explosions that rocked the business area in Bangkok on Thursday night killed three people and wounded more than 70

Bangkok – A series of explosions that rocked the business area in Bangkok on Thursday night killed three people and wounded more than 70, said Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban.”Three people were killed and more than 70 others injured,” said Thaugsuban told reporters.

Five grenades were fired in the direction of mass pro-government demonstrators, who were face to face with the masses “Red Shirt”, a group of anti-pemerntah protestors, in the heart of the Thai capital, said several officials and eyewitnesses.Meanwhile, the Red Shirt group denied responsibility for a series of deadly grenade attack on Thursday night.”Whoever is doing these attacks want people to think that the M79 was done by the Red Shirt. We never attack people who are innocent,” said a leader of anti-government protest movement, Jatuporn Prompan.

He rejected government accusations that the grenades were fired with the M79 grenade launcher from the Red Shirt area in the direction of pro-government demonstrators who gathered at nearby locations.Red Shirt launch mass anti-government rally in Bangkok in mid-March that sparked fierce clashes with security forces on 10 April, which killed 25 people and wounding more than 800. ( AFP)

Tens of thousands of protesters converged on Bangkok's shopping district on Saturday

Tens of thousands of protesters converged on Bangkok’s shopping district on Saturday, forcing major retailers to close while accusing authorities of neglecting the poor on the 21st day of a mass rally seeking snap elections.Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s embattled government deployed 50,000 soldiers, police and other security personnel in the city after caravans of the anti-government, red-shirted protesters travelled from rural areas to the Thai capital.At least half a dozen shopping malls including Central World — the second-largest shopping complex in Southeast Asia — shut their doors in response to protests and threats by the “red shirts” to stay overnight in the usually bustling area popular with tourists and Bangkok’s upper and middle classes.”We cannot let Mr. Abhisit rule the country any longer,” Jatuporn Prompan, a “red shirt” leader, told the crowd.

“It is time for the under-privileged to liberate themselves from the oppression made by the elite-backed government. It is time for the elite-supported government to dissolve parliament.

Thousands also rallied outside state-controlled broadcasters Radio Thailand and Channel 11, accusing them of bias.

Backed by Thailand’s powerful military and royalist establishment, Abhisit has said a peaceful poll now would be difficult given the tensions and has offered to dissolve parliament in December, a year early.The mostly rural and urban poor protesters are demanding immediate elections and threatening more protests in coming days, extending a mass street rally that began on March 14 when up to 150,000 “red shirts” converged on Bangkok’s old quarter.

Analysts say British-born Abhisit would likely lose an election if it were held now, raising investment risks in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy following a $1.6 billion surge of foreign investment in Thai stocks over the past month on expectations Abhisit will survive the showdown.Adding to the tension, more than 1,000 people who oppose the protesters held their own rally on Friday, donning pink shirts and saying the “red shirts” were unreasonable.

‘SEA CHANGE IN THAI POLITICS’

The “red shirts,” supporters of twice-elected and now fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, say Abhisit has no popular mandate and came to power illegitimately, heading a coalition the military cobbled together after courts dissolved a pro-Thaksin party that led the previous government.

Abhisit counters that he was voted into office by the same parliament that picked his two Thaksin-allied predecessors.Thaksin was widely seen as authoritarian and corrupt before his ouster in a 2006 coup, but remains a powerful symbol as the first Thai civilian leader to reach out to the poor in his 2001 election campaign with populist policies such as cheap loans.

The “red shirts” chafe at what they say is the unelected elite preventing Thaksin’s allies from returning to power.The 60-year-old former telecommunications tycoon is believed to be a big source of funds for the protests and has harnessed new technology from social networking site Twitter to web-cams — to rally supporters from self-imposed exile, mostly in Dubai.Convicted of corruption in 2008 and sentenced in absentia to prison, his status as fugitive restricts his travel. Some countries, including Britain and Germany, have banned him.

Analysts say regardless of the outcome, the mass rallies mark a turning point in a country where the richest 20 percent of the population earn about 55 percent of the income while the poorest fifth get 4 percent, according to November World Bank study.That income disparity is among Asia’s widest, it showed.”The fact that this many people were mobilized for so long shows the sea change in Thai politics,” said Chris Baker, a political analyst who has written several books on Thai politics.The “red shirts” have tapped an under-current of frustration, added prominent Thai political historian Charnvit Kasertsiri.

“What the leaders say strikes a chord, whether it be double-standard of treatment, problems with the justice system, or lack of access and opportunities for a better life,” he said.Analysts say both sides want to be in power in October for an annual military reshuffle and the passing of the national budget.The budget gives the government room to roll out welfare policies to court rural voters whose discontent is at the heart of the protests and who now back the Thaksin-allied opposition Puea Thai Party. It also gives whoever is in power a chance to allocate money to the powerful military and ministries.The military reshuffle allows the government to promote allies in an institution that yields tremendous influence in a country that has seen 24 coups and attempted coups since 1932.(Reuters)

grenade exploded in front of a Bangkok Bank branch in central Bangkok Saturday night, leaving one person slightly injured

BANGKOK, Feb. 27  grenade exploded in front of a Bangkok Bank branch in central Bangkok Saturday night, leaving one person slightly injured.According to an anonymous policeman at the scene, a man on a motorcycle passed by and threw a hand grenade toward the branch bank at Silom road, Bangrak district, at about 9:30 p.m., but only hit the tree in front of the bank and exploded.

One man got minor injury and has been sent to the nearby Leart Sin Hospital, the policeman said. The glass doors and windows of the bank were shattered by the wave of the explosion.Dozens of policeman at the scene are carrying out investigation.According to Bangkok Post online, another grenade was also found at the Bangkok Bank’s Rama II branch at about 10 p.m. and police disposed of the grenade before it exploded.(Xinhua)

35 tons of war weaponry from North Korea and the arrest of five foreigners

35 tons of war weaponry

BANGKOK The seizure in Thailand of some 35 tons of war weaponry from North Korea and the arrest of five foreigners charged with illegal possession of arms may prove a blow to efforts by the United States to negotiate a halt to Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, observers said Sunday.Thai authorities, reportedly acting on a tip from their American counterparts, impounded an Ilyushin 76 transport plane, carrying explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and components for surface-to-air missiles, during a refueling stop at Bangkok’s Don Muang airport Saturday. Four men from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus were detained.Thai authorities took the action because of a United Nations resolution banning the transport of certain weapons from or to North Korea, Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said.

The latest sanctions were imposed in June after the reclusive communist regime conducted a nuclear test and test-fired missiles. The sanctions were aimed at derailing North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, but also banned the North’s sale of any conventional arms.

The seizure came just days after President Barack Obama’s special envoy made a rare three-day trip to North Korea on a mission to persuade Pyongyang to rejoin six-nation nuclear disarmament talks. Envoy Stephen Bosworth said the two sides had reached common understandings on the need to restart the talks.

“There is a possibility that the incident could have a negative effect on moves to get the North to rejoin the six-party talks and a U.S.-North Korea dialogue mood,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies.Thai Air Force spokesman Capt. Montol Suchookorn said the chartered cargo plane originated in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, and requested to land at Don Muang airport to refuel.

There were differing local media reports about the plane’s destination, with some saying it was headed to Sri Lanka and others saying Pakistan.”I cannot disclose the destination of their plane because this involves national security. The government will provide more details on this,” Supisarn said.

North Korea has been widely accused of violating United Nations sanctions by selling weapons to nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America.Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said Thailand made the seizure because of the U.N. sanctions.

“Once further details have been finalized, and all the proper checks have been made we will report all details to the United Nations sanctions committee,” he said.Police Col. Supisarn Pakdinarunart said the five men detained denied the arms possession charges and were refused bail. They will appear in court Monday.

Local press reports said Thai authorities were tipped off by their American counterparts about the cargo aboard the aircraft. U.S. Embassy spokesman Michael Turner said the embassy would not comment on the incident.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said it would take several days to obtain details on the incident, which would be reported to the United Nations, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

“People should not be alarmed because the government will ensure that the investigation will be carried out transparently. The government will be able to explain the situation to foreign countries,” Suthep said.

Thai authorities said the weapons were moved by trucks amid high security Saturday night from the airport to a military base in the nearby province of Nakhon Sawan.

Baek Seung-joo of the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses said the seizure demonstrated a U.S. intention to continue to enforce sanctions on the North while also engaging in dialogue.

Arms sales are a key source of hard currency for the impoverished North. Baek said the North is believed to have earned hundreds of millions of dollars every year by selling missiles, missile parts and other weapons to countries like Iran, Syria and Myanmar.

In August, the United Arab Emirates seized a Bahamas-flagged cargo ship bound for Iran with a cache of banned rocket-propelled grenades and other arms from North Korea, the first seizure since sanctions against North Korea were ramped up.