Ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra denied suggestions by the military and his army-appointed successor he was linked to New Year’s Eve bombs in Bangkok that killed three people and wounded 38.
In a letter faxed to media organisations from Beijing, where he is in exile after his removal in a September 19 coup, Thaksin accused the army-appointed government of jumping to conclusions by blaming ”groups that have lost political powers”.
Many Thais have interpreted that as meaning Thaksin.
”I swear I have never thought of hurting or destroying the happiness of the Thai people or spoiling the credibility of the country for my political goals,” he said.
Amid fears the bombs presaged another turbulent year, the stock market — Asia’s worst performer last year — fell more than 3 % in its first trading day of 2007.
A police lieutenant-colonel before moving into business and then politics, Thaksin said his contacts within the force suggested the unprecedented blasts were the work of Muslim separatists from the Malay-speaking far south.
”I asked police about the materials and methods used. The bombs were probably the work of militants from the far south,” he said in the handwritten letter. ”I want to condemn the group that was behind the bombs in the strongest terms.”
More than 1 800 people have been killed in three years of violence in the three southern-most provinces abutting Malaysia.
But the militants, who have not made their aims public and do not issue claims of responsibility, have never taken their campaign beyond the immediate region, a move that would represent a major escalation.
Security analysts said that even though there were some similarities between the types of bombs used, the wide geographical spread of the New Year blasts across the capital was markedly different from serial bomb attacks in the south.
”This has to be in some fashion linked to the former regime — but that’s such an enormous pool of people,” said security analyst Brian Dougherty of Hill and Associates in Bangkok.
Conspiracy theories
Surayud Chulanont, Thaksin’s army-appointed successor, said on Monday that intelligence pointed to politicians who had lost power — but added that that did not mean only Thaksin.
He did not reveal any details of the intelligence and admitted the government did not know who ordered the bombings.
”Briefs from various intelligence agencies, based on evidence available, show that they came from groups that have lost political powers,” Surayud told a news conference on Monday.
”These were not just the previous government, but include all those which have lost power in the past,” he said. ”We could not at this stage pinpoint which particular group was involved.”
General Saprang Kalayanamitr, the most outspoken member of the Council for National Security (CNS), as the coup leaders call themselves, said the bombs were a clear attempt to destabilise the country.
”I can assure you that it’s not rebels from the far south. This is because of the people who previously held power,” he told a Bangkok radio station. ”They want to show that this government is failing to manage the country.”
The confusion of messages from the army, police and government has triggered a rash of conspiracy theories.
Among them are police seeking to head off an army-imposed reform drive, a renegade former prime minister acting in a fit of pique, or hard-line elements in the army looking for excuses to perpetuate military rule. — Reuters