Will the Bangkok bomb shake Thailand’s ‘Land of Smiles’ reputation?
A powerful explosion ripped almost instantaneously through a busy intersection in Bangkok’s downtown shopping area yesterday, killing 22 people and injuring more than 100. Some of the victims were foreign tourists, and representatives of the country’s military government quickly stated that the bombs were indeed aimed at foreigners, and designed to undermine one of the country’s economic mainstays: tourism. The blasts also occurred at one of the city’s most sacred sites, the Erawan Shrine, a Hindu Shrine that houses a statue of Phra Phrom, a Thai representation of the Hindu deity Brahma.
