On March 27 2007

Personally, I don't believe the car bomb is "real". However, I've found some development of the case. Here they are.

 4 Army men charged in 'car bomb' case

Police had scheduled the third suspect, Colonel Surapol Supradit - alleged to be the buyer of the sedan and a key operative in the alleged attack - to hear the additional charges today  

The Nation

On March 25 2007

A close Thaksin Shinawatra aide with the ousted prime minister in New York on September 19 last year has revealed that the coup was probably not the "worst" thing ever to occur to the ousted leader politically.
But the aide found that Thaksin looked the "most tense" on another day.

Former government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee, who returned to Thailand in October, has broken his silence over the events of that day.
He spoke with me and my colleague Sucheera Piniparakarn last week and revealed how news of the coup came out of the blue for Thaksin and his entourage.
He added Thaksin handled the situation with calm in spite of the obvious stress he was feeling. It was not Thaksin's "most tense day" when compared with the anxiety surrounding the bomb plot against his life a month earlier.

Surapong sketched the scene on the morning of September 19, New York time. The Thaksin entourage was preparing for breakfast at 8am in the Grand Hyatt. The prime minister called them to his suite.
Thaksin informed them of the coup rumours coming out of Thailand. Nobody believed it, Surapong said.
Things became clear an hour later, when Thaksin resolved to declare a state of emergency. The mood in the suite was positive. None of Thaksin's confidants believed the coup would succeed, Surapong explained.
"We never thought about a coup. We thought acting PM Chidchai Vanasatidya could handle the big anti-Thaksin rally planned for September 20," he said.
Thaksin went off to write his address to the nation. When he was reading it on Channel 9 he was unaware his had been taken off air, Surapong explained.
It was not until noon that confirmation came that Thaksin had been overthrown.

In the tense four hours until that time the Thai delegation was glued to the BBC and CNN. It snacked on a room-service breakfast.

What did Thaksin do?, I asked. Had he gone mad?

Not at all. Thaksin "appeared calm" but said little in this time, Surapong said. "He finally declare, 'It's over. The junta has seized power'.
"Thaksin was less tense than when he knew someone had wanted to assassinate him with the car bomb," Surapong said.
He added 2006 was "a tense year for Thaksin".
Advisor Pansak Vinyaratn was in the suite that day. No stranger to coups - he was with former prime minister Chatichai Choonhavan when the
National Peacekeeping Council toppled him in 1991. He joked in New York, "It's hit me again".

"We all understood the situation. We discussed where to go from there," Surapong said.
Surapong insisted there had been no previous discussion of a coup until that time. During the trip the delegation had worked on election policies and Thaksin was busy drumming up support for the poll planned for that coming October.
Thaksin had been on a trip to Finland, Cuba and the United States when he was overthrown. Immediately after his ouster he jetted to Britain to be with his daughter.

Surapong remained in the states where he has a son studying at Indiana State University. He spent his free time visiting museums and libraries in several cities. "It's hard to do those things in normal times."

Surapong looks more relaxed and happier than when he was government spokesman.

"I'm not distressed. I understand what happened. And, I know how to spend my life now," he said. His political experience has taught him "all problems pass one day".

"The important thing is to understand uncertainty and to live happily and prepare for a better future," he said. He said the coup was not as harrowing as the events of October 6, 1976 in which friends were casualties. That depressed him.

"I've been ready to be scrutinised after the coup but I am the only one [of Thaksin's close aides] not to have been asked to meet officials or questioned," he said.
After the coup key Thaksin men were detained - former deputy prime minister Chidchai, former justice minister Newin Chidchob, former natural resources minister Yongyuth Tiyapairat and secretary-general in Thaksin's office Prommin Lertsuridej.

Since the coup Surapong has met Prommin, a senior classmate. But, they did not discuss the current situation. "He didn't tell me what he's doing. I don't want to make him uneasy by asking," he said.

How about Thaksin? Did he call?
Yes, Thaksin telephoned once to inquire about his wellbeing.

On the chance of the Thai Rak Thai being dissolved, Surapong said the forthcoming decision was up in the air. Nevertheless, the party remained popular because of its policies - if not its former leader.
He knew many former members wanted to remain in politics and would contest the next elections on platforms similar to the Thai Rak Thai.

Surapong is uncertain about his own political future. His desire is less. He once said eight years was long enough in politics and it has been six already. He will support younger people with more desire.
"I'm happy now. I have more time. I can do my duty as a husband and father," he said.
"But away from my family I am sad. I don't know where this ship [country] will sail. No one can tell the future," he said.