Don't give the bombers what they want
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Sunday's attack at a Bangkok shopping mall was meant to sow fear among the public
The recent bomb attack, regardless of how small the damage caused, is a reminder that Thailand has yet to shake off the cycle of political violence that has plagued the country for years.
The attack was not just a slap in the face for our latest military junta and policymakers.
The bombs were placed behind power transformers on a walkway linking the Skytrain to the Siam Paragon mall. The motive behind the attack appears to have been to create panic rather than to take lives or inflict much physical damage.
The fact that the culprits chose to attack in the heart of the city, where a row of luxury malls is serviced by a large train station, suggests they had more on their mind than just the image and feelings of the military junta. With so many foreign visitors passing through that particular point, it is clear that the intention was to damage Thailand’s international standing.
The incident also undermined our military rulers’ aim to restore calm and stability to a nation that has bled so much in a political crisis that was ostensibly supposed to end with the coup last May.
In other such conflicts around the world, attackers tend to claim responsibility for their actions. Violence is an integral part of their strategy aimed at future negotiation.
In Thailand the setting is different, in the sense that the primary opposing forces take turns running the country, so there is no genuine rival group of subversive militants.
In keeping with previous violent political incidents here – including grenade attacks on demonstrators or on agencies accused of leaning towards one political clique or another, no one has come out to claim responsibility. The information vacuum leaves imaginations running wild over the identity of the bombers.
Understandably, the malls in this prime shopping destination have decided to step up security measures in the aftermath of the Sunday bombing.
Nattakit Tangpoonsinthana of Central Pattana, which owns CentralWorld, CentralPlaza and Central Festival, said the company had ordered security checks on all vehicles and visitors’ baggage at all entrances and exits.
But we shouldn’t leave the job to security guards alone. Every one of us needs to help out. The security of public places needs to be understood as a collective effort and responsibility for it should be part of everyone’s civic duty.
This means we must be on the alert and not turn a blind eye when we notice something suspicious. A sense of general security can only be achieved if all of us play a part in safeguarding public space.
The security measures already in place, whether they are the work of the police or private agencies, aren’t always reassuring.
We walk through metal detectors and, sometimes, get our bags checked at entrances to public buildings. But the way the security staff goes about its business suggests merely going through the motions rather than actually searching for something.
Finding the right balance between convenience and security for the public is difficult. Entering a shopping mall shouldn’t have to be like going through an airport security check. We need to find a happy medium if we want ensure that our public places remain safe.
