Reuters (BANGKOK): A bomb on a motorcycle exploded on Monday just outside a Hindu shrine in the center of the Thai capital, killing at least 12 people in an attack the government said was aimed at destroying the economy and the tourism industry. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast just outside the Erawan shrine at a major intersection. Thai forces are fighting a low-level Muslim insurgency in the predominantly Buddhist country’s south, but those rebels have rarely launched attacks outside their ethnic Malay heartland. “The perpetrators intended to destroy the economy and tourism because the incident occurred in the heart of the tourism district,” Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told Reuters. The Erawan shrine, on a busy corner near top hotels, shopping centers, offices and a hospital, is a major tourist attraction, especially for visitors from East Asia. Many ordinary Thais also worship there. The government would set up a “war room” to coordinate the response to the blast, the Nation television channel quoted Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha as saying.
