Latest Information on Bombing Investigation

[Gaybutton]

The following appears in THE NATION:

_____

 

All Eight Bangkok Bombs Likely Made by Same Bombmakers

 

The explosive used in bombs at all eight sites on New Year's Eve was the same type and all were likely to have been made by the same skilled bombmakers, the commander of the police Office of Forensic Science, Pol Lt General Ek Angsananont, said Monday.

 

The objects used as shrapnel, such as nails and bicycle wheel bearings, were of the same size and attached to the explosives by the same technique, he said.

 

The type of the explosive will be positively known by the next week after confirmation by Australian explosives experts assisting the Office in identification process.

 

Fingerprints were found with explosives material found at two bomb sites at Gaysorn Plaza and the Pratu Nam Pier, but they have not matched any of those belonging to criminals in police records. Initial findings show that all eights bombs had no relation or similarities in terms of assembly techniques with those used in the deep South by Muslim insurgents, Ek said.

 

The Nation

__________

 

The bombings also have hurt the lives of the poorest of the poor in Bangkok. The following appears in the BANGKOK POST:

_____

 

Garbage Scavengers Fear More Bombs

 

Removing Bins from City Streets will Make it Harder to Find Materials for Recycling

 

Story by APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL

 

Squatting low on the ground, Udom Yodudom uses a hammer to disassemble air-conditioner parts collected from rubbish dumps in a nearby housing area. He is hopeful the money he gets from selling the parts will be enough to feed all five members of his family for another day.

 

"Although it's tiring and dangerous, earning money from selling other people's discarded waste is enough to get by compared to farming in my drought-ridden hometown," the Nakhon Sawan native says as he picks apart the air-conditioner.

 

Mr. Udom's daily income varies depending on luck and what materials he can get his hands on.

 

But he claims he can earn up to 15,000 baht a month from collecting bottles, tin cans, newspapers, used steel, copper and other scrap materials.

 

His wife Somkuan says her family has been living and working at Soi Sua Yai Uthit, one of the city's major centres for selling recycled materials, for almost two years.

 

The vast ghetto area, roughly the size of two football pitches, houses hundreds of families and shops, most of which buy recyclable materials before selling them on to middlemen, who then sell them to factories.

 

A massive fire which previously hit the community failed to scare people away. But the recent bombs in Bangkok on New Year's Eve have made Mrs Somkuan more cautious when dipping her hands into garbage bins to rummage for cans and bottles and other refuse she can sell.

 

"I don't know if I will find bottles or bombs when I go out early every morning," she says.

 

She and her family have already changed their routine, leaving the house at around 6-7am instead of 2-3am as before. Any earlier than that and it's too dark to see what's inside the bins, she said.

 

Several of the deadly bombs were planted in rubbish bins around the city on New Year's Eve before being detonated using timing devices.

 

Three people were killed and dozens injured in the unprecedented attacks on the capital.

 

The 38-year-old former resident of Nakhon Sawan's Lat Yao district also believes her family's income could be hit if the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) removes rubbish bins from city streets as part of new security measures.

 

Fewer bins means less opportunity to find recyclable waste and, ultimately, less money, Mrs. Somkuan says.

 

However, Chuen Petchpaiboon, a 42-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, says the BMA's plan will have little effect on his side job of selling recyclable waste materials.

 

He buys recyclable waste from households before selling it to a recycling shop in the community.

 

"Collecting recycled rubbish from households needs a bit of financial investment. But it's safer than risking my life collecting waste at public dustbins and dumps which are full of shattered glass and diseases," he says.

 

Somnuek Loychaeng, who has been running her recycling shop for over 15 years, is also confident that the blasts will have little effect on her business.

 

She feels that herself and everyone else that makes a living out of trading recyclable waste will be able to carry on, even if city bins are taken off the streets for a while.

 

There are still other places where people can collect recycled paper, plastic and other materials for selling, she said, including people's homes, retail shops and factories.

 

"This job may not be considered honourable. But the money is good for us uneducated people and at least we don't have to steal or cheat to make a living," she said.

[PattayaMale]

I think the last quote of the article is the reason for the bombs. It was to make people afraid. It is a shame that has happened.

 

Since they have fingerprints, maybe the government needs to take prints of more than known criminals. It is indeed expensive and I don't know if Thailand has the capacity. But in the US it has been effective to have a database that includes a large number of the population.

 

I believe when I went to get to take my Thai drivers license, they my fingerprints. I wonder if all the politicans, police, and military have been finger printed.