The Massive Bangkok Bomb that Didn’t Go Boom [S6.E58]

In a return to our Thai history series, Greg tells the story of a massive truck bomb in Bangkok - that never exploded. In March of 1994, a U-Haul-style truck pulled out of the parking lot of Central Chidlom department store and accidentally struck a motorcycle driven by a 21-year old named Boonsern, who will become the unlikely hero of our story. The truck tried to flee, but a number of other motorbike guys forced the truck to stop.

The driver of the truck was a foreigner and couldn’t speak Thai and convinced Boonsern and other witnesses to let him go into Central Chidlom to make a phone call. However, the driver never returned and effectively disappeared into the ether. However, when police opened up the now-abandoned truck, they found an insanely huge bomb that most likely would have decimated much of downtown Bangkok! 

Although the exact target of the truck bomb has never been proven definitively, Thai police eventually focused on two suspects, one of whom was captured and served 4 years in prison. It is surmised that most likely the terrorists were targeting the Israeli Embassy, which was not far away.

Although ‘almost’ stories usually aren’t too exciting, in this case we are happy that the climax never actually happened and Bangkok dodged a massive tragedy. 

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