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Bangkok beefs up security after New Year bombings
2007-01-02
Sniffer dogs and extra security forces have patrolled transport hubs across Thailand as thousands flooded back into Bangkok despite fears of a repeat of deadly New Year bombings. The military-backed government beefed up security at bus terminals, train stations and airports as hundreds of thousands of people returned to the Thai capital after a four-day weekend for the New Year holiday. Eight coordinated explosions in Bangkok on New Year's Eve killed three and injured 38, including nine foreign tourists. It was the first violence in the capital since a coup in September that toppled prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin has blamed the blasts on politicians from Thaksin's government trying to destabilize the country. He summoned four of them to appear before the junta for questioning. Thaksin, who is in exile in Beijing, denied any involvement in the attacks and said he believed Islamic separatists from Thailand's Muslim-majority south were to blame. "The government did not admit that it was the work of the militants in the south, because if the government did admit that, it would show the failure of their new 'olive branch' approach to the conflict," he said in a letter from Beijing on Tuesday. Thaksin noted that the bombings followed a pattern similar to previous attacks by the militants, who often stage coordinated bomb or arson attacks designed to cause panic rather than heavy casualties. Thaksin was widely criticised for his strong-arm tactics in fighting the separatist insurgency along the Malaysian border, where more than 1,700 have been killed. The new government has repeatedly denied any link to the Bangkok bombings. But fearful of a new attack, extra security forces and sniffer dogs were deployed at Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport and at airports around the country, said Chotisak Asapaviriya, the president of Airports of Thailand. "We have implemented the highest level of security measures since early December at all airports across the country, and especially at Suvarnabhumi where we have currently deployed 2,000 security guards and bomb-sniffing dogs," he told AFP. The military has helped provide additional security at other airports, notably in the northern city of Chiang Mai and the southern commercial center of Hat Yai. Normally tranquil Chiang Mai was rattled by a small bomb attack at a mosque on Monday, while Hat Yai periodically suffers violence linked to the southern unrest. Transport Company, which operates all of Thailand's inter-city bus stations, said armed soldiers and police were patrolling the main terminals around Bangkok. "Security at all bus terminals is at 100 percent. We have also instructed terminal managers to carefully inspect all luggage, while security staff will search every bus," the company's acting president Wuthichart Kalyanamitra said. Some 200,000 people are expected to arrive in Bangkok by bus on Tuesday, he said. Another 120,000 people are expected to return to the capital by rail, said Monthakarn Srivilas, a spokeswoman for the State Railway of Thailand. "We have sent out 200 extra railway police on top of our regular staff. They will patrol both on trains and at train stations. We will also be monitoring the stations on closed-circuit television, and have sent out bomb-sniffing dogs," she told AFP. Bangkok's governor and foreign embassies have urged people to stay at home and avoid moving about the city, but few people appear to have followed the advice. Two of the explosions hit an area dotted with five-star hotels, but tourism officials have reported no immediate cancellations in the wake of the blasts. The critical holiday season is a major highlight of Thailand's 13-billion-dollar tourist industry.
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