Thai Police Arrest "Foreign Man" In Bangkok Bombing

by JASmius



You have to get all the way down to the eleventh paragraph of this Thomson/Reuters story before you get to the actual news in it.

But just to review from twelve days ago:

The Associated Press is reporting that an explosion of unknown cause has ripped through an area in Bangkok, Thailand, killing at least twelve. Authorities have confirmed the explosion was caused by a bomb, though the exact type of device has not yet been determined. The blast occurred in a busy commercial hub, a site that has seen several political demonstrations in recent years. The bomb reportedly detonated in front of the Erawan shrine, a popular shrine to the Hindu god Brahma, where thousands of Buddhist devotees visit every day.

And now, the update:

Police hunting for the perpetrators of Thailand's deadliest bombing arrested a foreign man on Saturday they said fitted the description of a suspect seen leaving a rucksack at the site of the Bangkok blast nearly two weeks ago. [emphasis added]

Well, now, that's kind of an antiseptically cryptic description.

Police raided an apartment in a northern suburb of the capital on Saturday afternoon and discovered possible bomb-making materials that could have been used in the August 17th attack in Bangkok's bustling commercial heart.

Police would not confirm where the suspect was from but said he was a foreign national and would be charged initially with possession of illegal explosive materials and held at a military facility. [emphases added]

That's curious; why are Thai officials reticent about disclosing this "foreign national's" country of origin?  Hmmmm....

The bomb tore through the crowded Erawan Shrine, one of the country's top tourist attractions and close to high-end hotels and malls, killing twenty people and wounding scores more.

So this "foreign national" whose country of origin the Thais won't confirm bombed a Buddhist religious shrine?  My, but the plot does thicken.

Among the dead were fourteen foreigners, including seven from mainland China and Hong Kong, in an attack the military government said was intended to be a strike at Thailand's troubled economy.

That was one reason, I'm sure.

The suspect "looks like the one we are looking for", said national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri.

Almost sounds like Mr. Thavornsiri almost let slip the suspect's country of origin and then caught himself at the last instant, doesn't it?

"They also found a lot of materials which can be used to make bombs."

No doubt.

Here's that belatedly revelatory eleventh paragraph, by the way:

Several channels also showed an image of a passport they said was seized at the apartment where the man was arrested during the raid.

It appeared to be a Turkish passport, belonging to a man born in 1987. Reuters could not confirm whether or not it belonged to the suspect, or if it was found by police at the apartment. [emphasis added]

So, to sum up, on the one hand, Thomson/Reuters did mention the only newsworthy part of this story, but on the other, they buried it so deep you run the risk of incurring the journalistic bends from diving for it, and even then they hem and haw and Islamophillically hedge and all but apologize shamelessly all around it.

This, of course, is called astonishing progress for the Obamedia.  Though probably only because the bombing took place on the other side of the planet.  If the Turkish jihadist had blown up National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., we'd never hear his country of origin or motivations.  Ever.

Hopefully the Thais know what to do with him, and are willing to carry it out.  Unpleasantly.