WWII Bomb Explodes at Junk yard in Bang Khen

[Spitfire]

Looks like some building guy found it [500 pound bomb] at a construction site and sold it to a junk yard, and the guys at the junk yard decided to cut it to bits with a blow torch.....blimey, yea-haaaaa!

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/4 ... t-pla-khao

[oakdale160]

Take a bomb, try to break it up using a blow to arch +---- what could possibly do wrong.

[PeteC]

There's more to this. There was an article on Monday (below) when they found it showing some kind of uniformed people present. It indicated that it was found at a BTS extension work site of some kind.

It now appears those in authority did nothing and I guess EOD didn't do what they should have, and the bomb went right to the junk yard. Look at the death and property damage because I guess they thought old = dead already? Pete

http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2014/03/31/7 ... ntage-bomb

[VincentD]

I live 2 km from Soi Wat Ladbakao (where they set off the explosion) and heard it even though I was using headphones. It also jolted the pigeons on the neighbors roof.

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[PeteC]

There's question now if the above two incidents are indeed related. What are the odds that 2 x 500lb WWII bombs are found within days of each other? Perhaps there is a spin going on to disassociate responsibility from the earlier story about the BTS site.....just IMO. Pete

[Takiap]

A tragic loss of life and sadly, a reminder of just how dangerous a poor education be.

[Spitfire]

It appears you might be correct Pete about there being 2 bombs found recently at construction sites with those photos. I read this report in the UK Guardian newspaper about the incident and it mentions that another bomb was found a week earlier and safely handed over to the bomb squad. The US and Britain bombed Bangkok when the Japanese were here and bombs are still found in the area but I guess the WWII time frame is about as distant as Jupiter is for most people despite it's importance in history.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/a ... es-bangkok

You just never know what your neighbor is up to these days.

[TicTac]

Twits, why would they even touch the thing wihtout calling for experts

[Name Taken]

Stupid Hurts.

[VincentD]

The US and Britain bombed Bangkok when the Japanese were here and bombs are still found in the area but I guess the WWII time frame is about as distant as Jupiter is for most people despite it's importance in history.

You just never know what your neighbor is up to these days.

Not many locals are even aware that they were bombed. Remember, they were never 'çolonised'. Though there is an old man in my soi who does remember this.

Also, re cutting up ordnance... people regularly make forays into the mortar range in Lopburi even though it is out of bounds to collect casings. There have been 'accidents'.

[Big Boy]

I didn't realise the US and UK bombed Thailand either - a bit of a shock actually

[kendo]

I can just imagine some Thai guy with a gas axe and a pair of fake RayBan Wayfarers starting to cut the bomb open makes you wonder how uneducated and naive he was.

Kendo.

[Winkie]

I didn't realise the US and UK bombed Thailand either - a bit of a shock actually

Don't forget, Thailand officially declared war against UK and the US

[Big Boy]

I didn't realise that either

[TingTongJohn]

From the History Web page

On this day, Thailand, a Japanese puppet state, declares war on the Allies.

When war broke out in Europe in September 1939, Thailand declared its neutrality, much to the distress of France and England. Both European nations had colonies surrounding Thailand and hoped Thailand would support the Allied effort and prevent Japanese encroachment on their Pacific territory. But Thailand began moving in the opposite direction, creating a "friendship" with Japan and adding to its school textbooks a futuristic map of Thailand with a "Greater Thailand" encroaching on Chinese territory.

Thailand's first real conflict with the Allies came after the fall of France to the Germans and the creation of the puppet government at Vichy. Thailand saw this as an opportunity to redraw the borders of French Indochina. The Vichy government refused to accommodate the Thais, so Thai troops crossed into French Indochina and battled French troops. Japan interceded in the conflict on the side of the Thais, and used its political alliance with Germany to force Vichy France to cede 21,000 square miles to Thailand.

On December 8, 1941, the Japanese made an amphibious landing on the coast of Thailand, part of the comprehensive sweep of South Pacific islands that followed the bombing raid at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The Japanese had assistance, though: Thailand's prime minister, Lang Pipul, collaborated with the Japanese, embracing the Axis power's war goal of usurping territory in China and ruling over the South Pacific. Pipul wanted to partake in the spoils; toward that end, he declared war on the United States and England. In October, he took dictatorial control of Thailand and became a loyal puppet of the Japanese.