Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/08/23/fatal-explosions-at-hotel-in-s.html
…
1 Like
Basically the BB response is: “No one I know or care about lives in Thailand.”
2 Likes
I’m still just horrified at the idea of “double-tapping.”
The people who come out and help in times like this are truly the best of humanity, and targeting them specifically is the worst kind of evil.
12 Likes
I have a bunch of friends in Thailand, but not in that particular part of the country.
3 Likes
I didn’t see this until now.
It’s a different part of Thailand, but I know people who had SRS in Phuket. I care.
4 Likes
I don’t know anyone in Thailand and I care.
6 Likes
I saw the post here, then went to go read other news sites. I completely forgot to natter!
4 Likes
Thanks everyone for caring, but even the Paris attacks warranted more of response. I just find it curious.
It might be a combination of things… general fatigue, being the first. This has been a bloody summer already. This week had a lot going on… Turkey invading Syria, another bombing there, the italian earthquakes, the LA flooding, the wild fires on the west coast, Zika in Florida…
Second, this is a domestic insurgency with no real connection to what’s going on elsewhere. I’m not sure many of us are aware of the 12 year insurgency and what it’s roots are. Maybe we just have nothing to contribute with regards to a better understanding of these events.
5 Likes
Count me in this camp. I dont like that people died, but I know very little about the events and I don’t have much to say on the topic except, “Well, shit.” I didn’t get into the weird displays of public mourning (which I feel ultimately are performances for the benefit of others) after Paris or even in contries where I know people living in them. So I can’t account for the absence of such performance.
8 Likes
Oh man, I love the Thais. They’re amazing. It’s such a shame they’re pulling apart at the seams.
And their food. If I was deprived of all choices, and had to choose one cuisine, it would be Thai. Not the NYC street corner junk. Real Thai food. It’s glorious…
I have a bunch of Thai friends; always will.
3 Likes
There is sort of a connection to global events, as the bombings are likely the work of Barisan Revolusi Nasional, which puts them in line with the general uptick in violence by Islamic insurgencies worldwide. I understand that the Thai government does not want tourists to think that they are going to be killed by terrorists, any more than any place with a tourist economy does.
I think it is sad that Thailand is yet another place where tourist areas are being targeted by terrorists. I have really enjoyed traveling through Thailand, including one epic mountain bike trip when I was still in my 20s.
1 Like
I changed my Facebook avatar - what more could I do?
2 Likes
I think the insurgency isn’t necessarily related to international events, as much as they are to politics within Thailand, though, right? They are a secessionist group, even if they do have Salafist leanings. Do you know if they’ve pledged to outside groups or not? I haven’t heard about them pledging to Daesh or Al-Qeada (which doesn’t mean they haven’t, just that I haven’t heard about it).
Targeting of tourist areas is easy to explain - it will get them greater attention from the government, since Thailand depends economically on tourism dollars.
1 Like
Step One: Purity driving trollies.
Step two: ???
Step Three: Profit!
I am not an expert on the Thai Islamic insurgency. I do know that it is at least associated with participants in Malaysia, and ISIS is becoming more active there. here is an article from Singapore with some more data-
It would make sense that Islamic insurgents in Thailand and elsewhere would at least be aware of the tactics and message of other Islamist groups. Whether they are actually in contact with each other, or if the funding or contraband is coming from the Middle east, I have no idea.
1 Like
Thanks for the link… I wonder how much of stuff like this is related to attempts to raise the groups profile and get more attention of their demands?
1 Like
double tapping was mentioned in this new yorker article on Syria.
On August 14th, Al Jazeera released a film made by the Danish journalist Nagieb Khaja about the Syrian Civil Defense, a network of nearly three thousand first responders in rebel zones, who are known as “white helmets.” S.C.D. has pledged neutrality toward armed factions, but Assad’s forces and their allies have targeted it in “double tap” attacks, in which Syrian and Russian aircraft strike a rebel target, wait for rescue workers to turn up, and then bomb them as well. Khaja shot his film late last year in Aleppo, where he accompanied a squad of white helmets to the site of an attack. “People! Stop gathering in groups!” one of the rescuers shouts. “Spread out or they will shell!” Assad, through the conduct of his forces, has left little doubt that he is deliberately seeking to destroy medical and civil organizations in rebel areas in order to demoralize and depopulate those districts. (He may be succeeding. On Friday, people began to evacuate Darayya, near Damascus; the population has apparently capitulated, after four years of encirclement and assault.) According to Physicians for Human Rights, government forces and their Russian allies have carried out ninety per cent of the more than three hundred and fifty attacks on medical facilities during the past five years. A week ago, Syrian or Russian planes bombed an S.C.D. station in Aleppo.
I guess if you believe that humanitarians and non-combatants don’t exist, it’s a coldly logical move to use a military tactic against the innocent.
2 Likes
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
