Attack on Vietnam's Embassy to Thailand by Phairath Khampha 30 June 2001 Police in Thailand arrested three men in connection with an attempted bomb attack on June 19, 2001 on the Vietnamese embassy in the capital, Bangkok. Thai police said the detained men were all believed to be members of the Free Vietnam Revolutionary Movement an anti-communist group based in California. But the one man who was charged with planting the bombs - both of which were defused by police - said he was not a member of any organisation. All three men were Vietnamese nationals, a Thai official said they were also US citizens, although the US embassy said it had not been told of their arrest. The men were named as Phan Nguyen Thanh Hien Si, 38, Anh Tuan Tran, 47, and Pham Thanh Binh, 42. Their arrest followed a tip-off from a taxi-driver. A police statement said Pham Nguyen Thanh Hien Si had been charged with illegal possession of explosives and conspiracy to cause an explosion - the maximum penalty is 20 years imprisonment. 'Sabotage' The Vietnamese foreign ministry issued a statement after the Bangkok incident describing it as an act of sabotage. Police said the two bombs were planted by a single man who had arrived at the embassy in the middle of the night in a taxi. He left one bomb, which was inside a backpack on the pavement, outside the embassy gate. He then threw the second bomb, which was inside a cardboard box and wired up to a mobile phone detonator, over the embassy wall. Thailand plays reluctant host to a number of groups campaigning against governments in neighbouring countries. In November 2000 a Vietnamese exile was arrested in Thailand after hijacking an aeroplane and dropping anti-communist leaflets over southern Vietnam. But while the Thai authorities usually take a fairly lenient approach to political opposition by foreigners inside their borders, they have dealt harshly with those who use violence on Thai soil. Bombs were meant to cause damage after all--Cellphone trigger was tried repeatedly The Vietnamese embassy bombs might have been meant to go off after all. One of the arrested Vietnamese men said the ring leader tried two cellphone numbers repeatedly to detonate an explosive charge, but the trigger did not work. Vo Van Duc, 46, thought to be the ring leader, was still at large. He was believed to have taken a flight to the US. Si holds a Vietnamese passport, Duc holds an American passport and Tran and Binh had no passports at all. Acting on a tip-off from Vietnamese diplomats and undisclosed witnesses, police said they arrested Si at the Ambassador hotel on Sukhumvit road while the other two were found nearby. Duc entered Thailand and checked into a hotel room on Nang Lin Chee road on June 15. Police said Si confessed to colluding with Duc. The pair had bought two mobile phones from a Mahboonkrong shopping centre, numbers 01-258-1617 and 01-358-6744, and met again on June 18 to load boxes containing explosives and other equipment into a taxi. Early on June 19 they met at a petrol station near the Ambassador hotel. The pair went together to plant the bombs. As they made their escape from the embassy, having thrown the bombs over the embassy wall, Si rang the numbers repeatedly to ignite the ammonium nitrate but the explosives did not work. Police did not give details of how the other two were allegedly involved but said they were suspected of conspiring to plant the bombs. "From investigation we found that the culprits intended to destroy the embassy, but the explosives did not work because of poor equipment and a lack of skill," said Pol Gen Pornsak Durongkhaviboon, the national police chief. Police said only Si had been charged but the other two were being questioned. The pair had entered illegally, and could be charged with that at least. Si would stand trial in a Thai court and could then be extradited to stand trial in Vietnam. Pol Gen Pornsak has set up a 27- member panel chaired by his assistant Pol Lt-Gen Sombat Amornviwat to look into the incident. The panel would also look into the rebel group's movements, but as far as he knew the members were disorganised. Si, meanwhile, said up to 80 million Vietnamese people were suffering under communist government rule. "I planted the bomb because I don't like communism," he said at police headquarters.