Bangkok's Tesco Supermarket Bombed by Phairath Khampha 25 July 2001 A bomb exploded at a supermarket owned by the British retailer, Tesco, in Bangkok, killing one employee and injuring a customer. It was the second such attack on a store owned by Tesco in one week. The growing number of foreign-owned stores in Thailand has provoked protests from local retailers. And in Thailand, which in many ways is still uncivilized, when things get tough the best way to improve the situation seems to be to just take out the opposition permanently. Resorting to thuggery is part of the culture. A military officer running a security company was arrested after the second explosion. Thai police believed the explosions at Tesco were linked to a dispute with a local security firm. And in Thailand disputes that go the wrong way for some people are settled in more permanent fashion by the losing party. The explosive was left in a trolley in a branch of Tesco Lotus in one of Bangkok's largest shopping malls. It went off when an employee moved the trolley, killing him and injuring a customer standing nearby. On July 1, another device exploded at a Tesco Lotus store outside Bangkok, injuring an employee. Rapid expansion The police arrested two men at the scene who, they said, had confessed to planting a grenade inside the store. They had said they worked for a security firm that had recently lost its contract to guard the thirty supermarkets operated by Tesco in Thailand. Hence, in an adolescent way, it was decided that by bombing the stores they could prove security was better under their own firm. Thais often resort to Mafia-like extortion and protection rackets. The British retailer had expanded rapidly in Thailand and had plans to open another five branches in the near future. Local shop owners had complained that they cannot compete with the new superstores and the Thai government was considering new legislation to restrict foreign retailers for fear that the Thais would otherwise resolve the issue their own way, that is, with thuggery and violence. The concepts of fair play and law and order are not very well comprehended by most Thais. Bomber acted out of misplaced loyalty - retracts claim boss ordered the attack The security guard who bombed the Tesco Lotus superstore in Samut Prakan later changed his story and denied acting on the instructions of his employer. Prakong Chuprateep, 36, told police he had acted alone but out of loyalty for the security firm, Royal Guard Group Holding. The former soldier said Royal Guard was helping him fight a lawsuit brought by an innocent woman and her baby he detained on suspicion of shoplifting in the superstore in 2000. His company had a provided a lawyer to defend him. The case was proceeding, Mr Prakong said. When Tesco Lotus decided to replace Royal Guard with another security firm he became angry and decided to bomb the superstore as a favour for his employer. "I placed the bomb myself. No one hired me to do it," Mr Prakong said. Choengchai Changthong, 31, the other suspect, was only a close friend he had persuaded to help him place the grenade, he said. Mr Prakong earlier told police they had been instructed by a boss at Royal Guard, a retired army officer, to plant a hand grenade at the store around closing time. Mr Prakong said they had placed the M26 hand grenade under the carpets about 9pm on June 30. They were arrested about 12.30am after it went off. They had been drinking at a friend's house near the superstore before being arrested at a bus stop right in front of the store on Sri Nakarin road. The grenade blast seriously injured a female employee. Police, however, suspected Mr. Prakong was paid off to fabricate this story. People routinely are paid by the elite to allow themselves to be framed for an elite perpetrator of a crime. This is normal behaviour in Southeast Asia and the Orient. Lieutenant-colonel arrested A military officer running the security company was arrested after the second explosion at a Tesco Lotus superstore. Police charged the officer, Lt-Col Mongkol Naresseni, attached to the Office of the Secretary to the Defence Minister, with attempted murder and possessing explosives, in relation to the first blast at the store's branch in Samut Prakan on July 1. Crime suppression police, accompanied by police from the Metropolitan Police Bureau's division 4, raided the office of Royal Guard Group Holding Co in Soi Sunthornsarathoon in Suan Luang district, where they arrested Lt-Col Mongkol. A search of five vehicles and Lt-Col Mongkol's office on the second floor yielded nothing suspicious. Some documents were taken for examination, however. Lt-Col Mongkol, who was taken to Muang district police station in Samut Prakan for questioning before a Judge Advocate General's Department officer and a lawyer, denied the charges. Police stepped up security at all 13 Tesco Lotus stores in Bangkok. A Russian-made F1 grenade was hidden in a shopping cart. Employee Niphon Hom-in, 31, was taking the shopping cart back to its place when the grenade went off, killing him instantly, and seriously injuring Sirithorn Meeha, 37, a customer, who was rushed to nearby Sikharin hospital. Pol Maj-Gen Angkoon Arthornpathai, commander of the metropolitan police division 4, believed the explosions were related and motivated by conflicts between companies providing security. A source said Royal Guard Group Holding Co under Lt-Col Mongkol employed 2,700 security guards nationwide. The firm provides security at all Tesco Lotus stores, as well as the Central department stores, Fashion Island department store on Ram-intra road and the Emerald Hotel on Ratchadapisek road. However, Tesco Lotus recently decided to replace Royal Guard Group with a new firm, General Guard Group International. The firm was to slowly take over the service on June 26, starting with the Samut Prakan branch where the first blast took place. Some 1000 Royal Guard Group staff were to be withdrawn after the firm lost the contract with Tesco Lotus. Royal Guard Group, the source said, managed to get the Tesco Lotus contract with the help of a military officer with the rank of colonel who enjoyed close ties with the store's executives. Large bribes were paid in the process. At the start, Lt-Col Mongkol and the colonel got along well. But the colonel later demanded a bigger and bigger share of profits, causing a rift. It was the colonel, identified only as Chamnan, who helped General Guard Group International, whose shareholders include military officers, get the contract, the source said. Maj-Gen Trairong Indradat, a military expert attached to the Supreme Command, said Lt-Col Mongkol and the officers running General Guard had asked him to help mediate the conflict. Maj-Gen Trairong, better known as "Seh Ice", said he turned down the requests because he did not want to get involved as the whole affair reeked of scams and corruption. Pol Gen Sant Sarutanont, deputy national police chief, on July 5 sent an urgent letter to police chiefs in Ayutthaya, Saraburi, Chon Buri, Nakhon Ratchasima, Ubon Ratchathani, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Phitsanulok, Samut Sakhon, Suphan Buri, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phuket to step up patrols at Tesco Lotus branches. Tesco Lotus said security guards would be increased by 10% to 60 at each of its 29 stores, backed by closed-circuit television and further support from the police. Electronic surveillance would be installed in each store as soon as possible. A market analyst with a research firm in Bangkok forecast a short-term impact on Tesco Lotus' turnover as customers went elsewhere fearing another attack. A group of women working at an office near the Rama IV road branch said a large business should look out for its customers' safety. "They should act quickly and constructively to ensure confidence, otherwise their image will be hurt," said a secretary, who declined to be named. 'Business feud led to bombs' Maj General Angkoon Athon-pathai, chief police investigator on the Tesco Lotus bombing case, on July 10 questioned Lt Colonel Himalai Phewphan, a Supreme Command officer, in connection with the attacks at two of the chain's supermarkets. Himalai, speaking after his questioning, said he suspected a business feud between two military officers had been the motive for the crime. Himalai, also an adviser to Royal Guard Group Holding Co (RGGH) under the management of Lt Colonel Mongkol Naressenee, said his company had had a dispute with Colonel Kom Kruanak's General Guard International Co (GGI) over the Tesco Lotus contract for store security. He said his only role had been to coordinate talks aimed at mediating the RGGH-GGI conflict. He denied any involvement with the bombing. Samut Prakan police, who have jurisdiction over the chain's Srinakarin branch where the first bombing occurred, said they would further question suspect and RGGH executive Mongkol. Mongkol was hospitalised for chest pains following his arrest and remained under military custody in the care of the police. In an interview with reporters from his hospital bed, he said he was planning to sue Tesco Lotus management for failing to honour legal conditions in terminating the contract with his company. Colonel quits as executive The colonel embroiled in the Tesco Lotus bombing controversy resigned as executive of the company. Col Chamnan Masamran had told the army he quit as vice-president in charge of safeguarding the retailer's interests. He was now back in the force but could face a disciplinary investigation for moonlighting. Col Chamnan on July 10 reported to his immediate superior, Maj-Gen Siripong Bunpan, the army secretary, and sent to army chief Gen Surayud Chulanont an explanation of his executive role. Officers are prohibited by law from joining private enterprise boards. In his explanation, Col Chamnan denied any link to the Tesco Lotus explosions. He was thought to be one party in a tripartite conflict-of-interest in the security business.