Valentine's Day was last week. I celebrated per my usual tradition of eating pizza. But that wasn't the most interesting thing to happen that day. Not at all. (The pizza had corn on it; still not the most interesting thing to happen that day.)
While teaching in the afternoon at a Thai government school, AES, I heard three loud noises from outside the classroom over the course of about an hour. The first I assumed to be really close thunder (an assumption in its truest form, given that it was not raining; indeed it was a blue sky). The second crashing sound happened as I finished one of my classes. The other teachers and I speculated about what the sounds could be. Some thought a transformer had exploded (apparently a reasonably normal occurrence in Bangkok); others mused that it was a building being demolished. The third boom happened while I was teaching my last class of the day at the Thai school before heading back to the language school to continue classes. During that last class, the head teacher of the school took me out of class (an event that probably had little overall effect on the amount of useful information the students were able to glean from the hour) and informed me that the noises we had heard were in fact bombs going off on Sukhumvit 71, the main road where I live.
The first information I was given was that a foreigner had tried to throw bombs into a Kasem Phithaya, a school near my apartment. This caused concern for me, as I have three students who attend that school. Thankfully, nobody from the school was injured in the blasts. The first news suggested that one of the bombs he had tried to throw exploded as he was throwing it, which blew his legs off, and he was lying in the street. The head teacher told me that they weren't going to let any kids leave and that I shouldn't mention it to my students. She also told me that she felt like I should stay on the campus for a little while, because I'm white and could potentially be a target.
However, I had a class I had to go teach at 3:00, so I needed to leave. The head teacher talked to my boss, and it was decided that someone should give me a ride on a motorcycle rather than have me walk. I was told that the motorcycle could take me in an hour. At that point, I asked if I could just walk. I got an unsure, "I guess so . . . ,"which is by far my favorite permission I've received to date.
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| How's that for an informational map? |
Of course we were following the news closely at this time, but, as with most bizarre stories, there wasn't a whole lot of information or consistency between reports. Some reported the man as simply being a foreigner, while others suggested that he was Lebanese. Still others said he was Iranian, which is the remaining opinion, due to travel documents and passports found.
The story as it finishes basically goes like this though:
Three dudes are in their rented apartment in the Ekamai area. Of course their building bombs, because how do YOU deal with unseasonable heat and humidity?!? It's February for heaven's sake! Bombs are notorious for their finicky nature (heck, that's what makes 'em work), and evidently one of the gentlemen was a little heavy handed while assembling. This caused the first explosion. Shortly after that, the first two occupants of the house exited (one was later apprehended at the airport, the other in Malaysia). The third roommate left last, carrying a black bag and what seems to have been at least moderate facial and smoke damage (due, naturally, to the bomb going off near his head).
He tried to hail a cab. The taxi driver pulled over, but after getting a good look at his potential fare, decided against picking up the slightly charred, bleeding man. Time for a sidebar: I have been refused a ride by a taxi driver before, usually because their shift is nearly over, or they don't feel like listening to my mangled Thai or they simply don't know where my destination is located. Either way, it is a somewhat frustrating experience. My usual response is to just try my luck with the next cab I see. That's what I would call a level-headed response to cab spurning.
Well, our ill-fated bomber decided that the time for cooler heads and prevailing had simply passed. So he chose the opposing option, which is, of course, to throw a bomb at the taxi. Like I said, I usually try to just find another way to travel.
The explosion rocked the taxi and injured the driver. Around this time, police were arriving in response to the first explosion, in the apartment. As they approached the man they suspected to be responsible (let's be honest, they had good reason to suspect this dude), he decided to side with the oft-repeated notion that if one bomb is good, then two bombs must be better.
To be evenhanded, baseball is not huge in Iran. I think it's safe to say that few countries outside of the Americas play a whole lot of throwing games. Cricket is played in some places, but I doubt if you go to the park in Iran you see anybody slinging sliders through a batter's wheelhouse to shake him off his game. So, it is not a huge surprise to anyone that this thrown bomb probably didn't have the desired accuracy; it is only a slightly larger surprise, in my opinion, that the bomb should deflect off a tree and roll right back to the feet of the thrower. Maybe he should have kicked it in the first place.
Can we take a moment so sympathize with the thoughts that must have been going through this guy's head during the course of this throw?
Alright, the windup felt good, the release was solid, but admittedly it's not going exactly where I inten--well, it's hit a tree. That's ok, a certain amount of deflection can add to the element of surp-- well, it's coming right back to me. Do I have a chance to try again? No, it's definitely going to explode. Shooooootttttt...
The resulting explosion took most of his leg off at about the knee and didn't do the other limb any aesthetic favors. Evidently the lower part of his leg landed inside the school yard, meaning it had to clear about seven feet of fence, which is infinitely more impressive than his throw.
The police took their time in getting him evacuated. Most news reports say he was moved pretty quickly, but he probably sat in the street for about 45 minutes before an ambulance took him away. It can be argued, and logically so, that the police had to make sure the scene was safe; there could, after all, have been more explosives. However, it doesn't feel like too much of a stretch to say that the police were a little peeved by the fact that he had thrown a bomb in their direction; it felt like they were going to let him sit on the concrete and think about what he'd done for a while.
Now, I saw a youtube video of the man sitting there, and it was pretty horrifying. He was moaning in pain and was a pretty rough sight. However, the camera, after panning over the scene, slowly moved up into a tree next to a traffic light, where a pair of jeans hung ominously. I was hoping that some news report would mention the jeans, but to no avail. I, naturally, have my own opinions.
First, he was carrying a bag of clothes, cash and possibly explosives. It is therefore conceivable that the jeans were somehow blown out of his carry-on and into the tree. The more interesting suggestion, however, is that he was wearing the jeans and they were just blown ten feet into the air. Now that's denimpressive. (Do you see what I did there?)
The last idea, and my personal favorite, simply because it's completely void of logic, is that some guy has been drying his clothes in this exact spot for several months because he doesn't have room at home. I like to think he also saw that video, and reacted, "Well, shoot. I can't use THAT spot anymore." Imagine his reaction when he learned the police took them as evidence! "Have you SEEN me in those jeans? The real crime is that the world has been deprived of my take on casual, about-town wear."
So, the widespread opinion of the police and media seems to be that these three men were planning to attack Israel's embassy or some representative of Israel in Bangkok, following up on the two bombings in Georgia and India the previous day. The equipment they had in their possession matches the evidence found at the two previous scenes. Their tactic seems to have been to drive a motorcycle near a car, attach a bomb to a car with a magnet, and then detonate the C4. Thankfully, the accidental explosion caused their alleged plans to go awry. Another thing to be thankful for is the timing of the blasts; had they occurred just 50 minutes later, the sidewalk and bus stop would have been heavily crowded with students leaving school.
The incident, as such, and the intended bombings, are being described as the work of assassins and not terrorists. Currently, police are seeking at least two other people in connection with the explosions and planned attacks.
Recently, several newspapers and online sources pointed out that the bombers spent time in Pattaya before coming to Bangkok to blow things up. The articles focused on the fact that the suspected attackers spent several nights carousing and partying with local women before getting down to business.
Now, I've been to Pattaya, so there are two facts I would like to point out: first, the local women in Pattaya were prostitutes. Plain and simple. There is a camera phone picture of the three men hanging out with a woman at a bar. She is most likely a sex worker.
The second fact is that it's about a 50% chance (maybe better, maybe worse) that the women with which these jokers "caroused" were actually women. The playing field in Pattaya is vast and diverse. Not everyone is who they seem to be, and admittedly not everyone is doing as convincing a job as they would hope.
But anyways, that was my Valentine's Day. It was kind of crazy. And, because the street was shut down for a few blocks on Sukhumvit 71, all the cars were redirected through my Soi. Traffic was crazy for a few hours. Still got that pizza, though.
Let the media hear you: what's the story with the jeans in the tree??
