Wednesday, February 15th

Bangkok

Valentine’s Day Chaos as Iranians Derail Own Bomb Making Resulting in Chaotic Fiasco in Bangkok Neighborhood….

Security Tape Around Area of Iranian Men's D- Day at Bomb Making House

As This Byline Appeared first on Jan. 18^th : What Really Happened Was Nearly and Possibly the Makings of Thailand’s Worst Nightmare,…. & Amid Its Own Porous Security Blanket Being Openly Exposed … Thailand’s dependence on foreign tourists makes responding credibly to terror threats a national security and economic priority on a par with flood relief and natural disaster prevention.

….. It now marks a major shift in radical Muslim terrorists’ strategy to seek soft targets in large urban areas where countries are not directly focused on terrorist threats… (See LifeBangkok Story : What Really Happened and Why in the Case of the Seized Hezbollah/Terrorist Cache of Explosives? Jan 18^th)

The second major terrorist threat in just the last month since a cell of Hezbollah operatives were discovered and arrested in Bangkok/ Thailand with tons of fertilizer and bomb agents (ammonium nitrate) played out on a busy road in central Bangkok’s Phrakhanong Rd. where a group of suspected Iranian bomb makers were renting a house….

“Then all hell broke loose- 3 explosions, and 6 injured when first one goes off at a rented house.”

UK, US, Israel Embassies Re-Issue Bangkok Region Terror Threat Warning

“Iranian tosses bomb at a taxi, then at police car but loses his legs in blast while another Iranian is arrested…”

Time for a Change...? Iran and Allies Threaten Thailand's Safe Haven Image

An Iranian man was badly injured and a second Iranian was arrested after a series of grenade attacks caused panic in the capital and left five bystanders injured yesterday.

The area is close to a school on Soi Pridi Banomyong off Phrakhanong/Sukhumvit Soi 71.The area has a sizeable local Muslim population, so it’s assumed other Muslims from abroad would feel they could easily blend in. It’s also not too far fom the Iranian Embassy, although they will categorically deny any inference of a connection, whether true or not.

What happened here was a bomb making operation gone wrong, so evidently there must have been a targeted operation planned… This is also being backpedaled by the Thai authorities, who want nothing to do (on the surface at least) with the wider ‘War on Terror” as they have their own massively disastrous southern insurgency striking deadly blows against Thai security forces and innocent bystanders as they are locked in a wider guerrilla war for control of the 3 southernmost provinces…. With no end in sight.

Coinciding with targeted attacks in Tiblisi Georgia and New Delhi just a day prior seems to indicate a wider global strategy of revenge aimed at getting payback for Israeli assassinations of nuclear researchers inside Iran and the anniversary of the Israeli assassination of the founder of Hamas. To say Iranian intelligence is unaware of the operations and events would be folly and is simply shielding its actions by being fully in denial mode.

In this incident an explosion occurred at about 2:20 pm at 66/1 of Soi Pridi Banomyong 36, and one man was arrested. He launched a grenade at a taxi that wouldn’t take him away from the scene of the explosion as he was blood stained, so he retaliated and damaged the taxi as it bounced and rolled underneath it also wounding local bystanders…the driver helped chase him onto the main street where police arrived…

This is a summary of the chaos:

Police said that after the first explosion, the 3 men ran from the house, and one, initially identified as Saeid Moradi, tried to hail a taxi. When the taxi did not stop to pick him up, he threw a grenade at it, only to have the grenade roll under it and explode. In addition, shrapnel wounded 5 adults, but did not harm any students at nearby Kasem Phitthaya School.

Strewn Debris After Bomb Fiasco Threatens Neighborhood

Police officers seemed to offer conflicting reports about the location and sequence of events.

Khlong Tan police chief Police Colonel Sitthipharb Baiprasert alleged Moradi ran to the front of a school and aimed a grenade at police officers, but ended up bearing the brunt of the blast himself as it bounced off a tree and back towards him.

However, deputy Bangkok police chief Pol Maj-General Phisit Phisutthisak said the suspect threw the grenade at a taxicab.

Another senior commander, Police Major-General Wichai Sangpraphai, was quoted by Deputy Secretary-General to the PM Thitima Chaisang as saying the suspect was not injured by the grenade he threw at the taxi, but lost his leg and badly injured another when a second grenade he aimed at a police vehicle exploded after it bounced off a tree. It seems as if both events were likely, and not occurring exclusively actually.

A report in the Thai-language Manager website said the suspect tried to slit his own throat with a sharp piece of glass, but was stopped by police.

Police later said they arrested Mohammad Hazaei, 42, one of the Iranian men, at Bangkok’s Airport, Suvarnabhumi International as he was about to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur. He is under interrogation. The 3^rd suspect remains at large.

A search at the rented house turned up an unspecified amount of C-4 explosive and some other rudimentary bombs, Bangkok police chief Police Lieutenant-General Winai Thongsong said.

In Moradi’s backpack, police found clothing along with receipts issued to Yasef Moradi by a hotel in Pattaya, 8,500 in Thai baht and US$2,800 and a large amount of cash in Iranian currency. Thitima denied the incidents were acts of terrorism, saying: “This is not sabotage or related to the travel advisories issued after last month’s terrorism scare by many countries….

“Intelligence analysis said they were arguing with one another, and therefore  incidents are being treated as normal crimes.” Yes, but normally Hezbollah operatives and Iranians don’t rent various houses in or near Bangkok as bomb making and storage facilities…

So obviously this is the ‘new normal’, unfortunately. Thai authorities likely won’t get a 3rd chance if a seriously determined network is able to pull off a successful plot, and then the majority of tourists will be on the one way outbound direction home or elsewhere.

So clearly the spin is on to minimize the international impact of Bangkok being viewed as in anyway a danger due to terrorist threats, although this is the second hot button handed to the Thai government in a month.Clearly the game is on, and Bangkok is caught in the middle

Maybe it’s time to focus on the source of these cells more and less on their residual impacts on Thai tourism amid foreigners’ wary perceptions of Thailand providing adequate security.Terrorist threats are literally the last thing they need, as a plethora of domestic and political troubles, global economic woes and jadedness rises among foreigners accustomed to hearing of Thai tourist scams etc. and also regarding the attractiveness and stability of Thailand as a ’safe haven’ for foreign tourists and expats.

It’s clear the Thai government is in need of a well thought out and coherent policy of handling and ferreting out terrorist threats. That the networks haven’t been able to do more than blunder up to this point should not be seen as an indication of Bangkok’s readiness to handle just such events. In fact, it should serve as the rude awakening that they can no longer afford to pretend it is or will be immune from such attacks in the future.

The U.S. and the U.K. yesterday re-issued their travel warning for their nationals in response to the blasts.

Iranian Bomber Shows How It's Done... But Not A Leg to Stand On

Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak blamed the series of explosions on Iran.

Barak was quoted  as saying the bomb blasts were part of an attempted terrorist attack perpetrated by Iran.”The attempted terror attack in Thailand proves once again that Iran and its proxies continue to operate in the vicious ways of terror and the latest attempted attacks are an example of that,” he said while on a state visit to Singapore.

The incident came one day after near simultaneous attacks on Israeli diplomats in Georgia and India. Israel pointed the finger at Iran for the attacks but Teheran categorically denied responsibility.

Despite Barak’s accusations, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said yesterday Israel was in contact with the authorities in Bangkok and was still awaiting confirmation that the men involved in the blasts were indeed Iranian.More interesting to know, would be what their relationship is with the Iranian government, intelligence or military apparatus.

Or will the ‘lone wolves’ presumption be theorized, thus minimizing responsibility by Iran and the Thai government’s need to face the threat, with both losing face in the process. Let’s wait and see…

In the meantime foreign nationals should be able to be in contact with their consular staff, such as in the case of those from the US, UK, and Israel especially. A stand- by or open flight ticket and a foreign currency stash is never a bad idea either…

See Related Link for more photos and story:

Blasts Rattle Bangkok as Israel Accuses Iran
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/533606-blasts-rattle-bangkok-as-israel-accuses-iran/