Homemade bomb explodes on Rayong road, 8 other bombs being defused

A homemade bomb packed with gunpowder, nails, and steel nuts exploded and eight undetonated bombs were found on a main road in eastern Thailand’s Rayong. The blast caused minor damage to the road and no one was injured. The nine bombs are being defused today by the province’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team.

One bomb defused today caused a big blast, hurling the tire surrounding it high up into the sky above a rubber tree. The Bangkok Post reports that the EOD team moved the eight bombs to an area around a kilometre away to destroy them.

The bombs were found lying on the four lanes Choeng Noen – Chakok road in Rayong, in front of a house owned by 48 year old Witsanu Ngamprasert. Witsanu said he heard an explosion around midnight yesterday and saw a cloud of white smoke when he went outside to look. He saw many of what he thought were homemade bombs on the road and on the pavement so he notified the police who called in the EOD team. Witsanu said he didn’t know where they came from.

The bombs, wrapped in black masking tape, were identified as improvised explosive devices, or homemade bombs by Police Major Suradet Maipitak, head of the EOD team. Makeshift bombs are made with nails, steel, bolts, motorcycle bearings and gunpowder, and if detonated properly, can be fatal, added Suradet.

Suradet said the reason most of the bombs didn’t go off is because there must be friction for the explosion to occur, meaning these kinds of bombs only explode if thrown with force at a surface. He expects whoever was carrying the bombs to have seen a police car, dropped the bombs and ran.

SOURCES: Naewna | CH7| Bangkok Post