Bangkok bomb blast injures 10
Source: Agencies |
July 26, 2010, Monday
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A BOMB exploded in Bangkok yesterday, wounding at least 10 people, as a ruling party candidate narrowly beat a jailed anti-government leader in a by-election seen as a referendum on recent political unrest.
The bomb had been hidden near a trash bin at a bus stop in the heart of the commercial district on Ratchadumri Road, an area occupied by thousands of "red shirt" anti-government protesters for several weeks until an army crackdown on May 19.
There was no indication of who had planted it or why.
Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the blast showed why the government had maintained a state of emergency that allows authorities to detain opponents without charge, censor the press, ban gatherings and freeze bank accounts.
"What just happened is a clear confirmation of why we need to keep an emergency decree in place in some areas. The situation isn't completely safe and calm," he said, adding at least 10 people had been wounded.
The blast took place shortly after polls closed in the first electoral test since the army crackdown that ended anti-government protests in April and May in which at least 89 people were killed and nearly 1,400 wounded.
The opposition candidate in the by-election, Korkaew Pikulthong, has been jailed since May for allegedly encouraging violence, a charge he denies. He campaigned from prison, saying he had public sympathy for being held without bail.
Korkaew, whose Puea Thai Party is closely allied with the self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, faced Panich Wikisreth, a member of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's ruling Democrat Party and a former deputy Bangkok mayor.
Panich won with 96,480 votes, according to unofficial early results. Korkaew came in second with 81,776.
The ruling Democrats are likely to play the results up as a symbolic victory that shows Bangkok's 15 million people generally back Abhisit's tough measures, said Karn Yuenyong, director of the independent Siam Intelligence Unit.
But the district often votes differently from other areas of Bangkok.
"The result is no indication the Democrats are going to win the next general election," said Siripan Nogsuan, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University. But the Democrats will try to use it to build political momentum, he added.
Winning the seat makes little difference to Abhisit's fractious six-party coalition, which has a 75-seat majority in the 480-seat parliament.
The vote was the first in Bangkok since troops forcibly dispersed thousands of protesters on May 19 in an operation that sparked deadly rioting. Nearly 40 buildings were set ablaze, including the stock exchange and Thailand's top shopping mall.
The bomb had been hidden near a trash bin at a bus stop in the heart of the commercial district on Ratchadumri Road, an area occupied by thousands of "red shirt" anti-government protesters for several weeks until an army crackdown on May 19.
There was no indication of who had planted it or why.
Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the blast showed why the government had maintained a state of emergency that allows authorities to detain opponents without charge, censor the press, ban gatherings and freeze bank accounts.
"What just happened is a clear confirmation of why we need to keep an emergency decree in place in some areas. The situation isn't completely safe and calm," he said, adding at least 10 people had been wounded.
The blast took place shortly after polls closed in the first electoral test since the army crackdown that ended anti-government protests in April and May in which at least 89 people were killed and nearly 1,400 wounded.
The opposition candidate in the by-election, Korkaew Pikulthong, has been jailed since May for allegedly encouraging violence, a charge he denies. He campaigned from prison, saying he had public sympathy for being held without bail.
Korkaew, whose Puea Thai Party is closely allied with the self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, faced Panich Wikisreth, a member of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's ruling Democrat Party and a former deputy Bangkok mayor.
Panich won with 96,480 votes, according to unofficial early results. Korkaew came in second with 81,776.
The ruling Democrats are likely to play the results up as a symbolic victory that shows Bangkok's 15 million people generally back Abhisit's tough measures, said Karn Yuenyong, director of the independent Siam Intelligence Unit.
But the district often votes differently from other areas of Bangkok.
"The result is no indication the Democrats are going to win the next general election," said Siripan Nogsuan, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University. But the Democrats will try to use it to build political momentum, he added.
Winning the seat makes little difference to Abhisit's fractious six-party coalition, which has a 75-seat majority in the 480-seat parliament.
The vote was the first in Bangkok since troops forcibly dispersed thousands of protesters on May 19 in an operation that sparked deadly rioting. Nearly 40 buildings were set ablaze, including the stock exchange and Thailand's top shopping mall.
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