Are mass killings taking place in Burma?

"Where have all the monks gone?" asked the US Ambassador to Rangoon today. We have reports of monk round-ups; reports of monks being sent off to far away detention centres. There are also reports of monks being killed in mass executions. This issue is of the greatest concern, and we should address it as carefully as possible. Did such killings take place? Did the Myanmar junta issue directives to exterminate monks?

The defecting general says he refused to take part in a plan to kill "several hundred monks." He also indicated quite clearly that orders had been issued to this effect:

"I knew the plan to beat and shoot the monks and if I stayed on, I would have to follow these orders. "

Sophie Lwin wrote on her Facebook page, "We just got phone call with our sister living in Yangon about a few hours ago. We saw on BBC world, saying that 200 monks were arrested. The true picture is far worse!!!!!!!!!" She continues:

For one instance, the monastery at an obscure neighborhood of Yangon, called Ngwe Kyar Yan (on Wei-za-yan-tar Road, Yangon) had been raided early this morning.A troop of lone-tein (riot police comprised of paid thugs) protected by the military trucks, raided the monastery with 200 studying monks. They systematically ordered all the monks to line up and banged and crushed each one's head against the brick wall of the monastery. One by one, the peaceful, non resisting monks, fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Then, they tore off the red robes and threw them all in the military trucks (like rice bags) and took the bodies away. . . .

When all is done, only 10 out of 200 remained alive, hiding in the monastery. Blood stained everywhere on the walls and floors of the monastery.

Lwin's sister's account is very detailed, which suggests to me it's not just rumor being repeated. So we have two reports, neither by any measure confirmed, but eerily similar. I'll post any others I come across.

One other point: note Lwin was objecting to the extreme understatement of a BBC account of events. Scroll down to the next post and you will read how the defecting general's comments were toned-down in the BBC's account as well. What's going on here with the BBC?

The Daily Mail article seems to point to a 3rd reported masscre of monks (assuming it is not a different version of either of the above incidents). Swedish diplomat Liselotte Agerlid is quoted as saying:

"People are scared and the general assessment is that the fight is over. We were informed from one of the largest embassies in Burma that 40 monks in the Insein prison were beaten to death today and subsequently burned."

So there we have it: Three reports detailing the mass executions of monks. One report that the junta has ordered the extermination of prisoners. And many reports that monks have "disappeared" or are being moved to far away concentration camps. Put the reports together and you have a nightmare scenerio occuring in Burma at this moment.

Update 1 (10/05/07): CNN has received "an upsetting e-mail from a monk, claiming to have witnessed hundreds of monks being beaten to death at a monastery." That makes four reports.

Update 2 (10/08/07): "Some of the worst violence appears to have occurred at the Mwe Kya Jan monastery in northwest Rangoon. According to graphic testimony published in yesterday’s Thai newspapers, the soldiers lined the monks up against a wall and smashed each of their shaven heads against the wall in succession. The monks were roughed up and thrown into trucks, but the abbot was so severely beaten that he died on the spot, the reports claimed." (Sunday Times).

Defecting General Hla Win's Story to the BBC

Hla Win, described as a Burmese general who has deserted his post in protest of the regime’s harsh tactics, described horrific scenes from Burma to the Daily Mail newspaper. Tonight the BBC interviewed the same general (I think) but the BBC report omitted all-important details from the Daily Mail report. It also omitted his name.

The BBC's report is entirely colourless:

The officer, whose unit was ordered to Rangoon to deal with the protests, said he did not want to beat or shoot monks - who are revered in Burmese society.

"I knew the plan to beat and shoot the monks and if I stayed on, I would have to follow these orders. Because I'm a Buddhist, I did not want to kill the monks," he said.

I presume this is the same individual interviewed by the Daily Mail. In that interview one General Hla Win is reported to have said:

“I decided to desert when I was ordered to raid two monasteries and force several hundred monks onto trucks.

“They were to be killed and their bodies dumped deep inside the jungle. I refused to participate in this.”

Hla Win also reportedly told the Daily Mail that "the bodies number in the thousands." Again, no mention of this figure on the BBC. We can be quite sure both news organizations interviewed the same man. BBC reports, "A Burmese army officer, who fled to Thailand in the first apparent defection since the crackdown, has been giving interviews to media organisations."

Gambari's visit to Burma a propaganda coup for junta

Kyaw Zwa Moe writes what was on my mind when I saw the pictures of the UN Special Envoy to Burma meeting the generals:

Newsreel footage of the photo call shows Gambari giving a slight bow as he firmly shakes hand with the generals. He smiles—but is there really anything to smile about? Did he have problems removing the stains left by the press of the generals’ blood-soaked palms?

. . . It’s deplorable that Gambari allowed himself to be used as a propaganda tool by the regime, who had already humiliated him and the organization he represented by keeping him waiting two days before summoning him to a meeting. . .

. . . He is just the latest in a line of UN special envoys who, between them, have achieved absolutely nothing. By sending them on futile missions to Burma, the UN has only raised false hopes and has contributed to the generals’ grip on power.

I never considered Gambari's visit to Burma a matter of any particular importance, just a distraction. But to think it was a helpful distraction for the junta is disappointing.

Hey Economist, it's maroon, not saffron!

I read somewhere that Time Magazine's new editor aspires to make Time look more like The Economist, but isn't this carrying the idea a bit too far?

Why Burma's Monks Are in Danger

When the protests began, most people -- myself included -- thought that Burmese soldiers would not dare to fire upon Buddhist monks.

Yet, recent reports indicate that monks have been beaten and killed. How could this happen in Burma of all places; in what is perhaps the most devoutly Buddhist country on earth?

Here's the explanation I've been able to piece together after talking to some friends in Thailand.

The junta has indoctrinated soldiers in the belief that monks who protest are not true monks. It has told soldiers that the protesting monks are in effect, fake or impostor monks. "Real monks do not protest," goes the junta's line. So when the soldier beats or kills a monk, he thinks he's purifying the land of the false monks.

The junta has gone to great lengths in recent years to align itself with Buddhism. The junta's Buddhism is presented to the people -- and especially the army -- as the true Buddhism. That has made it easier for the regime to now claim the protesting monks are apostates.

Of course, the idea that a monk cannot protest and still remain true to Buddhism and his vows is utter nonsense. None other than the Dalai Lama issued a strong statement in support of Burma's protesting monks.

Burma on Oct 3: Soldiers hunting protestors.

-Soldiers announced they were hunting pro-democracy protesters in Burma's largest city Wednesday and the top US diplomat in the country said she heard that military police were pulling people out of their homes during the night.(AP)

- U.S. embassy personnel have found some Buddhist monasteries completely deserted while others were closed off by soldiers. The acting U.S. ambassador found the absence of the leaders of last month’s demonstrations conspicuous: “There is a significantly reduced number of monks on the streets. Where are the monks? What has happened to them?” (AP)

-Burma's military authorities have released 80 monks who were rounded up last week in the Rangoon crackdown (Reuters via Irrawaddy)

- Unconfirmed reports that police units in the southern areas of Yangon and in the east of the country are planning to revolt (poster at Ko Htike)

Updates on Earlier Events
-Over 10,000 people in the Arakan town of Man Aung staged another protest yesterday against the Burmese government's harassment of demonstrators.

- Authorities yesterday released 90 of 400 monks detained in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state, during a midnight raid on monasteries on Sept. 25. (DVB)

Australia 1, Thailand 0

Australia
Australia has taken a lead in the diplomatic war on Burma's junta, refusing to accept a military commander as the rogue state's new ambassador to Canberra.

Thailand
In Thailand General Sonthi is set to be appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand. The general is buddies with the Burmese junta, and well after shots had been fired at peaceful protestors, Sonthi made a speech encouraging of Burma's junta. The tone of Sonthi's speech is indistinguishable from statements by Myanmar's own embassador to the UN.

Wake Up to the Gravity of the Situation in Burma

The world seems to be losing interest in Burma. This presents a bit of a problem for the Burmese. Here's why:

1. Monks and civilian protestors are presently being round up and sent to concentration camps.
2. We have a report from a defecting Burmese general that the junta issued orders to execute prisoners.
3. We have at least one report of the mass murder of monks in a monastery.
4. Three hundred thousand of Burma's 400,000 monks are said to have taken part in the protests.

It is entirely possible -- I would even say quite probable -- that a Holocaust is ongoing in Burma at this moment. I can't prove it. But just put the accounts compiled here at Jotman.com together -- some of which have yet to be widely reported in the mainstream media. The reports in question have been labeled "unconfirmed."

Silence and denial is typical in these circumstances: Germany, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Sudan -- the world never wakes up to the horror of a Holocaust until it is too late. Why is this? Early "unconfirmed" reports leak out every time. Perhaps we don't want to take those early reports seriously, because early reports put us in an awkward position. Because it's not yet too late for us to do something. We know that we could stop the horror if we chose to.

The strategic vulnerability of the Burmese leadership is strikingly apparent. It's hunkered down in a remote town it built for itself in the middle of the jungle called Napyiydaw. It would appear an easy target.

The world should speak to Burma's brutal generals in the language of brutal generals. That language isn't Chinese, and it's not UN-speak either. Now -- before it is too late -- the world must send a clear message to Burma's leaders: exterminate your people and face your own destruction.

What about China? China would not be happy to hear this kind of talk, of course. But Burma does not belong to China. It belongs to the Burmese. And China is not the all-powerful USSR. Basically, China would have to live with the consequences of having supported a brutal and unpopular regime for too long.

For those who would execute the Napyiydaw Option, the idea makes a certain amount of sense in cold geopolitical terms. If only the world was a larger place than the Middle East in their small minds.

The time has come to talk openly about the Napyiydaw Option (see post). How can we live with ourselves if we don't?

Burma on October 2

Time in Bangkok is 16:30 (16:00 in Rangoon)

• Ibrahim Gambari, the UN's special envoy to Burma, met with Snr-Gen Than Shwe on Tuesday morning in the junta's remote new capital, Naypyidaw, two foreign diplomats told The Associated Press.
• 1974 monks and nuns being arrested at Insein GTI are now scheduled to be sent to Bawathit Prison, Kabaw Valley, Sagaing Division. Details unknown. Activists encourage for possible reporters to keep an aye on all these detention centers. Current satellite images requested. (Mizaw)
• Some of the universities in Burma have been closed down by the military junta because it is apprehensive of students joining the protest led by monks. (IMNA)
• Reports emerging from Rangoon indicate that the temporary detention centres based in Yango Institute of Technology and General Institute of Technology (GTI) is currently detaining 500 hundred monks. The monks are refusing to accept Sune (Alms food.....food offering given to monk by layperson just before 12 noon as main meal of the day) from the military junta. The local population approached these detention centres to offer food and they have been turned away by the authorities. Technically, the monks are unintentionally on hunger strike. (Minzaw) Comment: other press reports have mentioned "hunger strikes" by monks, but this explains the nature of the "hunger strike. I interpret this to mean a monk refuse to eat food not donated out of purity of heart. Therefore, the hunger strike is "unintentional."
  
• "Our own estimate is about 6,000 people detained, not killed, but detained," including about 2,400 monks, said DVB's chief editor, Aye Chan Naing. He said they were being held in at least four places: the Insein prison; a pharmaceutical factory; a technical institute and a disused racecourse. . . . Ominously, it was reported many would be sent to prisons in the far north of the country.(Telegraph) Comment: scroll down to read (related) report of 4,000 monks at the racecourse.
  

Time in Bangkok is 16:00 (15:30 in Rangoon)

• I'm having trouble finding any news updates from Burma for today. Nothing at Mizzima -- which is unusual. Irrawaddy has apparently been attacked by a Trojan.
• Meanwhile, truly horrifying reports about of the past week have surfaced over the past 24 hours -- from Britain. Scroll down.

Burmese troops fired at school children

I seem to have overlooked this. The Democratic Voice of Burma reported:

Sep 28, 2007 (DVB)–Government security forces beat up and fired upon young students in front of a school during yesterday’s brutal crackdown on large-scale protests in Rangoon, according to witnesses.

A group of students was marching from Pansodan bridge to the high school in Tamwe township, while many other students were inside the school compound. Soldiers and government guards fired automatic weapons into the air and at chest-level to prevent marching students from reaching the school.

4,000 Buddhist Monks to be Sent to Concentration Camp

The BBC reports,

Thousands of monks detained in Burma's main city of Rangoon will be sent to prisons in the far north of the country, sources have told the BBC. . .

About 4,000 monks have been rounded up in the past week as the military government has tried to stamp out pro-democracy protests. . .

They are being held at a disused race course and a technical college.

Sources from a government-sponsored militia said they would soon be moved away from Rangoon.

The monks have been disrobed and shackled, the sources told BBC radio's Burmese service. There are reports that the monks are refusing to eat.

Others reports indicate that rounded-up monks are being slaughtered. Scroll down.

The Killing Fields of Burma: Crisis Enters New Phase

Britain's Daily Mail recently published the account of a defecting Burmese general who says "the bodies number in the thousands." Diplomatic sources report killing fields: Buddhist monks in concentration camps, beaten, slaughtered, bodies dumped in rivers. The true colors of Burma's junta may be exposed for all the world to see. The junta is akin to Nazis or the Khmer Rouge. The crisis in Burma has entered a new phase.

The first priority must be to carry on the spirit of Burma's peaceful protests abroad. In this regard, our efforts should target China. We must do what is necessary to prevent China from offering further support to its murderous ally. China is well integrated into the global economy; it is vulnerable to outside pressure.

• Sign this petition.
  - petition described further here.
• Join a protest at the nearest consulate or embassy of the People's Republic of China.
• We need some creative ideas here. I've just opened comments.
  

Because China doesn't want the outside world to interfere in the affairs of its ally, talk of outside interference in Burma's affairs should top the international agenda. This is a tactic to make China listen, and make the regime take the world seriously. No reasonable option should be off the table. The more viable options for interference the outside world seriously discusses, the more pressure this puts on China and its ally, the Burmese junta. Viable options may or may not include:

• Support for rebel groups who are already fighting the Burmese junta.
• The Naypyidaw Option.
• Other ideas?
  

Massacre in Burma: ". . . the bodies can be counted in the several thousand."

Time in Bangkok 23:50 (23:20 in Rangoon, 12:50 in NY City, 17:50 in London)

Mike Nizza wrote on his blog at 9:50 NY time:

Now comes an unconfirmed report in The Daily Mail in Britain with a staggering claim of mass slaughter. The paper quotes Hla Win, described as a Burmese general who has deserted his post in protest of the regime’s harsh tactics.

“Many more people have been killed in recent days than you’ve heard about,” Hla Win said. “The bodies can be counted in several thousand.”

Here is some additional detail from General Win, referred to in this passage by his title:

The 42-year-old chief of military intelligence in Rangoon’s northern region added: “I decided to desert when I was ordered to raid two monasteries and force several hundred monks onto trucks.

“They were to be killed and their bodies dumped deep inside the jungle. I refused to participate in this.”

The general is seeking political asylum in Norway, according to The Norway Post. A Norwegian freelance journalist told The Post that he met with General Win in a jungle hideout near the border with Thailand.

Here is the link to the Daily Mail article which went online at 15:04 in London (almost 3 hours ago). I'm reading it now. I am at a loss for words.

Reports from exiles along the frontier confirmed that hundreds of monks had simply "disappeared" as 20,000 troops swarmed around Rangoon yesterday to prevent further demonstrations by religious groups and civilians. Word reaching dissidents hiding out on the border suggested that as well as executions, some 2,000 monks are being held in the notorious Insein Prison or in university rooms which have been turned into cells. There were reports that many were savagely beaten at a sports ground on the outskirts of Rangoon, where they were heard crying for help.

And another:

There are extremely high numbers of soldiers in Rangoon's streets," she added. "Anyone can see it is absolutely impossible for any demonstration to gather, or for anyone to do anything. "People are scared and the general assessment is that the fight is over. We were informed from one of the largest embassies in Burma that 40 monks in the Insein prison were beaten to death today and subsequently burned."

The diplomat also said that three monasteries were raided yesterday afternoon and are now totally abandoned. At his border hideout last night, 42-year-old Mr Win said he hopes to cross into Thailand and seek asylum at the Norwegian Embassy. . .

A Swedish diplomat who visited Burma during the protests said last night that in her opinion the revolution has failed. Liselotte Agerlid, who is now in Thailand, said that Burmese people now face possibly decades of repression.

"The Burma revolt is over," she added. "The military regime won and a new generation has been violently repressed and violently denied democracy. The people in the street were young people, monks and civilians who were not participating during the 1988 revolt. "

"Now the military has cracked down the revolt, and the result may very well be that the regime will enjoy another 20 years of silence, ruling by fear."

This vision of Burma's future is not acceptable. Not if the reports of killing fields are confirmed. I say the hour has arrived for the civilized world to take stock of all its options in dealing with murderous junta of Burma.

Psst! Bangkok got bombed last night.

One of the two English dailies buried the story. The other failed to report the story at all. Almost without exception, every international news service ignored the story.

One bomb went off in Bangkok last night and a second was found to have been planted across the street from Thai Military Headquarters (photo). Two Bangkok men suffered terrible injuries in the blast. Yet few English speakers besides blogger Fonzi and Jotman -- I live-blogged it here -- seem to have had anything to say about it.

What's more, I came across this item in a report from the Malaysian news agency, Bernama:

A bomb blast near the Royal Thai Army headquarters Sunday night might be linked with the series of bombings in Bangkok on New Year's Eve last year as the bomb materials of both incidents are likely to be the same, according to a senior police official.

The bombings at New Year's took nine innocent lives, injured many others, and may well have cost the Thai economy hundreds of millions of dollars. And what's more, the materials used in the New Years bombing have been linked by Australian intelligence to those used by the terrorists in the Southern Provinces. These facts make last night's bombing a matter of no small significance.

Bangkok, world-capital and major tourist destination, got bombed last night and there were casualties. And theworld doesn't know about it.

Photo: Thai Military Headquarters - Jotman file photo.

UPDATE: Bangkok Pundit has blogged a comprehensive update of the September 30 bombing. He's looked at various Thai media sources and discusses the implications of the recent bombing of Bangkok. Money quote:

If anything the bombings show how unsafe things are at the moment for Bangkok residents. It is not really a good look.

Events in Burma on Monday October 1

Updated at 16:00 in Bangkok (15:30 in Rangoon)

- 27 year-old journalist Win Ko Ko Latt has been missing since Sept. 27

Rangoon
- Ko-htike reported at 14:30 "There are 2 groups of protester are marching in YGN, one is about 2000 people and the other one is about 1500 people are on the street of YGN."
- Security forces in downtown Rangoon are searching people for cameras.
- In downtown Rangoon, security has been reduced compared to earlier days. Eyewitnesses told Mizzima that only in Sule, the heart of the city, security has been placed and the area has been cordoned-off with barbed wires.

Mandalay
- Protests anticipated this afternoon in Mandalay
- Slum residents of Mandalay forced to attend a pro-governmet rally by the USDA (No-shows would be fined, those who showed up would get paid).

Arakan State
A protest took place in the town of Man Aung, this morning, with protesters making three demands during the demonstration.


Other Sources: Mizzima, Irrawady, Narinjara

Bush's latest plan for war with Iran

Seymour Hersh, one of America's best journalists, reports in The New Yorker that the Cheney-Bush White House has stepped into high gear on Iran war-planning. It seems over the summer, the plan changed. It's no longer to put a halt to Iran's nuclear ambitions -- that's not proven "a marketable" war concept. Instead, the US Administration plans an attack against the Iranian Guards on the pretext that they are a terrorist organization sponsoring attacks on US troops in Iraq. The White House figures that holding a war the name of "stopping terrorism" will prove an easier sell with the American People.

Meanwhile America's feckless Congress has yet to legislate any checks whatsoever on the war powers of the desperate, incompetent, and arrogant occupants of the White House.*

*The US Constitution gives Congress, not the Presidency, the power to make war. Now would seem to be the time for Congress to reassert its constitutional prerogative.

Update: In connection with this story, Hillary Clinton, the leading contender for the US presidency, may have just blown her chance to get re-elected. Money quote from Andrew Sullivan:

Clinton also faces a problem. She just voted to designate the Revolutionary Guards a terrorist entity. Giving this president one authorization to go to war might be seen as a problem with the Democratic base. Giving him two should surely be a deal-breaker.

What was Hillary thinking?

Burma situation: the heat is on China

A march in Bangkok on Sunday in support of the people of Burma began at the Myanmar Embassy and ended at the Chinese Embassy. That's an apt metaphor for how attention has shifted regarding the Burma crisis. Last week the focus of our anger was Burma's junta, but increasingly, fingers point in the direction of Beijing. Whatever happens from this point forward in Burma, China is on the hot seat.

According to recent reports, China has instructed the Burmese military junta to immediately halt to the violent crackdown on demonstrating monks and Burmese people. That is not going to be enough now. Because the time to issue those instructions was last week.

Taiwan Seizes the moment
The resolution passed on Sunday by Taiwan's ruling party asserts the island's separate identity and calls for a referendum on its sovereignty. Taiwan's move is timely, if coincidental. Who in the international community does not feel more sympathetic toward Taiwan after the violent crackdown in Burma?

Last week, China experienced a blow to its credibility in many ways comparable to that inflicted on the United States when the Bush administration launched the invasion of Iraq under false pretexts.

The true scoundrels of the international community have been exposed for all the world to see. And some of those scoundrels are running Thailand -- the subject of a future post.

Burma Round-up for September 30

Last update: 02:00 in Bangkok (01:30 in Rangoon) on Oct 1

-UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari today met detained Burmese pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon.

- no word on when Gambari might meet the general who heads the junta, Than Shwe, who is based in the new capital Naypyidaw, 240 miles (385 km) north of Yangon, and whose government rarely heeds pressure from outside.

-The Karen National Union, an ethnic armed rebel group, said it killed at least four Burmese soldiers when it attacked a Burmese Army convoy, retreating from the frontline, early Saturday morning. (see my post, The Insurgency Factor)

-At least three local journalists have disappeared or have been arrested in recent days, while one other journalist was confirmed arrested on Friday.

Sources: Reuters Irrawaddy and Mizzima

Bangkok bombing update

Update: 00:50 Bangkok time.
Some new information about the bombing in Bangkok tonight based on a Thai media report. As reported earlier, the bomb went off in front of the Ratchadamnoen Boxing Stadium on Ratchadamnoen Nok Rd. Two police officers were injured when a watch-timer detonated oil bomb went off near an army training facility at 19:30 this evening in Bangkok (not midnight as originally reported here). It sounds as if it may have been some kind of tire bomb, but I am not sure.

It seems that someone -- an officer -- noticed something strange happening inside a telephone booth, and then alerted police. One police officer suffered a loss of hearing, the other lost a hand.

Here are photos from the Thai-language Manager newspaper.

Update: 00:50 Bangkok time.
According to a report from an English language Thai newspaper, The Bangkok Post:

A bomb exploded next to the Army Survey Department's fence off Rajdamnoen Avenue Sunday night, causing injuries to two ordnance disposal officers at the scene.

The explosives was in a black cardboard box placed at a phone booth in front of a small soi between the Army headquarters and the Army'sSurvey Department.

The box was spotted by bystanders at the Rajdamneon Boxing Stadium across the Army headquarters and after the explosion, another box was found 50 metres away from the first one.

After being informed, the bomb disposal unit rushed to the scene at around 9pm. But while inspecting the box, the bomb went off.

The explosion seriously damaged the right wrist of a bomb disposal officer and injured another in the chest but not seriously. Both were sent to Hua-Chew hospital.

The site has not yet been sealed off, just barricades erected around it. Sniffer dogs have been used to detect more bombs at the scene and nearby areas.

So far, there is no initial comment available from police and the army about the motive of the explosion.

Jotman's Comment
I didn't have to look far to identify a possible motive for tonight's bombing. If you look at the Bangkok Post's home page you will see that directly beneath the top story about the bombing, is the news report about Gen Sonthi taking the deputy PM post:

Bomb explodes in Bangkok
A bomb exploded next to the Army Survey Department's fence off Rajdamnoen Avenue Sunday night, causing injuries to two ordnance disposal officers at the scene.

Gen Sonthi takes deputy PM post
Defence Minister Boonrawd Somtas said after having met with Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont on Sunday that Council for National Security chairman Sonthi Boonyaratkalin has accepted deputy prime minister post overseeing national security.

Just put the two stories together. It's quite likely that the bomb was a direct response to the annoucement that the head of the Council for National Security -- the Thai junta's chief -- will be appointed Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister.

I blogged about General Sonthi in connection with his recent comments which were supportive of the Burmese junta. His comments were encouraging of men who had unleashed a torrent of violence against peaceful Buddhist monks and civilians. You can read that post here. (I am not suggesting that his comments about Burma had anything to do with the bombing -- that strikes me as most improbable. His participation in the junta is another matter.

Further update:
I just spoke to someone who has been reading the Thai language reports online. If I understand him correctly, the Thai media now speculates that the motive for the bombing relates to someone's unhappiness with the person chosen as Sonthi's successor as head of the Thai army. Perhaps the bombing was not about Sonthi, but his successor.

I fully expect the Thai government to pin blame for this bomb on the democratically elected former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin. That's almost sure to be the Thai government spin on this story. Just as they immediately blamed the bombings at New Year's on Thaksin -- when the most likely culprits were the Southern Insurgents -- this bombing will likely be blamed on Thaksin also.

Other Thais will speculate that the bombing was intended to shore-up support for the junta backed Thai government. They will claim the bomb was actually planted by the junta, perhaps as an excuse to declare a state of emergency.

Four possible motives for tonight's bombings:

• An anti-coup group angered by Sonthi's appointment as deputy PM
• Some Thai army faction is angry about who has been appointed as Sonthi's successor to head the Thai military.
• It's the Southern Insurgents trying to get back at the Thai military
• It's an attempt by the Thai junta to shore up support for their policies.

Since the terrorizing bombing of Bangkok in January on New Year's Eve, people living in the city have been apprehensive about the prospect that another bombing would happen. So far as I can tell at this hour, this incident appears isolated.

Update: Blogger Fonzi notes that whereas the Bangkok Post mentioned "a second box," The Nation reported only one bomb at the scene. And he asks, "Where was General Saprang?"

Upated (October 2): I have written a third post on the bombing. Bangkok Pundit has just blogged an comprehensive analysis of the latest information on the bombing, including Thai media sources. Check it out.

BOMB EXPLODES IN BANGKOK

Note: this post has now been updated.

Time in Bangkok is 00:25 on Monday October 1, 2007
Apparently a bomb exploded less than 2 Km from my hotel. I am blogging the situation from Bangkok.

A bomb has gone off in Bangkok, outside a Ministry of Defense training facility. Two army officers have apparently been killed. The bomb went off in front of the Ratchadamnoen Boxing Stadium on Ratchadamoen Nok Rd., not far from the Royal Palace and other tourist sights near the Chao Praya River. Apparently the bombing occurred at midnight (25 minutes ago).