Bomb terror grips Silom [Bangkok, Thailand]

People injured in grenade attacks on the gathering site of the multi-coloured group opposing the anti-government red shirt rally are carried from Sala Daeng intersection in front of the Dusit Thani Hotel to nearby hospitals. SAROT MEKSOPHAWANNAKUL
People of the multi-coloured group rush out of Sala Daeng skytrain station in Silom following a series of grenade attacks last night. Three people were killed and 75 injured in the blasts. NATTHITI AMPRIWAN

Friday April 23, 2010
Bangkok Post

Four grenades hit business district - 3 people killed, up to 75 injured

Silom was turned into a war zone Thursday night after four grenades were fired into the area where anti-red shirt protesters had converged, killing three people and injuring 75 people.

Foreigners were among those hurt.

As the protesters waved national flags to show their opposition to the red shirts and a House dissolution by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, three grenades fired from M79 launchers exploded near 'the skytrain station at 8pm. One came down through the roof of the BTS Sala Daeng station. About 45 minutes later, another grenade landed near the Dusit Thani Hotel on Silom Road.

People then fled for their lives.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thauguban said late last night three people had been killed and 75 people injured, including many serious cases. The injured were sent to Bangkok Christian, BNH, Chulalongkorn and Lerdsin hospitals.

Only one of the three dead was identified, Tanyanan Taebthong. She was 26 years old.

The area near Sala Daeng intersection and the Sala Daeng BTS station had become a protest hotspot over the past few days, as more people living and working there turned up to vent their frustration at the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), which had set up barricades on the other side of the intersection. (see graphic)

The number of anti-red protesters there grew from a few hundred on Wednesday to more than 1,000 yesterday evening. They stayed there last night until the grenades went off.

The explosions took place shortly after Arisman Pongruengrong, a UDD leader, told red shirt supporters gathered at Ratchaprasong intersection that a group of ''men in black'' would be coming to help the UDD.

Mr Suthep appeared on TV last night blaming ''terrorists'' for the attacks and urging people in Silom to move back from Sala Daeng intersection for their own safety.

He said the grenades had been launched from Lumpini Park, an area occupied by the red shirts. ''The government regrets the loss of lives and those who were injured,'' he said.

Mr Suthep said the prime minster and key cabinet ministers were in an emergency meeting to try to keep the situation under control.

A UDD spokesman announced on the Ratchaprasong stage that the UDD had nothing to do with the grenade attacks in the Silom area. ''We are sorry for the deaths and the injuries and we hope the attackers get arrested,'' he said.

Police sealed off some buildings near the bomb-hit area and searched Silom Complex where they suspected the fourth bomb was fired from. Four suspects were taken by soldiers for police interrogation at Thung Maha Mek police station.

After the blasts, police were criticised by people in Silom for sitting idly by instead of helping them and soldiers take the injured from the area.

About 300 Silom people who had earlier fled the explosions returned to protest against the UDD last night, causing renewed tensions. At around 11pm, some red shirts were seen throwing petrol bombs at them in retaliation.

The grenade blasts took place a day after ''multi-coloured'' people on Silom threw bottles at the red shirts on Wednesday night in anger at the UDD rally.

But UDD co-leader Jatuporn Prompan accused the Silom group who attacked the red shirts on Wednesday night of being soldiers and People's Alliance for Democracy yellow shirts in disguise.

''Those who threw bottles and hit us with slingshot were not businessmen and Silom office workers, but soldiers who disguised themselves as anti-red shirt civilians,'' Mr Jatuporn said.

Mr Suthep vented his frustration at police for doing nothing to stop the standoff between people on Silom and the UDD on Wednesday.

''Police have to work harder. When people have conflicts, police cannot simply stand idly,'' he said.

Shortly before the series of blasts rocked Silom, the Civil Court issued an injunction against the use of heavy weapons to disperse the red shirt demonstrators at Ratchaprasong.

Red shirt co-leader Jatuporn Prompan had lodged a petition with the Civil Court asking for an injunction to ban the government from using force in any crackdown on the UDD.

But in its order the Civil Court said if the government launched an operation against the red shirts it must abide strictly by international practice.

Earlier in the day, the spokesman for the Centre for Resolution of Emergency Situations Sansern Kaewkamnerd repeated his call for the red shirts to leave the Ratchaprasong rally ground, saying they were ''running out of time''.