Bombing incidents during anti-Thaksin Shinawatra movements

Interesting to see this sudden collation by The Nation of the various exploding bomb incidents during the recent season of protest in Bangkok.

Bombing incidents during anti-Thaksin Shinawatra movements

Following are bombing incidents happened after Sondhi Limthongkul, a media tycoon, has launched campaign to try to oust Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra:

November 4, 2005: A bomb was hurled into lawn yard of the Phujadkarn newspaper's office causing only minor damages.

December 8, 2005: A small bomb exploded in a telephone booth near Lumpini Park just one day before Thaksin's arch rival and media maverick Sondhi Limthongkul staged his weekly anti-government rally there.

December 17, 2005: An explosion blew a small hole in the ground, blasted the trunk of a tree and sent debris all over a guard post manned by police against the outer wall of the Interior Ministry.

February 22, 2006: A bomb exploded inside Santi Asoke religious centre. The blast shattered windows of broke roof tiles at shelter buildings. Marble chairs were also broken, and an open space used for leisure activities was damaged. The blast was powerful enough to damage glass windows and the ceilings of eight townhouses nearby.

March 9, 2006: A bomb exploded at a police booth in front of the residence of Privy Council's president Gen Prem Tinsulanonda, injuring two foreign nationals.

Also:

Giant firecrackers hurled into Vachirawut College

Giant firecrackers were hurled inside the compound of Vachirawut College Thursday evening.

The firecrackers did not cause damage apart from making loud noise.

A security officer of the college, Somchai Chankham, told police that the explosion noises were heard from three spots inside the college's compound at about 9:10 pm.

Dr Chai-anan Samutvanij, who gathered signatures to submit a petition to His Majesty the King seeking a royally-appointed government, was staying inside the college at the time of explosions. He is the college's director.

The above brings to mind another thing left off this rather incomplete list: the firecracker throwing incident during the second Sondhi rally at Lumphini Park. A man was arrested at the scene and carted off by the police. No followup by the Thai media regarding the results of police questioning.

It might be interesting to interview this man again given the similarity to other events where firecrackers and relatively small explosive devices have been detontated around town. The restrained nature of these 'bombings' indicates that the objective is provocation, not attack. To add fuel to the fire of an already tense political situation.