Seventy-two diplomats from 62 embassies and consul offices as well as 19 officials from 14 international organisations were briefed at the Foreign Ministry by Permanent Secretary Krit Garnjanagoonchorn.

Gen Saprang Kalayanimit and Gen Anupong Paochinda, Assistant Commanders in Chief of Royal Thai Army and Assistant Secretaries of Council for National Security (CNS) were also present at the briefings.

Among several questions asked by the diplomats corp was whether the bombing on Dec 31, which killed three people and injured some 40 others, would disrupt the process of the martial law cancellation.

Anupong replied that the process is still ongoing and the government did not plan to make a change on the decision it has already made, said Foreign Ministry Kitti Wasinondh at a press conference after the briefing.

Anupong also insisted that the bombings would not affect the constitution drafting process as well as the general election.

The military told the diplomats that they knew about the attack in advance but never expected it would pose huge damage, according to a diplomatic source who attended the briefing. "The military at the briefing told us they lacked of budget to enhance intelligence network so that the information was not so accurate to step up preventive measures," said the diplomat in condition of anonymity.

Another western diplomat also asked about the possibility of the linkage of the incidents to the ongoing violence in the deep south. The assistant secretary said that intelligence gathered, particularly on the type of the bombs, has shown that the link to the southern insurgency was very unlikely, said Kitti.

A diplomat who attended the briefing said the military explained to them that bomb in the deep south were more powerful than those went off in Bangkok. 

Diplomats also expressed concerns over the security at the embassies, which Krit said he is ready for discussion on additional security measures at the embassies and also suggested the diplomats to contact local police office for additional personnel to provide security at the embassies.

Krit assured the diplomatic corps that the government has taken several measures, including beefing up security officials and approved the installation of surveillance cameras in several sensitive areas, to deter further attacks.

Sopaporn Kurz

The Nation