Incident Summary:
04/17/2009: On Friday morning at 0500, Sondhi Limthongkul, a core leader of People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), was on his way to his office in Banglampoo, Bangkok, Thailand, when a group of five armed men shot at his vehicle from two pick-ups, striking Sondhi's arm while his driver, Adul Daengpradub, was severely injured. The latest information showed that Adul is in stable condition after urgent surgery. About 100 AK-16 cartridges were collected from the scene along with M16 shells. The M16 shells found at the crime scene were believed to have been taken from the military's shooting practice as the shooters were not considered to be professional gunmen. The bullet holes in Mr Sondhi's truck indicate that the attackers didn't hold their guns firmly even though it appeared that they were shooting to kill. The assailants fled in a black Toyota Vigo pick-up truck and a blue Mazda pick-up. No group has claimed responsibility.
Overview
GTD ID:
200904170015
When:
2009-04-17
Country:
Thailand
Region:
Southeast Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Bangkok
City:
Banglampoo
Location Details:
The attack took place in Banglampoo.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Assassination |
Successful Attack? () |
No |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
People's Alliance for Democracy |
Specific Description |
Sondhi Limthongkul, a leader of People's Alliance for Democracy, was the target. |
Nationality of Target |
Thailand |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Automatic Weapon |
Weapon Details |
AK-16 and M16 automatic rifles were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The available sources listed the number of assailants from five to seven, and because no majority figures were reported, the lowest proferred assailant figures were used in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Unknown |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
5 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 2 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
2 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, "Police Hunt Five Soldiers Over Sondhi," LexisNexis Academic, Bangkok Post, May 01, 2009. |
Xinhua News Agency, "Thai "Yellow Shirt" Leader Survived Assassination Attempt," Xinhua News Agency, April 20, 2009. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties