Bangkok blast toll rises to 21, Hong Kong tourists among dead

An explosion today at a popular shrine in central Bangkok has reportedly killed more than a dozen people. The Rajprasong intersection has been the centre of political demonstrations in recent years.

The twin blasts, which the government believed was aimed at damaging economy and tourism, occurred in a space of minutes around 7 pm (5:30 IST) outside Erawan Shrine dedicated to Lord Brahma in the downtown Chidlom district, creating panic as people fled the place that was spilled with blood.

Howard Fenton, a 50-year-old computer programmer from Australia, said he was dismayed to see violence return once more to Bangkok’s streets.

A popular tourist attraction, it often features performances by resident Thai dance troupes, who are hired by worshippers in return for seeing their prayers at the shrine answered. National police chief Somyot Poompanmuang told reporters the attack was unprecedented in Thailand. “Then we went out of the building and saw pieces of motorcycles basically broken up on the road”, he said. Officials said it was unclear whether the bombing was politically motivated.

“It was like a meat market”, said Marko Cunningham, a New Zealand paramedic working with a Bangkok ambulance service, who said the blast left a two-meter-wide crater.

The government would set up a “war room” to coordinate the response to the blast, the Nation television channel quoted Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha as saying.

Roger Wu Wai-chung, a Thailand travel expert, said the Hong Kong man was hit by bomb shrapnel around his right knee, but his injuries are not life threatening. Although Thailand is predominantly Buddhist, it has enormous Hindu influence on its religious practices and language.

At the same time, the military government has tightly controlled dissent, arresting hundreds of its opponents and banning protests.

The intersection also was the scene of months of protests in support of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2010. Others volunteered as translators for foreigners injured in the bombing.

In April, a auto bomb exploded at a shopping mall on the resort island of Samui, injuring seven people.

Thailand experienced a military coup in May 2014.

Islamic militants have carried out many attacks in other parts of Southeast Asia, including on Indonesia’s holiday island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people.