Thai court clears woman in 2015 Erawan shrine bombing case

Thai court clears woman in 2015 Erawan shrine bombing case



Craftsmen fix the statue of Hindu god Brahma after it was damaged during the deadly blast at the Erawan shrine in Bangkok August 26, 2015. — Reuters pic

Thursday, 07 Nov 2024 1:55 PM MYT


BANGKOK, Nov 7 — A Thai court today cleared a woman of involvement in a 2015 bomb attack on a popular shrine in Bangkok that killed 20 people, most of them tourists.

Wanna Suansan was accused of complicity in murder, attempted murder, and possessing an illegal explosive device over the blast at the Erawan shrine in the heart of Bangkok’s main shopping district.


The court in Bangkok ruled there was not enough evidence against the 36-year-old and acquitted her on all charges.

The main suspects in the bombing, two Uyghur men, are still on trial, though their case has dragged on for years.


Wanna, originally from the southern province of Phang-Nga, was accused of renting a property and supplying chemicals to the bombers.


But Wanna was in Turkey with her husband at the time of the explosion, and the judge ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove any connection between her and the main suspects.

“There are no pictures of her at the scene, no phone data, nor any phone connection that would link her to the other two suspects,” the judge read.

“There is no evidence that proves the defendant guilty of the charges, so the court acquits her.”

Wanna said she was relieved to be cleared.

“I am glad it is over — it was seven years and it affected my family, my three children,” she told reporters after the ruling.

Yusufu Mieraili and Bilal Mohammed — also known as Adem Karadag — have been on trial since 2016 accused of planting the bomb, but their case has been delayed repeatedly because of problems finding suitable translators.

More than 100 witnesses are still waiting to testify.

The blast in August 2015 targeted a shrine popular with ethnic Chinese visitors, and came weeks after Thailand’s then-junta forcibly repatriated 109 Uyghurs to China, where rights activists say the Muslim minority faces cultural and religious repression. — AFP

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kt comments:

From the Oxford Bibliographies (extracts only):

... scholars have long recognized the significant presence of “Hindu” elements in Thai religious culture. This includes, among other things, the adoption of the Rāmāyaṇa as the Thai national epic in the form of the Rāmakian; the employment of Brahmans by the king for the performance of royal rituals; the ubiquitous presence of Hindu gods and other motifs in Thai art, literature, geography, and popular worship; and popular festivals that bear a striking similarity to popular Hindu festivals in India. 

There is a vast literature that addresses either Thai religion in general or Thai Buddhism in particular; this article focuses specifically on sources that address in some way the place of Hindu elements in the broader Thai Buddhist culture.

~~~

BTW, Thai names for the Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are:

• Brahma: Phra Phrom
• Vishnu: Phra Narai
• Shiva: Phra Isuan