On August 17, 2015, a terrorist improvised explosive device (IED) bomb was used to attack an area in Bangkok, Thailand near the Erawan Shrine, a Hindu shrine. The 3 kilogram bomb caused an explosion near the Rajprasong intersection. Bangkok Post has reported the “scale of the explosion set motorbikes and taxis ablaze inside the intersection and bowed the iron fence of the Hindu shrine outward. Casualties were immediate, with body parts scattered across the area, leaving broken glass and the smouldering wreckage of burned-out motorcycles behind. ”
The latest reports on the terrorist attack state that 20 were killed and 125 wounded, including foreign tourists, and a 5 year old Chinese boy.
Bangkok Post reported: “Police said the IED that exploded inside the shrine area was composed of three kilogrammes of TNT stuffed in a pipe and wrapped with white cloth. Its destructive radius was estimated at 100 metres. Its destructive radius was estimated at 100 metres. Authorities quickly recovered an electronic circuit suspected to be part of the device about 30 metres from the blast scene.” National police chief Somyot Pumpunmuang told the Bangkok Post that he “condemned the bombing and said it was apparently intended to kill people and damage property because it was set to detonate when the shrine was crowded.”
Update: On August 18, 2015, the Thailand police released a photograph of a man that they have identified as the person who placed the terrorist bomb. The suspect was dressed like a tourist, wearing yellow T-shirt, shorts and sandals. In the CCTV footage, he is shown taking off his backpack and leaving it underneath a bench at busy area. Royal Thai Police spokesman Lt Gen Prawuth Thawornsiri said: “The yellow shirt guy is not just the suspect. He is the bomber.” Reports indicate these terrorist attacks are not consistent with those in the Thailand south, which lasted over a decade and left 5,000 dead. In addition, Sky News reports that “As police hunted the attackers Bangkok had a new bomb scare as a man threw a small explosive device from a bridge on the city’s Chao Phraya river, but it landed in a canal and no-one was hurt.”
The Bangkok Post reported that the “Ratchaprasong intersection where the bombing occurred has been the site of massive political protests in the past decade and a target for bombers. Two bombs on the Ratchaprasong Skywalk outside the nearby Siam Paragon shopping mall in February injured two people and are believed to have been politically motivated. A car bomb exploded in the parking garage a Central Festival Koh Samui in April.”
The Bangkok Post also reported “Bangkok police detectives said ball bearings possibly packed with the explosive as shrapnel were found in the explosion area. They were six millimetres in diameter, the same size as those found at the scene of the botched bomb explosion set off by Iranian suspects on Sukhumvit 71, Bangkok, in February 2012.”
The United Nations issued a statement: “Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and all of us at the United Nations were shocked to learn of the explosion in Bangkok today close to the Erawan shrine in Rajaprasong. The Secretary-General and the entire United Nations Country Team in Thailand as well as all United Nations personnel join together to expresses our condolences to the bereaved families and to the people and Government of the Kingdom of Thailand. We wish those injured a quick recovery. The United Nations is appalled at the loss of life of innocent civilians and hope that those responsible will be brought to justice. The United Nations in Thailand stands strongly with the Thai people during this difficult time.”
CNN reports that the “shrine houses a golden statue of Phra Phrom, the Thai representation of Brahma, the Hindu god of creation.” “Thousands of worshipers visit the site each day, praying for everything from to good health to sporting results. They light incense sticks and wai (bow slightly with palms pressed together) to each of the four faces of the statue. For extra luck, worshipers pay respect and money to the shrine’s Thai dancers.”
Terrorist and extremist violence which seeks to deny our universal human rights, our human dignity, and religious freedom has no boundaries. It can strike anywhere against anyone of any faith. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges people of all faiths, all races, all ethnic backgrounds, all nationalities, all genders, and all identity groups to stand together united for our shared Universal Human Rights and defy those terrorists of every kind who would deny us the inherent freedom that we share together.
