BANGKOK — Thailand’s rival political factions are denying responsibility for the double bombings that targeted a high-end shopping mall in Bangkok on 1 February, as police work to track down suspects and establish a motive behind the attack.

The homemade explosives went off at around 8.10 pm on the walkway that connects Siam Paragon, one of the largest shopping malls in Thailand, and Siam skytrain station, the largest and busiest BTS station in the city. One person was reported injured by the blast. 

In the past 48 hours, social media has been seething with speculation about who was responsible for planting the IEDs. Many pro-coup supporters have blamed the Redshirt movement, which supported the government toppled in the coup, while numerous Redshirts have accused the junta of staging the attack to justify the prolonged use of martial law. 

Worachai Hema, former Pheu Thai MP and core Redshirt leader, told the press yesterday that the Redshirts were not behind the incident, because they "only want peace and a quick return to election."

However, he said he is convinced that the twin bombings were politically-motivated.

"It must have been committed by one of two groups: first, the group that wants to retain martial law by claiming there are still violent incidents; second, the group that holds power but is disgruntled with Gen. Prayuth," Worachai said, referring to the chairman of the ruling junta. Since seizing power on 22 May 2014, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha has touted martial law as a necessary means to maintain peace and order, and scoffed at suggestions to repeal the law and its restrictions on civil rights.

"They want to challenge his power, so they could have staged an attack to send a signal to Gen. Prayuth," Worachai speculated. "Therefore, the attacks were not coincidence. Someone intended it to happen."

Yesterday, Gen. Udomdet Sitabutr, the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, said it is too early to describe the bombings as politically-driven, and denied that the military is behind the incident.

"I know they must be saying that, but the authorities would never do such thing," Gen. Udomdet said. "The authorities are straightforward. There's no need for us to stage deceptive things."

Underground militants believed to be affiliated with both Thailand's Redshirt and Yellowshirt factions launched numerous grenade and shooting attacks on rival groups prior to the military takeover last May. Nearly 30 people were killed in the six months of anti-government protests that preceded the coup, and most of the fatalities were protesters killed by shadowy assailants who attacked rally sites. 

BANGKOK — A criminal investigation has been launched into a fake document that claimed to be a statement issued by His Majesty the King last night, according to a spokesperson for Thailand’s military government.

"The government would like to condemn those who brought it to social media," said Maj.Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd, an hour after the statement began circulating on the internet at 9pm last night.

The notice said King Bhumibol, 87, had decided to appoint a Regent to act on his behalf. Due to strict laws that criminalize any remarks deemed critical of the monarchy, Khaosod English is withholding other information related to the document. 

The document was widely shared on social media, and even reproduced on the website of a royalist newspaper, ASTV Manager. However, many commenters on social media questioned the notice's authenticity, pointing to several misspellings and other breaks from the traditional form of royal palace statements. 

"The government would like to stress that the information being published is not true," Maj.Gen. Sansern  said. "The public must not be misled by it."

He added that the government has launched a criminal inquiry to identify and prosecute the person responsible for the document.

Faking a statement that purports to be issued by His Majesty the King or the Royal Palace is a radical and unprecedented act in Thailand, where the king is widely revered as a demi-god and any insult of the monarchy can be punished by up to 15 years in prison. 

His Majesty the King is currently residing at Sirirraj Hospital in Bangkok for treatment of several illnesses. His frail health has been a cause of anxiety for many Thais. 

ASTV Manager later pulled the fake royal statement and published an apology notice.

"The document was a false statement with untrue information, which was forged by ill-intention individual," the notice reads. "The website would like to apologize for its mistake."

SAMUT PRAKARN — A Redshirt leader and former Pheu Thai Party MP was visited by a military officer at his home in a Bangkok suburb today for an "attitude adjustment" discussion.

Worachai Hema was summoned on Friday to report to the 1st Region Army headquarters in Bangkok after he denounced the recent impeachment of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, but the meeting was abruptly canceled this morning. 

Instead, a colonel was dispatched to visit Worachai at his home in Samut Prakan province. Worachai was told that army commanders were not free to meet with him because they were busy investigating two homemade bombs that were set off in front of a major shopping mall in downtown Bangkok last night. 

Worachai Hema (L) was visited by a military officer in his home in Samut Prakarn province, 2 Feb 2015.

Over the past week, Worachai and a number of other Redshirt politicians have been summoned by junta chairman and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha for expressing opposition to the junta-appointed legislature's impeachment of Yingluck, which came with an automatic five-year ban from political office. 

Yingluck was impeached for allegedly failing to stop corruption in her administration’s rice-pledging scheme. Her supporters have called the ruling a politically-motivated effort to weaken the Pheu Thai party's prospects of a winning the next national election, scheduled for 2016 at the earliest.

Speaking to reporters after today's meeting, Worachai said the military officer asked him not to mobilize his supporters in Samut Prakarn for any protests.

Worachai said he assured the colonel that he had no intention to oppose the military junta or call on his supporters to engage in any political activities, but added that he would continue to express his opinions about the military government. 

"I told him to inform the Prime Minister and leader of the NCPO that what I said were facts. Please listen to us sometimes," said Worachai, using an acronym for the junta's formal name, the National Council for Peace and Order. "I will continue to speak about matters that benefit the nation and people – constructive criticism. I want to reduce the problems that can happen in the future."

He added, "If [Gen. Prayuth] wants me to stay silent in the face of injustice, that might be impossible. If I do, the Constitution may be completed, but the problems won't go away. The charter will be bad. New conflicts will happen."

More than 300 politicians, activists, and academics perceived to be sympathetic to the former government were publicly summoned and briefly detained in military camps in the weeks following the 22 May 2014 coup.  The wave of summons orders winded down in July. 

Gen. Prayuth renewed the summon orders last week in response to the uptick in public criticism that followed Yingluck’s impeachment. 

Worachai is well-known for submitting a draft of an amnesty bill to the Pheu Thai-controlled parliament in 2013 that would have dissolved lawsuits and convictions of anyone involved in political protests since the 2006 military coup. He said the bill was intended to free "political prisoners" from jail cells, and foster "reconciliation" in the polarized Kingdom.

However, the scope of the bill was vastly extended by a house committee and abruptly passed at 4am in the morning in November 2013. The bill was immensely controversial and widely interpreted as an effort to allow for the return of Yingluck’s brother and the de facto leader of the Redshirts, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The bill sparked massive anti-government street protests that eventually led to the military coup in May 2014. 

BANGKOK — A prominent activist from the ultraconservative movement that campaigned against the former government has accused the United States of planning a terror attack in Thailand to provide a pretense for invasion.

Thanit Sriklindee, a 64-year-old folk musician turned “Yellowshirt” activist, wrote on his Facebook account on 31 January that the US is intentionally spreading anti-American sentiment in Thailand in order to incite violence that would justify a US invasion and "occupation" of Thailand.

"Please send this news to all Thais who love their country and land, so that they know about America's covert operation," wrote Thanit, a well-known flutist who joined the People's Committee for Absolute Democracy With the King As Head of State (PCAD) to protest against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra last year.

Thanit regularly appeared on PCAD rally stages and played music to cheer up the protesters, who camped out in Bangkok for six months before the military stepped in and toppled the government in a coup on 22 May 2014. 

His recent allegations came amid an ongoing diplomatic row between the Thai and US governments that erupted after a senior US official urged Thailand's military junta to lift martial law and cease all restrictions on civil rights.

Thai officials and supporters of the junta lashed back, accusing the US envoy of violating diplomatic protocol and interfering with Thailand's domestic issues.

They also vented anger at the diplomat, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel, for meeting with former Prime Minister Yingluck during his time in Bangkok. Russel, the highest-level US official to visit Thailand since the coup, did not meet with coup-leader and current Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha. 

Below is a full translation of Thanit's Facebook post:

"Please send this news to all Thais who love their country and land, so that they know about American covert operation. This is most urgent.

Right now, America is plotting to create anti-American sentiment among Thais by methods of social media, including the farce involving Yingluck and her minions meeting with American officials. Furthermore, they are also going around to meet Redshirt leaders in Bangkok and other provinces, even though they know that it will only escalate hatred toward America. It is abnormal, because America is supposed to be trying to seek more friends than enemies in this situation.

The reason is they want to build anti-American sentiment as much as possible and as soon as possible. Then, they will create a situation of the Thai people storming the US Embassy. Afterward, they will hire someone to throw grenades at the embassy, and they may even harm the diplomats to escalate the situation. They will use 3-4 international media agencies under their leash to exaggerate the news and make it look serious. 

Later, America will use it as an excuse to invade and occupy Thailand on the pretense of protecting American interests. There may be sacrifices and arson attacks on private businesses, such as KFC and McDonalds etc to make it look even more scary and believable. 

We must not be fooled into doing action that will further incite the hatred. We have to remain calm and things will go well. May Phra Siam Deva Thirat and all holy entities protect and defend Thai people from all dangers, and bring about peace in due time."

The post was "shared" hundreds of times on Facebook before it was later deleted. Thanit has since published a post calling for a ban on US products. 

Staff at the US Embassy in Bangkok say there were several small anti-US protests in front of the Embassy last week. 

Yesterday, the deputy chairman of Democrat Party, which opposed Yingluck's government and assisted the PCAD in its campaign, suggested that the US's "interference" in Thai politics may be the effort of international "lobbyists" seeking to smear Thailand's reputation. 

"I have met representatives of political parties from foreign countries many times. They all know that there is a movement that has hired lobbyists in Europe and the United States of America to portray distorted and wrong perspectives about Thailand," Kiat Sittheeamorn said yesterday.

He added, "However, after talking to the representatives, they understand the situation in Thailand well."

Kiat and other Democrat Party leaders also met with Russel during his stay in Bangkok.