Mysterious bomb attacks just ripped through Thai tourist spots. Here are six key takeaways.
Rescuers and medical officers push an injured person on a gurney at the site of a bomb blast in Hua Hin, south of Bangkok, Thailand, in this still image taken from video on Friday.
For more than 24 fretful hours in Thailand, it seemed the bombings would not stop.
Mysterious killers laid more more than a dozen bombs. The explosions spanned five provinces — some of them 400 miles apart — leaving at least four dead and dozens wounded.
Among the victims: a papaya salad seller, open-air market vendors and Western travelers pelted with shrapnel while drinking beer.
The attacks finally ended around noon local time on Friday. This is the queen of Thailand’s birthday — a national holiday now marred by bloodshed. Beach towns that would normally be buzzing with revelers have gone quiet.
The motivation behind this bombing spree remains murky. But there are a few conclusions that can be drawn from this attack, which has left Thailand’s military rulers scrambling to reassure citizens.
1. No clues suggest this attack was connected to the Islamic State
In recent months, ISIS-inspired attacks have flared up from Florida to Bangladesh. Any mass killing (especially bombings) in this climate tends to raise the question: Was ISIS invovled?
However, the Thailand bombings don’t bear the hallmarks of an ISIS-coordinated attack. For starters, neither the group nor its orbit of supporters have claimed them.
Several of the bombs were placed on heavily touristed lanes in two popular beach towns: Phuket and Hua Hin. But the devices were detonated at odd hours — after 10 p.m. on Aug. 11 and around breakfast time the next day.
The killers surely intended to stoke chaos. But if they were hoping for a high body count — as ISIS acolytes typically do — they would have ignited their bombs when the streets were packed.
2. Thailand actually gets bombed all the time. The Western media usually ignores it
Around the world, few know that Thailand is home to one of Southeast Asia’s bloodiest insurgencies. Even fewer are aware that this Islamic separatist crusade has racked up roughly 6,500 combat deaths — a body count on par with conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Media outlets in the West seldom cover this war on the Thai-Malaysia border. The conflict is mostly quarantined in an impoverished, tropical area the size of Connecticut.
But the killing is relentless. According to one analyst, bombs go off there every other day.
Roughly four in five of its inhabitants are Muslim. But power lies with a 60,000-strong occupation force dominated by Buddhists.
The state is challenged by a shadowy network of jihadis hell-bent on “liberating” this area. They will attack anyone allied with the government — troops or teachers, Buddhist or fellow Muslims — and bombs are among their go-to weapons.
3. Don’t expect any group to take credit
Thailand’s separatists are scattered into multiple factions with no publicly known leaders. They almost never take direct credit for their bombs.
But non-separatist bombers in Thailand usually don't take credit for their work, either. From time to time, Thai cities that jihadis usually leave alone are also struck by small bombs. These explosions may be motivated by business disputes or political quarrels.
4. It’s unclear if the bombs were planted by Thailand’s Islamic separatists
They certainly have the bomb-making savvy and logistical skills to pull it off.
These insurgents are masters of this style of attack: waves of small bombs, seemingly designed to maximize fear rather than death, all detonated in quick succession.
However, the jihadi cells tend to obey an unwritten rule: keep the killing inside our Muslim-majority turf. Avoid striking out at tourist zones favored by Westerners.
That doesn’t mean they won’t target other kinds of tourists.
Near the Thai-Malaysia border, insurgents have repeatedly bombed red-light districts — each deemed an outpost of sleaze contaminating their native lands.
In lieu of Western men, these areas to tend to lure guys from a nearby fundamentalist province in Malaysia where booze and extramarital canoodling is forbidden. Some of these tourists have been killed by explosives set off near seedy bars and hotels.
In 2014, GlobalPost investigated this phenomenon in an award-winning documentary titled “Red Light Jihad: Thai Vice Under Attack.”
5. Thai authorities are begging media to stop calling this “terrorism”
Thai authorities insist these attacks are not “terrorism.”
It’s a word that tends to scare away foreign visitors. That could harm the massive Thai tourism industry, amounting to 7 percent of the national GDP.
The preferred terms? “Local sabotage” or “stirring up public disturbance.”
A Thai journalist quoted a police spokesman insisting that “Thailand has no territorial or religious quarrel” — astonishing remarks in a country where Islamic separatist rebellion has left thousands dead.
Beyond mere sugarcoating, Thai authorities have previously obfuscated after events that could worsen their reputation.
When the military staged a takeover two years ago, diplomats and generals chastised reporters for calling it a coup.
Their preferred word: “Military intervention.”
6. Insurgents aren’t the only people in Thailand with a possible motive
Since it seized power in a 2014 coup, Thailand’s army has tried to snuff out all forms of dissent. The military has cracked down on rival political factions, anti-junta protesters and practically anyone else daring to challenge its rule.
The Aug. 11-12 bombings struck just days after a referendum on a new constitution, which was scripted by the army and its loyalists.
The army officers succeeded at the polls and now they’re preparing to enshrine their power with a new political system — one that could effectively purge their rivals from any serious role in government.
In other words, the military has created its share of enemies. But it’s unclear whether any of these particular groups possess the logistical skill to pull off a string of bombings — never mind the stomach to murder their fellow citizens.
For more than 24 fretful hours in Thailand, it seemed the bombings would not stop.
Mysterious killers laid more more than a dozen bombs. The explosions spanned five provinces — some of them 400 miles apart — leaving at least four dead and dozens wounded.
Among the victims: a papaya salad seller, open-air market vendors and Western travelers pelted with shrapnel while drinking beer.
The attacks finally ended around noon local time on Friday. This is the queen of Thailand’s birthday — a national holiday now marred by bloodshed. Beach towns that would normally be buzzing with revelers have gone quiet.
The motivation behind this bombing spree remains murky. But there are a few conclusions that can be drawn from this attack, which has left Thailand’s military rulers scrambling to reassure citizens.
1. No clues suggest this attack was connected to the Islamic State
In recent months, ISIS-inspired attacks have flared up from Florida to Bangladesh. Any mass killing (especially bombings) in this climate tends to raise the question: Was ISIS invovled?
However, the Thailand bombings don’t bear the hallmarks of an ISIS-coordinated attack. For starters, neither the group nor its orbit of supporters have claimed them.
Several of the bombs were placed on heavily touristed lanes in two popular beach towns: Phuket and Hua Hin. But the devices were detonated at odd hours — after 10 p.m. on Aug. 11 and around breakfast time the next day.
The killers surely intended to stoke chaos. But if they were hoping for a high body count — as ISIS acolytes typically do — they would have ignited their bombs when the streets were packed.
2. Thailand actually gets bombed all the time. The Western media usually ignores it
Around the world, few know that Thailand is home to one of Southeast Asia’s bloodiest insurgencies. Even fewer are aware that this Islamic separatist crusade has racked up roughly 6,500 combat deaths — a body count on par with conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Media outlets in the West seldom cover this war on the Thai-Malaysia border. The conflict is mostly quarantined in an impoverished, tropical area the size of Connecticut.
But the killing is relentless. According to one analyst, bombs go off there every other day.
Roughly four in five of its inhabitants are Muslim. But power lies with a 60,000-strong occupation force dominated by Buddhists.
The state is challenged by a shadowy network of jihadis hell-bent on “liberating” this area. They will attack anyone allied with the government — troops or teachers, Buddhist or fellow Muslims — and bombs are among their go-to weapons.
3. Don’t expect any group to take credit
Thailand’s separatists are scattered into multiple factions with no publicly known leaders. They almost never take direct credit for their bombs.
But non-separatist bombers in Thailand usually don't take credit for their work, either. From time to time, Thai cities that jihadis usually leave alone are also struck by small bombs. These explosions may be motivated by business disputes or political quarrels.
4. It’s unclear if the bombs were planted by Thailand’s Islamic separatists
They certainly have the bomb-making savvy and logistical skills to pull it off.
These insurgents are masters of this style of attack: waves of small bombs, seemingly designed to maximize fear rather than death, all detonated in quick succession.
However, the jihadi cells tend to obey an unwritten rule: keep the killing inside our Muslim-majority turf. Avoid striking out at tourist zones favored by Westerners.
That doesn’t mean they won’t target other kinds of tourists.
Near the Thai-Malaysia border, insurgents have repeatedly bombed red-light districts — each deemed an outpost of sleaze contaminating their native lands.
In lieu of Western men, these areas to tend to lure guys from a nearby fundamentalist province in Malaysia where booze and extramarital canoodling is forbidden. Some of these tourists have been killed by explosives set off near seedy bars and hotels.
In 2014, GlobalPost investigated this phenomenon in an award-winning documentary titled “Red Light Jihad: Thai Vice Under Attack.”
5. Thai authorities are begging media to stop calling this “terrorism”
Thai authorities insist these attacks are not “terrorism.”
It’s a word that tends to scare away foreign visitors. That could harm the massive Thai tourism industry, amounting to 7 percent of the national GDP.
The preferred terms? “Local sabotage” or “stirring up public disturbance.”
A Thai journalist quoted a police spokesman insisting that “Thailand has no territorial or religious quarrel” — astonishing remarks in a country where Islamic separatist rebellion has left thousands dead.
Beyond mere sugarcoating, Thai authorities have previously obfuscated after events that could worsen their reputation.
When the military staged a takeover two years ago, diplomats and generals chastised reporters for calling it a coup.
Their preferred word: “Military intervention.”
6. Insurgents aren’t the only people in Thailand with a possible motive
Since it seized power in a 2014 coup, Thailand’s army has tried to snuff out all forms of dissent. The military has cracked down on rival political factions, anti-junta protesters and practically anyone else daring to challenge its rule.
The Aug. 11-12 bombings struck just days after a referendum on a new constitution, which was scripted by the army and its loyalists.
The army officers succeeded at the polls and now they’re preparing to enshrine their power with a new political system — one that could effectively purge their rivals from any serious role in government.
In other words, the military has created its share of enemies. But it’s unclear whether any of these particular groups possess the logistical skill to pull off a string of bombings — never mind the stomach to murder their fellow citizens.