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@Ricefield Radio

The sound is not huge, think of the sound of the ball coming out of the machine at the batting cages or a loud cork, anybody standing at the front of Lumpini Park trying to line up a shot would be fairly obvious from surrounding buildings on top of which the govt has supposedly placed snipers/spotter. As for shooting at a downward angle, you would still have to adjust for drop since the 40mm doesn’t travel fast but it would certainly be easier than trying to shoot from a lower position onto a elevated position (ie from the park which is right at the limit of max range and well outside of normal engagement range), that is pretty complex shot.

The Pan Pacific or another high rise in the area seems likely. Maybe silom complex as the blasts were in a kind of line on Silom road. Apparently one overshot and blasted on Thaniya, which is simply not possible from Lumpini.

Doesn’t mean it’s the military who did it, but it’s not quite as straight a line for Suthep as the grenades flying straight up from the red camp, and being caught on tape.

Seriously, the whole incident gave Suthep plenty of ammo to set up a perfectly good spin, so why did he have to go and make an outright lie, that then allows the whole spin to be turned against him?

I’ll stick with my original comment.

ricefieldradio @bangkokpundit bangkokpundit Best line of fire for all 4 shots is the roof of the Pan Pacific longest shot to BTS is less than 200 Meters
12:55 PM Apr 23rd via web in reply to bangkokpundit

Easy rent a room take your bag up with the stuff you need in it and go up to the roof or did I mention that some of the suites come with private balcony that overlooks Silom. Easy as 1-2-3 and you can even get pampered in the process.

AND anyone that’s shot or played golf for that matter knows it’s a lot easier to fire downhill than flat or uphill and the bullet or ball travels much farther.

AND there is no Video tape or we would have seen it by now. It’s disinformation at Suthep’s best. When he announces the sky is falling 1/2 of Bangkok will run indoors.

The range on an M-79/M-203 40mm grenade launcher is 400 meters. You can go on Google Earth and use the measure function to see that from the statue to Sala Daeng BTS is exactly 400m give or take a few. Further more the BTS is elevated some, what, 25-30 meters at the roof? For maximum range you would have to arc it from low position onto an elevated position which would further reduce the range (somebody who knows geometry would have to do the CSI math). This alone makes it highly unlikely, particularly since from the video I saw there were 3 holes punched on ONE SIDE of the BTS roof about midway down. FURTHERMORE, having fired 40mm a number of times in my USMC infantry days (6 years ago) I can tell you it is hard enough to put rounds on area target from 150-200 meters away which is typically about max practical engagement range… putting 3 rounds perfectly through one side of the BTS roof at 400m max. distance, assuming you can reach it-at night-over two other bridges, is quite a feat. Now I’m not a CSI guy but my hunch is those didn’t come from Lumpini. my $.02 ja mata ne

The range on an M-79/M-203 40mm grenade launcher is 400 meters. You can go on Google Earth and use the measure function to see that from the statue to Sala Daeng BTS is exactly 400m give or take a few. Further more the BTS is elevated some, what, 25-30 meters at the roof? For maximum range you would have to arc it from low position onto an elevated position which would further reduce the range (somebody who knows geometry would have to do the CSI math). This alone makes it highly unlikely, particularly since from the video I saw there were 3 holes punched on ONE SIDE of the BTS roof about midway down. FURTHERMORE, having fired 40mm a number of times in my USMC infantry days (6 years ago) I can tell you it is hard enough to put rounds on area target from 150-200 meters away which is typically about max practical engagement range… putting 3 rounds perfectly through one side of the BTS roof at 400m max. distance, assuming you can reach it-at night-over two other bridges, is quite a feat. Now I’m not a CSI guy but my hunch is those didn’t come from Lumpini. my $.02 ja mata ne

M79 is not that accurate… especially at that range

The range of a M79 grenade launcher is 350 meters and the fact that one of the shots fired went through the roof of the BTS station is consistent with a source from Lumpini Park. Strange, however, that no-one seems to have seen anyone near the Rama 6 monument acting strangely. Perhaps a more hidden location is more logical.

Yesterday’s normally carefully censored Bangkok Post when reviewing the incident seems to have developed a coded description of the source of the grenades. “Tall buildings” are mentioned in more than one article which leads me to suspect that an editorial decision (big surprise) was made to suppress any statement that might implicate Chulalongkorn Hospital building. Why has nobody gone to the building, had a look at the 5th floor and seen whether it offers a direct line of sight to the area where the grenades hit? What exactly is on the 5th floor of Chula Hospital? Would there have been witnesses there at the time or was the area closed?
And why, given the level of co=operation between the Reds and the police, are we not hearing about another source of video evidence? This is a major public hospital. Surely there are security cameras at the hospital that could provide video of the comings and goings at the time? Of course, given the well known refusal of the hospital staff to provide medical assistance to police injured in PAD demonstrations, and the role of leading university medics in political movements opposed to the Reds, there may be other issues affecting the progress of any investigation…

Yesterday’s normally carefully censored Bangkok Post when reviewing the incident seems to have developed a coded description of the source of the grenades. “Tall buildings” are mentioned in more than one article which leads me to suspect that an editorial decision (big surprise) was made to suppress any statement that might implicate Chulalongkorn Hospital building. Why has nobody gone to the building, had a look at the 5th floor and seen whether it offers a direct line of sight to the area where the grenades hit? What exactly is on the 5th floor of Chula Hospital? Would there have been witnesses there at the time or was the area closed?
And why, given the level of co=operation between the Reds and the police, are we not hearing about another source of video evidence? This is a major public hospital. Surely there are security cameras at the hospital that could provide video of the comings and goings at the time? Of course, given the well known refusal of the hospital staff to provide medical assistance to police injured in PAD demonstrations, and the role of leading university medics in political movements opposed to the Reds, there may be other issues affecting the progress of any investigation…

did you see this?

http://redphanfa2day.wordpress.com/
RATCHAPRASONG, APRIL 25, 2010: The driver of a BTS Skytrain has told police investigating the fatal M79 grenade attack on the Sala Daeng BTS station that he saw rocket propelled grenades fired from the Robinson Department Store building.

The man, Narong Panpetch, was driver of a BTS Skytrain traveling between Sala Daeng and Ratchadamri stations and is said to have told investigators that he saw “flashes come from upper floor windows” of the landmark department store building. A women, whose identity has not been released, is also reported to have told investigators she saw the same thing, just seconds before the grenades struck.

A senior police officer sympathetic to the red-shirt movement has told RedPhanFa2Day that five men were apprehended by police shortly after the deadly bombings that killed one person and injured more than 70 others and taken to the Lumpini Park police station.

The officer, who requested his name and rank not be revealed, was not able to reveal the names of the men detained and was unsure whether they were still being held at the police station or not.

The officer also said police close to Sala Daeng BTS station saw two other men in plain clothes break through military lines, throw grenades and then disappear back behind the troops in Silom Road at the same time. He said police who attempted to pursue and apprehend the men were prevented from doing so by the uniformed troops.

The Nation’s report is hard to make sense of. It says BTS cameras show the grenades launched from Lumpini. In the next sentence it says BMA cameras had been crippled (this is correct; I was at Starbucks at the old Robinson on Wednesday, next to the skywalk, when journalists in there said the red shirts had just put bags over some cameras and pushed others out of the way with long poles).

I don’t see how BTS cameras at Saladaeng could have had a view to Lumpini — which is blocked by the Rama IV bridge, the MRT station, and the skywalk. Maybe they had cameras facing skyward (why?) that show the grenades coming from the Lumpini direction. But I doubt they could distinguish coming-from-Lumpini from coming-from-Chula. Also, it was dark; how would they see small grenades anyway?

And the biggest question: why would the reds launch grenades from the very center of their rally site, where they would be seen?

“The Nation’s report is hard to make sense of. It says BTS cameras show the grenades launched from Lumpini. In the next sentence it says BMA cameras had been crippled (this is correct; I was at Starbucks at the old Robinson on Wednesday, next to the skywalk, when journalists in there said the red shirts had just put bags over some cameras and pushed others out of the way with long poles).”

Yea so the cameras could see 400meters at night individuals behind a statue firing a weapon that has very little flash… did they source their camera parts from the people who made the Hubble Space telescope? Must be some of those new yet to be unveiled super HD video cameras…

@David Brown
“The officer also said police close to Sala Daeng BTS station saw two other men in plain clothes break through military lines, throw grenades and then disappear back behind the troops in Silom Road at the same time. He said police who attempted to pursue and apprehend the men were prevented from doing so by the uniformed troops.”

My Thai buddy, a former fellow at ——— and University of —- graduate student (sorry shouldn’t put out his info too much, he is also a BP reader) gave me a very similar description the day after the event. Says the police were blocked and the guys went through military line….

Now there is a lot of conjecture and the number of hands out there makes it impossible to say what happened but I would say of everybody involved the reds had the least to gain from something like this… I don’t want to sound like a ‘false flag’ 9-11 conspirator but in terms of rational other parties would benefit more from this than the reds (ie casus belli)… of course the lone hothead theory should never be discounted.

The comments here would lead one to believe that the grenades were fired by friends of the military, Suthep claims the reds at fault and prevents no evidence he claims he has, but seems suspicious as to who had to gain.

Just leads one to suspect the government still plans to win this with the army and are just trying to setup sympathy prior their upcoming slaughter. This makes one respect them even less.

The reds are a pain, and also don’t seemed inclined to negotiate, seems all the leaders are wanting the army to intervene for their own reasons, perhaps why they are holding back, can see how this will likely play out. No doubt why Suthep was removed from authority (as if Abbhisit could do that), read dodging the blame later.

Thahan Rua Pai – You may confirm or deny this for us. The M79 as you say has little flash and from my memory it also has a a very soft sound footprint. Also the M79 is more effective on a steep downward ark, Yes/No.

I am surprised no one is mentioning Silom Complex as possible site of launch or is that exactly the same as Robinson? One thing is sure: we never will know who did this and why. :-(