Gaybutton Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Note from GB: I am posting two stories about this that appear in THE NATION. I have also posted an article that suggests this will weaken the Thai baht. At this moment the exchange rate since yesterday has not changed. The rate at the time of this posting is 37.51 baht to the US dollar. THE NATION: _____ 'Bomb Plot to Kill Thaksin Foiled', Questions Linger Published on August 25, 2006 Explosives 'ready to be detonated near motorcade'; Army officer held for questioning A car loaded with explosives that was intercepted by police early yesterday morning was possibly to be used in an attempt to kill caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra while he was travelling in his motorcade, National Intelligence Agency director Jumphol Manmai said yesterday. The police general said he learned that the bomb, containing 14.23 pounds (6.5 kilograms) of a combination of TNT and C-4 composite explosive as well as a type of 64.57 blasting agent, was ready to go off. He said he did not know who was behind the possible assassination plot. Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Lt-General Wiroj Jantharangsee said the explosives in the sedan were completely assembled, equipped with a remote unit sensor and ready to be detonated, and that it would have a radius of impact of around one kilometre. Five uniformed police officers pulled over the silver Daewoo sedan at the foot of a flyover on Borromratchonnani Road near Bang Phlad Intersection and arrested the driver, Army Lieutenant Thawatchai Klinchana, who said he was paid Bt200 by a man to drive it to an area called Suan Oy. Thawatchai, initially charged with having explosives in his possession, was later brought to the Crime Suppression Division compound for questioning, with two military officers present, after police searched his official residence near the First Military Precinct headquarters, where police found and seized two licence plates and a personal computer. A police team later searched Thawatchai's own home in Nonthaburi's Bang Bua Thong district and found no illegal items. A Thai Rak Thai Party blazer was found there. A police barricade was set up around the car and a large crowd was herded away to a 400-metre radius from where it was parked. A team of police ordnance experts were called in to examine the car. They neutralised some of the explosives on the front passenger seat by using a high-powered water gun to disassemble what appeared to be cloth bags with something inside. Police discovered later that the sedan's licence plate Thor Santhan-Chor Ching 3085 BKK was registered to a woman and had already been classified void. An investigation was underway to find out how the invalid licence plates came to be attached to the car and what the car's body serial number, which had been scratched out, was. At a press conference later on, the officer displayed a number of items he said were retrieved from the sedan. Explosives-related items included TNT sticks weighing 10.73 pounds in total, a number of C-4 explosive sticks weighing 3.5 pounds and a combination of blasting agents identified as Anfo (ammonium nitrate-fuel oil) contained in 13 lubricant plastic cans. Wiroj said such types of explosives were the same as those used in terror bomb attacks in the restive South by insurgents, and that the impact would have been massive. "Nobody within the lethal radius of 30-40 metres would have survived and buildings within the range would be destroyed completely, including the flyover," he said. The officer said it was possible the car was intended to attack the motorcade of Thaksin, which regularly uses the route to take him from his home in nearby Charansanitwong Soi 69 to Government House. __________ THE NATION: _____ Doubts over Thaksin's lucky escape Published on August 25, 2006 News about an assassination attempt against caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was greeted with some suspicion as security and intelligence officers said there were too many questions to support such a claim. All sorts of conspiracy theories were floated as news reports unfolded to the public about how an Army lieutenant was planning to use 67 kilograms of explosives to assassinate Thaksin. Former security tsar Prasong Soonsiri said the incident was a set-up to divert attention from the political turmoil the government is experiencing. He said the incident could lead to the issuing of the controversial Emergency Law to clamp down on the government's political opponents. Others believe the incident will give the premier the needed bargaining chip to put his supporters in key security positions at the upcoming annual reshuffle. Thaksin said it "was his lucky day for leaving home earlier". He claimed to have been heading to an emergency meeting on the flood crisis in the North, which he had called for an hour ahead of his scheduled appointments, the times of which are usually made known in advance. The assassination claim highlighted the statement made on Sunday by Thai Rak Thai Party executive Pairote Suwanchawee, who used the term "suicide bomber" to describe tactics employed by a handful of anti-Thaksin protestors at the Siam Paragon shopping complex in Bangkok. Making such a comparison without explanation baffled many people, with claims it was an irresponsible statement that could have caused grave misunderstanding among the public and international community. In what was seen as an unprecedented act, Thaksin's security people were extremely helpful with the media, providing photographers with pictures of Lieutenant Thawatchai Klinchana and the explosive materials found in the vehicle. Thaksin said yesterday that he had been the target of failed assassination plots on at least two occasions in the past two weeks. He claimed one happened when he was getting off his official plane at the Don Muang airforce base, but he did not elaborate. The premier has made similar claims over the past six years, although none has been proven. A military strategist also pointed out that the explosive devices in the car yesterday were not assembled or ready to be detonated. Conflicting statements were issued throughout the day. Initially, investigators on the ground said the bomb was not assembled, but the chief of the Metropolitan Police, Lt-General Wiroj Jantharangsee, told a press conference in the afternoon that it was assembled and ready to be set off. Wiroj paraded all the evidence to the media while National Intelligence Agency chief General Chumpol Munmai concluded that the devices were meant to assassinate the premier. There were no word on who was the suspected mastermind of the plot. But the military strategist pointed out that if the devices were meant to explode as Thaksin passed by, they should have been assembled so that they could be set off instantly. He said it would take at least an hour to assemble all the devices. "If somebody wanted to kill Thaksin with that amount of explosives, all they had to do was park their car next to the front of Thaskin's residence and jump on a waiting motorbike before detonating the bomb from a distance," he said. He dismissed suggestions that Internal Security Operation Command (ISOC) Deputy Director Pallop Pinmanee was behind the plot, saying Pallop had always been close to Thaksin. Pallop was immediately sacked without any real investigation. Lt-General Pirat Sawamiwat, a former classmate of Pallop, said if the ousted deputy ISOC chief was behind any assassination attempt, the victim would not have survived. Moreover, if the vehicle was in fact a car bomb, why did the driver repeatedly circle around Thaksin's residential area during the rush-hour, making the vehicle noticeable and creating suspicion? Thawatchai, who built his career as an Army intelligence officer, said he was paid Bt200 by an unnamed friend to deliver the car from the spot where he was arrested to nearby Soi Suan Oy, according to a police source. Thawatchai's knowledge of ordnance is still not known. Yesterday's incident came amid mounting demands on the government for an explanation after it was revealed that two petty criminals who carried out the beating of anti-Thaksin demonstrators at the Central World shopping complex were in fact political thugs. The news effectively pushed aside the previous contentious headlines - from the fist fight at Central World to the probe into the Kularb Kaew controversy. The Commerce Ministry has yet to make a decision on whether Kularb Kaew was an alien company or a nominee for Temasek Holdings, the Singaporean government's financial arm that took over Shin Corp Plc. Time of Events 9am Bang Phlat police station was informed that a bronze-coloured Daewoo car, driven suspiciously near the prime minister's home, had been stopped by the PM's security officers, who found explosive devices in it. They detained an army officer, identified as Lt Thawatchai Klinchana, driving the car, whose licence was fake. He was taken to the Police Crime Suppression Division for questioning. 9.30am Police and five bomb squad officers arrived to check the car parked on the side of of Rajvithi Rd, Bang Phlat, 400 metres from the PM's residence. The officers allegedly found "explosive devices", including 3.5 pounds of C-4, two sticks of TNT, a detonator, four sandbags, two gallons of benzine and some fertiliser. 11am The officers finished destroying the "explosive devices" - with a water gun - and the car was towed to a safe place for further checks. 12am Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra sacked Pallop as deputy ISOC director. 2pm Lt Thawatchai said to the police that he had no idea that the explosive devices were hidden in the car. He was only paid Bt200 by a friend with to drive the car from the scene to Suan Oui. ______________ Assassination Attempt on PM Has Impact on Thai Economy BANGKOK, Aug 25 (TNA) The aborted assassination attempt on Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Thursday has both direct and indirect impacts on the Thai economy, according to a top banker. Prasarn Trairattanaworakul, President of KASIKORN Bank (KBANK), said the arrest of a suspect for the failed car bomb near the residence of the Thai premier in Bangplad area here had fuelled the political uncertainties and caused direct and indirect effects on the country's economy. Directly, the country Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wowpow Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 The situation is very curious. According to The Nation the bomb was assembled and ready to blow. According to The Bangkok Post the bomb was not assembled and was not an imminent threat. Is there more to the situation than meets the eye? TIT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aunty Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 The situation is very curious. According to The Nation the bomb was assembled and ready to blow. According to The Bangkok Post the bomb was not assembled and was not an imminent threat. Is there more to the situation than meets the eye? TIT. Exactly. Is this a legitimate assassination attempt, or an orchestrated move e.g., the infamous Reichstag fire that brought Herr Hitler to rule in Germany - to bolster Thaksin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PapaDavid Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Exactly. Is this a legitimate assassination attempt, or an orchestrated move e.g., the infamous Reichstag fire that brought Herr Hitler to rule in Germany - to bolster Thaksin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
