By Garry Harbottle-Johnson, Thailand.

CHIANG MAI, 13 Nov 2008 – Tourists visiting Thailand should not be put off by news of the latest bombing in the capital, Bangkok.

This latest incident appears to be the result of a commercial dispute regarding new landlords of the capital’s largest market venue, and predictions of increased stall rents that have caused many of the traders to mount a public protest.  As such it would seem to be an action between two vested interests with no intent to escalate it to the wider public and visitors.

Police investigate the scene of Thursday morning's bombing at Klong Toey Market. Photo: The Nation Newspaper

The explosion occurred at the Ratchadamri Road – Rama IV Road intersection, where vendors of the Klong Toey Market were rallying in protest against new landlords, injuring fifteen of them, two severely, at about 1:00 am Thursday 13th November. The injured were rushed to the Kluay Nam Thai and Chulalongkorn hospitals. The severely injured are Yakob Lohmoh, 51, and Penthiwawan Kaewsuk, 37.

Police quoted a witness as saying a bag was dropped from the flyover over the Ratchadamri-Rama IV Intersection, causing the explosion.

Sujittra Damrongsiri, 52, one of the protesters, said she saw a man on a motorcycle drop a plastic bag onto the tent where the protesters were resting, and an explosion occurred shortly thereafter. The incident occurred at a time when the sounds of Loy Krathong being celebrated, by people setting off fireworks, was still being heard.

Pol Lt Col Prapassorn Chartprom, deputy commander of the Tha Rua police station, quoted witnesses as saying that the bag did not explode immediately, but did so about five seconds after it landed on the tent’s roof.

A western expatriate living in Bangkok, and wishing to be identified only as “BP”, said this morning that he lives about 800 meters from Klong Toey market and was woken up by the blast, “It was quite loud. It is sad that people feel its OK to maim and kill people for their own gain.”

An Australian expatriate living 500 metres from the blast said he didn’t hear anything, but his Thai wife having been to the protest site, reported that the dispute was a “younger brother / elder brother” affair.  Without further details this could be interpreted as meaning a dispute between junior and senior business interests – Thailand’s ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was commonly referred to as “the little brother” and “little cousin”, which underlines the use of names for family relationships to define positions in organisations and affiliations.

Thailand’s Nation newspaper reported, “some 1,000 vendors have been staging a protest at the intersection since Tuesday afternoon, against the Port Authority of Thailand and Legal Professional Company for what they claim to be unfair treatment against vendors at the Klong Toey market.”  The official Thai News Agency puts the number of protestors in the hundreds.

Associated Press and CNN quoted Thai Police Colonel Sutip Palitkusontap as citing witnesses saying, “Hundreds of vendors who operate stalls at the outdoor market have been staging a protest against the facility’s new privately contracted management company since Wednesday afternoon.  Two men were seen dropping a plastic bag from a fly-over bridge to the protest site at an intersection in Klong Toey district before the blast occurred.  It remains unclear what kind of explosive device it was and who was behind the attack.”

Bomb disposal officers have yet to determine the type of the bomb.  There was no claim of responsibility for the attack and no indication that the blast was related to Thailand’s continuing political strife, which has included protesters camping outside the Prime Minister’s offices.

Vendors at the famed open air market, the largest in the capital, have been protesting efforts to evict them by a private company that won a new lease on the area on October 29.  The market is owned by the Port Authority of Thailand (PAT), the state enterprise that operates Bangkok’s Klong Toey Port and other commercial ports in the kingdom.  In March, the PAT ended its concession with the previous operator of Klong Toey market, and took new bids from the private sector.

Legal Professional Company was granted the concession on October 29, but the old operator, comprising three companies, has refused to vacate the market and continues to collect rents from more than 1,000 vendors, PAT officials said.  The chairman of Legal Professional is Thamanat Pompao, whom Klong Toey vendors claim is a former army captain with a criminal record.  The protesters also allege the bidding process for the hiring was not transparent, and that they have been treated unfairly by the new management.

The vendors, worried that Legal Professional will increase their rents, have been protesting against the new management since Tuesday, disrupting traffic in the area.  The protest was stopped temporarily on Thursday, in a show of deference to the royal funeral for Princess Galyani Vadhana, King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s eldest sister who died in January.  Protests are set to resume after the funeral ends next Tuesday.  Officials at the Port Authority of Thailand could not immediately be reached for comment.

In mid-February this year, a fire (later alleged to be arson) raged through Klong Toey’s Rong Moo shanty town zone.  Reports contradicted whether 25 or 50 homes were destroyed across an area of around of 30 rai (approx 12.5 acres). The blaze was just weeks before the old concession for the market area was ended.  Initially it was reported the fire started in the home of Mr. Chavalit Uam-arun due to candles that had been left burning.

Firefighters battle to control a violent fire in a slum area in Bangkok, April 2004. Photo: AFP

In April 2004, another huge blaze destroyed some 200 homes and damaged up to 500 others across three city blocks, leaving 7,000 slum dwellers homeless.  The affected Suan Phlu area was adjacent to Thailand’s Immigration Police Headquarters, and several foreign embassies including those of Australia and Germany.  A police accommodation building was also damaged in the blaze that was fanned by unusually strong winds.  Final blame was said to have been a cooking gas cylinder left in the sun, causing it to explode.

This morning’s bomb attack came less than 48 hours after current Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat warned the general public, on Tuesday, to avoid crowded places at the full moon festival on Wednesday night, for fear that a third party could use the opportunity to instigate unrest. “I am really concerned about tomorrow night as people celebrate Loy Krathong. If possible, please avoid places where a large number of people are gathered,” Somchai said, adding that he had assigned police to tighten security in the capital to ensure safety.

Critics have already made pointed remarks about the coincidence of his comments and the attack, alleging foreknowledge.  If such accusations are true, then it awards efficiency claims to the Thai Internal Security Bureau and Police investigators, yet neither have currently pointed a finger at possible culprits.

Tourists worried about the latest incident should instead consider common sense.  Mass protests in any country can turn violent without warning and Thailand is no different despite the reputation of being full of happy smiling people.  Again, as in any country, protests involving commmercial disputes are particularly prone to this as demonstrated by the growing number of food riots globally, or the British miner’s strikes of the late 1970s and early 1980s.  Applying basic self-preservation techniques will cause avoidance of potential trouble spots, and tourists who do this will encounter no danger and have a wonderful holiday in Thailand.