed the man in the video clip is a wanted bomb suspect.

A massive manhunt was now ordered and all airports and border checkpoint were alerted to watch out for the suspect.

The video footage now released by security officials showed the man, wearing yellow shirt and dark blue shorts and red sports shoes, was carrying a shoulder bag.

The man with curled hair and in dark sunglass and wristwatch on left hand and wrist bands on both hands, walked towards the fence where the Erawan shrine is located.

He took off the bag from the shoulder and placed it inside the fence near the shrine where many foreign tourists were worshipping and praying.

He left the fence leaving the shoulder bag there and walked away.

One minute later, explosion was heard at the place.

PM Prayut Vows To Quickly Find Bombers In Bangkok Blast That Killed At Least 20

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's prime minister on Tuesday promised that authorities would quickly track down those responsible for the central Bangkok bombing that killed at least 18 people and injured more than 100, which he described as the country's worst attack ever.

The defense minister, meanwhile, said officials had no prior intelligence about Monday's rush-hour bombing of a popular shrine at a hectic intersection. The blast from the improvised explosive device scattered body parts, spattered blood, blasted windows and burned motorbikes to the metal.

"This is the worst incident that has ever happened in Thailand," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said. "There have been minor bombs or just noise, but this time they aim for innocent lives. They want to destroy our economy, our tourism."

The explosion went off around 7 p.m. in an upscale area filled with tourists, office workers and shoppers.

Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said the attack, which no one immediately claimed responsibility for, was aimed at destroying the country's economy by targeting a major tourist area.

"It is much clearer who the bombers are, but I can't reveal more right now," Prawit said, as he headed into a Cabinet meeting Tuesday morning. "We haven't ruled out terrorism."

He acknowledged that authorities had no idea an attack was planned.

"We didn't know about this ahead of time. We had no intelligence on this attack," the defense minister said.

Prayuth vowed to "hurry and find the bombers."

Video shortly after the blast showed a scene of shock and desperation: people running for their lives and crying amid the debris. An emergency worker in an ambulance, frantically pounding the chest of a victim.

National chief of police Somyot Poompanmoung said the perpetrators aimed to kill "because everyone knows that at 7 p.m. the shrine is crowded with Thais and foreigners. Planting a bomb there means they want to see a lot of dead people."

Early Tuesday morning, Somyot was among those surveying the damage as police and soldiers guarded the area, still littered with shattered glass and other debris. The normally busy intersection that was closed off to traffic and eerily empty aside from onlookers standing behind police tape to take pictures. Barricades were set up outside five-star hotels in the neighborhood and security stopped cars to inspect trunks before letting them pass.

More than 12 hours after the blast, onlookers dashed for safety as shards of glass torpedoed to the ground from windows of a nearby building. Nobody appeared to have been injured.

At least 18 people were confirmed dead and 117 injured, according to the Narinthorn emergency medical rescue center. China reported three of its citizens dead, and Somyot said a Filipino also was among those killed.

As a single, devastating blow to this Southeast Asian metropolis, Monday's bombing has no equal in recent history, though Thailand is no stranger to violent attacks. A more-than-decade-long insurgency by southern Muslim separatists has left more than 5,000 dead far from the capital. In Bangkok, politically charged riots centered on this very intersection in 2010 killed more than 90 over two months.

Police chief Somyot said the bomb was made with a pipe wrapped in cloth and weighed 3 kilograms (more than 6 pounds).

It detonated at the Erawan Shrine, which is dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma, but is extremely popular among Thailand's Buddhists as well as Chinese tourists. Although Thailand is predominantly Buddhist, it has enormous Hindu influence on its religious practices and language.

Throngs of tourists come there to pray at all hours, lighting incense and offering flowers purchased from rows of stalls set up on the sidewalk along the shrine. The site is a hubbub of activity, with quiet worshippers sometimes flanked by Thai dancers hired by those seeking good fortune, while groups of tourists shuffle in and out.

Bangkok has been relatively peaceful since a military coup ousted a civilian government in May last year after several months of sometimes violent political protests against the previous government. Anusit Kunakorn, secretary of the National Security Council, said Prime Minister Prayuth, the former army chief who orchestrated the May 2014 coup, was closely monitoring the situation.

At the same time, the military government has tightly controlled dissent, arresting hundreds of its opponents and banning protests. Tensions have risen in recent months, with the junta making clear that 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.

Stirring the pot has been exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup. It was his sister Yingluck Shinawatra who was ousted as prime minister last year.

Last week, Thaksin posted a message on YouTube urging his followers to reject the draft constitution because he said it was undemocratic. The draft charter is supposed to be voted on next month by a special National Reform Council. If it passes, it is supposed to go to a public referendum around January.

Another source of recent tension is the annual military promotion list, with the junta's top two leaders — Prime Minister Prayuth and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit — widely believed to be supporting different candidates. The reshuffle, which comes into effect in September, has traditionally been a source of unrest, as different cliques in the army, usually defined by their graduating class in the military academy, seek the most important posts to consolidate their power.

The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok issued an emergency message for U.S. citizens, advising them to avoid the shrine's area. In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby expressed deep sympathy to those affected by the Bangkok explosion. He said authorities were still determining whether any Americans were among the victims.

Tourists reacted with concern.

"We didn't think anything like this could happen in Bangkok," said Holger Siegle, a German who said he and his newlywed wife had chosen Thailand because it seemed safe. "Our honeymoon and our vacation will go on, but with a very unsafe feeling."

While bombings of this magnitude are rare in Bangkok, they are more common where Thailand's Muslim separatist insurgency has been flaring: in the country's three Muslim-majority provinces in the deep south.

Angry Chinese Ask: Why Did So Many Firefighters Die In Tianjin Explosion?

BEIJING — Last Wednesday night, 25 members of the fifth company of the Tianjin Port Group fire department rushed to the site of an explosion.

They were mostly young men, some just new-in-town teenagers. Eleven hailed from the same county in Hebei province, at least two from the same small town.

None made it out.

Now, almost a week after the massive, chemical-fueled blasts that left more than 100 dead and dozens missing, the fate of these young contract firefighters has become a focal point in a story that has gripped China and sent authorities scrambling to stay ahead of mounting public rage.

Chinese officials have yet to say conclusively what caused the blasts but have acknowledged that there were dozens of types of chemicals on site, including a reported 700 tons of sodium cyanide, 800 tons of ammonium nitrate and 500 tons of potassium nitrate.

Royal Brunei To Waive Fees For Change In Bangkok Flights

BRUNEI: -- National flag carrier Royal Brunei (RB) airlines will waive reissuance fees for passengers who wish to defer their flights to Bangkok following the deadly blast that rocked Thailand's capital city on Monday night, according to The Brunei Times.

An RB spokesman said the fee waiver will be subjected to certain terms and conditions, but did not specify further.

He added that Bruneians who had bought Bangkok flight tickets are pushing ahead with their travel plans despite the bombing and “only a small number” of travellers have opted to cancel or postpone their travels in light of the explosion.

RB has yet to receive any circular from the Thai government advising against travels to Bangkok, he said.

General Manager of Century Travel Centre Foo C P, said a small group of customers returned to Brunei yesterday earlier than planned due to safety concerns. There were also customers due to travel soon who decided to cancel their plans, while others who are still in Bangkok had decided to stay as they had originally planned.

He advised travellers to exercise caution while travelling and to avoid crowded places for their own safety.

The Brunei Embassy in Thailand on Monday night said no Bruneians were reported injured in the blast outside Erawan Shrine along the Rachaprasong intersection in central Bangkok.

Malaysia Condemns Bangkok Blast

KUALA LUMPUR: -- Malaysia condemns the heinous act on innocent civilians yesterday in Bangkok which claimed the lives of two Malaysians and others, New Straits Times reported.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the Foreign Ministry and Malaysian Embassy in Thailand will be in touch with and provide assistance to victims’ families.

“I urge Malaysians who are traveling in Bangkok to be more alert and to contact the Malaysian Embassy for assistance if needed,” he said in his Facebook posting this afternoon.

A bomb blast occurred at Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine which is a tourist attraction, killing at least 20 people, and wounding at least 120 people.

Earlier today, Wisma Putra has confirmed that two Malaysians — Lim Saw Gek and her son Neoh Jai Jun were killed in the explosion. Meanwhile, an official at Malaysian embassy in Thailand, said that three Malaysians were injured in blast.

Special Bomb Use Indicates Different Suspect Group

BANGKOK: -- Forensic specialist investigating the Ratchaprasong deadly bomb explosion Monday blast have discovered strange bomb shards and shrapnel which they say are not normally seen in devices in past bombings in the country.

Specialists from both the police and military have been collecting shrapnel and bomb fragments at the site since Monday night and what they found was a device that is not normally used in past bombings in Thailand.

Fragments discovered at the blast site are made up of a section of metal tubing and 2 types of metal pellets.

The metal tubing is between 1.5 – 2 cm in thickness and authorities believe it was used to contain the explosives.

More than 100 metal pellets have been collected and they came in 2 sizes.

Some were 0.6 cm in diameter and the remainder was 0.8 cm and was employed as fragmentation to cause maximum damage.

The bomb is believed to have contained high grade explosives but it has not been determined yet whether TNT or C4 explosive was used.

Authorities suspected a timer – either a digital wrist watch or a mobile phone; was used to set the device off.

Earlier Royal Thai Police commissioner Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuong said, “We have not yet determined the type of explosives material used. What we know is that the device was contained in a metal tube and wrapped with a piece of white cloth.”

The materials used in this device differ from other devices in other past bombings and authorities suspect that the bomber was highly skilled as only 3 – 5 pounds of explosives was used but metal pellets were used to exponentially increase the amount of damage.

The force of the detonation resulted in fatalities at the scene and caused damage on structures as far away as 50 meters.

Buildings on the periphery of the blast such as the Police General Hospital, Gaysorn Plaza and the Hyatt Erawan Hote, some 50-100 metres away, suffered glass damage from debris and the force of the explosion.

But surprisingly, the main Erawan Shrine which sits only five metres from the deadly explosion site, suffered only slight damage.

Australian Model Questioned After Being Accused Of Being Bangkok Bomber

SYDNEY: -- A Sydney actor, model, tutor and fashion blogger says he is "in shock and really saddened" and feared he may become the "terrorist version of Schapelle Corby" after rumours that he was the Bangkok bombing suspect seen in CCTV footage before the deadly attack began circulating online.

Sunny Burns, who lives in Bangkok where he acts, models and teaches English, handed himself in to police after Monday evening's bomb blast at Erawan Shrine, which took the lives of 22 people and injured 123 more.

He told Sunrise on Wednesday morning that he was forced to go to the police, who questioned him for six hours, after his immigration papers and local address were posted on social media.

"People were accusing me of being a terrorist...I had no other choice but to go to the police..." he said.

Sukhumvit Road Reopens After BTS Nana Bomb Scare

BANGKOK — All lanes have been closed on a stretch of Sukhumvit Road this afternoon while police check a suspicious object near BTS Nana.

UPDATE: Reports indicate roads reopened after object removed.

All vehicles have been diverted along other routes around the station, according to Traffic Police Radio, while the Skytrain operator announced at 2:30 pm that BTS Nana remains open except for one exit on the Phloenchit side, which has been sealed off during the investigation.

Thai Police Identify 2 More Bangkok Blast Suspects

BANGKOK: -- The Royal Thai Police today reiterated its call for cooperation from the people to send photographic evidence of the wanted bomb suspect to the police if they happened to capture views of the area with the suspect appearing in their cameras or smartphones.

The call for public cooperation came as the police still have no clearer images of the wanted bomb suspect rather than from video footage of CCTV cameras.

The Royal Thai Police will stand by its Emergency 1599 to receive call from the people of the information, and allows access to its website to get the images of the suspect, either from smartphones or their car video cameras.

The police are also suspecting two more persons who appeared in the video footage along with the bomb suspect before the explosion.

One dressed in red T-shirt and another in white shirt.

Royal Thai Police spokesman Pol Lt Gen Prawut Thawornsiri said the man in white seemed to give seat to the bomb suspect when he came with the shoulder bag while the man in red also acted as if to provide cover for the bomb suspect to loose the bag from the shoulders.

Earlier the police have said the bomb attack was a well organised work with more than one, and aided by some Thais.

Moreover components used in the pipe bomb were locally available such as pellets, thus convincing the police to believe the bombing was cooperated locally.

A Powerful Bomb Exploded Near Rajprasong Intersection Wounding 20

BANGKOK — A large explosion in front of Bangkok's Erawan shrine injured at least 10 people at around 7pm tonight.

Photos from the scene show blood and bodies laying on the ground as rescue workers rush to provide aid. In images tweeted by JS 100 radio just after the blast, fires were burning in Sukhumvit Road before the local landmark, which is heavily frequented by Thais and tourists alike.

One of those injured is believed to be a foreign national, according to Thai Rath TV.

Photos from the scene appear to show an injured Caucasian woman being taken away on a stretcher.

There is no indication yet of what caused the explosion during rush hour. Roads around Rajaprasong Intersection have been closed.

NBTC To Extend Registration Of Prepaid SIM Cards Till August 31

BANGKOK: -- The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) now allows users of cellular prepaid SIM cards another 30 days to register after the deadline for registration expired yesterday July 31.

NBTC secretary general Thakorn Tanthasith said however that the extension of registration until August 31 would mean only those who failed to register their cards by the July 31 deadline could answer calls but could not make calls during the extended period.

But he said these callers could still call 191 emergency numbers only.

After the expiration of the extended period on August 31, they could neither receive or make calls, even the 191 emergency numbers, he said.

The extension of registration of prepaid SIM cards came after 16.9 million users of the prepaid cards still did not register.

He said there are altogether 85.5 million prepaid cards in use but only 68.8 million have registered by the July 31 deadline, or 80.2%.

He said the remaining 16.9 million users have until end if this month to register otherwise they could not be used both to answer or make calls.

He said it was necessary to require registration of all prepaid cards for security reasons as some prepaid cards were used for criminal activities such as drug trafficking and insurgency.

Of the total 68.8 million registered cards, 34.3 million are users of AIS mobile phone service, DTAC 21.2 million users, and True 12.9 million users.