Further updated: Bomb in Bangkok I

Most readers will have seen the reports of a large bomb killing several and injuring many near the Erawan Shrine:

City bomb horror

Tourists Among 19 Killed by Bomb at Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine

At least 16 killed, up to 100 injured by biggest attack

Police mention earlier bombs at Paragon and outside a court. However, these were of quite a different scale. Back then there were various allegations that those responsible were either red shirts or the military regime itself. If our recollection is accurate, several people were arrested for the earlier bombs, but few other reports about these have been heard. There were also claims about bombs in the uprising in the south.

Update 1: Photos and video here.

As expected, the military authorities and the military dictatorship has blamed their political opponents: “Today, there is a suspect who appeared on CCTV but it’s not clear … we are looking for this guy,” Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha said, adding he was believed to be from an “anti-government group based in Thailand’s northeast” — the heartland of the anti-coup Red Shirt movement.

Update 2: Khaosod reports that The Dictator was misreported by AFP on red shirts being involved. Because the AFP report is continually updating, it is not possible to easily compare the earlier report. Khaosod states that gist of the “misquote” was that Prayuth was not referring to the actual bombing but alleged Facebook posts warning of misdeeds forthcoming in Bangkok. We think this is splitting rather thin hairs. At the same time, the media and social media are linking the bombing to the deportation of Uighurs a couple of weeks ago.