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Thai police defused three unexploded bombs discovered in Bangkok and surrounding suburbs in the space of the last twenty-four hours, further raising tensions in the Thai capital still under the controversial emergency decree.
Bangkok, the 9th of September 2010: The three bombs were discovered on Wednesday by Thai authorities, who acknowledged that they were homemade devices hidden inside fire extinguishers.
One device was found under a footbridge outside a central Bangkok school on Wednesday morning, while two further devices were found outside a prominent shopping mall and the public health ministry in neighbouring Nonthaburi province on Wednesday evening.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, head of the Center for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES), once again ordered officials to tighten security in the capital after revelations of the explosive devices appeared in the Thai press on Wednesday.
“This indicates that government opponents do not want our country to return to normal… Emergency rule is necessary to keep peace and order in Bangkok,” he added.
Royal palaces, government buildings, power plants and public transport are receiving protection from the CRES, the body set up to monitor security in response to the recent political unrest.
Bangkok has been under the controversial emergency decree, condemned as an abuse of human rights laws, since the April start of anti-government protests in the Thai capital, which resulted in 91 deaths and over 1,900 injuries.
Key opposition MP and anti-government Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan stated, “all of the bombs are the work of the government” in an attempt to justify greater powers for authorities. “The perpetrators did it because they do not want the state of emergency in Bangkok to be revoked and this act is aimed at creating a feeling that the special law is still needed,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, Mr. Thaugsuban has denied claims that a bomb hoax on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to Los Angeles on Wednesday had any involvement with the ongoing situation in the capital.
Source: http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en
