'When terror isn't terrorism'
Thailand’s politicians are struggling to explain to its public why it unwittingly played host to a botched bombing, writes Jon Sparks.
(Thai police escort Iranian suspect Mohammad Khazaei at the Immigration Bureau in Bangkok)
“We’d just been there” – my first thought on hearing the news that a group of Iranian men had ran out of house in Bangkok tossing “magnetic bombs” at taxis and a police patrol like they were frisbees.
Just a few days before this disturbing incident on “Sukhumvit Soi 71” – a busy inner city thoroughfare – we had been filming at a dog shelter tucked behind an old furniture showroom for a story on the dog meat trade. The area was notable only for its ordinariness – a run-of-mill, multi-cultural neighbourhood that is entirely typical of other parts of the rapidly expanding Thai capital – and therefore, upon reflection, an ideal place to put a bomb-factory staffed by foreign nationals.
We have far more to learn about a group of bombers who blew their cover after an explosion within the “Soi 71 hideout”. Four bystanders were injured after one of the suspects – a 28-year-old Iranian called Saeid Moradi – took to the street with a bag full of grenades. He blew his legs off on when one device detonated at his feet. Three people are now being held in custody and Thai police have issued an arrest warrant for an Iranian woman called Rohani Leila, who is suspected of having arranged for the rental of the house on ‘Soi 71.’ We are also hearing that a fifth, and possibly even a sixth member of the group are now being sought.
If you listen to Thailand’s politicians however, the overriding message is “hey folks, don’t worry about it”. The deputy prime minister told the country’s House of Representatives yesterday that the bombs ‘were intended to kill specific individuals – not a large group of people.’ The implied message being, ‘these guys aren’t terrorists – they’re just, well, assassins’.
Thailand’s foreign minister, Surapong Towichukchaikul, got into the act as well. He dismissed any connection between the blasts in Bangkok and a number of attacks earlier this week in India and Georgia, which the Israeli government says were intended to kill their diplomats. The foreign minister went on to suggest that the bombers where merely using Thailand as “a base”. Their deadly contraptions were designed for attacks in “other countries” he said.
Such statements have created a storm amongst opposition politicians. The leader of the biggest opposition party, Oxford-educated Abhisit Vejjajiva, told the government to get real; “We have to accept that they had bombs and there were attempts to assemble bombs, regardless of what their targets were.” Security analysts and even the police themselves, speaking anonymously in the papers, have also cast doubt on ministerial statements.
Of course, the government’s thinking is clear. Thailand depends on tourism for employment, jobs and foreign exchange. Industry chiefs say the country will lose 100,000 to 200,000 visitors because of “Soi 71”. The Thai government is loathe then to tell the world it has got a “terrorism problem” – that never goes down well the sun-worshippers.
Listen to the head of the country’s police this morning however, and it sure sounds like Thailand’s got some issues. Security is now being beefed up at the country’s six international airports and other transport centres after intelligence reports warned of “acts of sabotage”.
That sounds like terrorism threat to me.
Follow @c4sparks on Twitter.