Global terror unlikely, red-shirt warning poster investigated

After posting to Facebook: "Urgent, urgent, urgent on 14 -18, be very careful in Bangkok," red shirt claimed info came from political group Facebook page.

Pongpob Boonsaree appears at news conference at the Technology Crime Suppression Division. On the left is assistant national police chief Pol Lt Gen Prawut Thawornsiri (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)

BOMBING AFTERMATH

Global terror unlikely in well-planned bombing

19/08/2015
Wassayos Ngamkham, AFP & Online Reporters

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) said it has at this stage ruled out any link between the Erawan shrine bomb in Bangkok and international terrorism, in its daily briefing on nationwide live television at noon on Thursday.

NCPO spokesman Winthai Suvaree said other security agencies had come to the same preliminary conclusion -- the incident is unlikely to involve international terrorism, and Chinese tourists were not the direct target because people of other nationalities were also affected.

Col Winthai said the bombing was probably the work of organised crime, or kabuankarn.

National police chief Somyot Pumpunmuang said Thursday morning that the deadly bombing took more than a month to plan and was executed by more than 10 people.

"This blast was made by teams," Pol Gen Somyot said, adding it would have taken about a month to plan Monday's assault on the Erawan shrine.

Stating his belief that "more than 10 people" were involved, Pol Gen Somyot said the bomber would have needed several people to survey the site, plan an entry and exit strategy and acquire and make the bomb, which brought carnage to the capital at rush hour.

"I believe this network has links with people inside Thailand," he added.

RED-SHIRT PASSED ON INFO FROM POLITICAL GROUP

A red-shirt supporter who posted a message on his Facebook warning about a violent incident in Bangkok just days before the Erawan Shrine bombing, has told police he had nothing to do with the attack and obtained the information from the Facebook page of a political group.

Pongpob Boonsaree, a 36-year-old state enterprise worker, was interrogated by officers at the Technology Crime Suppression Division on Wednesday evening over a message he posted on his Facebook account last Thursday, Aug 13, at 9.54pm.

Mr Pongpob, who used the name Vitchavej Pornpromraksa on Facebook, wrote in the controversial message: “Urgent, urgent, urgent on 14 -18, be very careful in Bangkok. This is all I can say. This news is 86%. That’s all I can say. Repeat again.”

A powerful explosion went off at the Erawan shrine at Rachaprasong intersection in Bangkok on the evening of Monday, Aug 17, killing 20 people and injuring 125.

I TOLD YOU SO

About one hour after the attack that shocked the nation, Mr Pongpob wrote another message saying “Told you to be careful. How’s that? Believe me now? It has happened. Go check if our people got hit.”  

The Chachoengsao native claimed he copied the warning message from the Facebook page of a political group and only pasted it on his Facebook to warn people, although he did not know whether it would happen. He strongly denied he had any hand in the Erawan shrine blast, adding he was at his office at the time of the attack. 

He declined to give details about the group but would cooperate with police in investigating the content published on the page from where he duplicated the warning message...

ORIGINAL MESSAGE POSTER SOUGHT

Assistant national police chief Prawut Thawornsiri said police had not pressed charges against Mr Pongpob. A further investigation was ongoing to find the original poster of the message and police were conducting a thorough search of Mr Pongpob’s house in Chachoengsao.     

Mr Pongpob said the group, which has around 70,000 members, had previously posted messages predicting political and general incidents, including in the lower South, and 80%-90% of them came true.

Each time the messages are posted online for only 15 seconds and then deleted. Mr Pongpob claimed most members in the group did not like him and he was often alienated from them. He said the page appeared to be operated by a well-organised political movement.

Mr Pongpob admitted he was a United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) supporter and had taken part in the red-shirt political rallies, but claimed he did not resist the current military government.

REPORTED TO POLICE TO ASSERT HIS INNOCENCE

He said he reported to police to assert his innocence and because he feared being slandered by his opponents. His Facebook account had been active since 2010 but he could not log in to it anymore as it had been reported as abusive by other users following the Aug 13 warning.

He said political differences were extremely volatile on social media and he called on authorities not to target only red-shirt internet users.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/661696/red-shirt-denies-involvement-in-erawan

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