Incident Summary:
06/19/2001: Two bombs containing fertilizer and gasoline and connected to detonators triggered by cell phones were left at the Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, around 4:00am by a member of the Free Vietnam Movement. The police successfully defused both bombs and no one was injured. Following the incident, the man who planted the bombs, along with two other members of the Free Vietnam Movement, were arrested and confessed to their involvement in the attack. While two of the men were Vietnamese, a third man had dual citizenship in the United States and Vietnam, and the fourth man, a United States citizen, fled to the U.S. before authorities could capture him.
Overview
GTD ID:
200106190002
When:
2001-06-19
Country:
Thailand
Region:
Southeast Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Unknown
City:
Bangkok
Location Details:
The Vietnamese embassy
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
No |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (Diplomatic) |
Name of Entity |
Vietnamese embassy |
Specific Description |
The Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok |
Nationality of Target |
Thailand |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Remote Trigger |
Weapon Details |
One of the bombs weighed about 6.6 pounds, contained fertilizer, and was hooked up to a detonator which would be triggered by a cell phone. That bomb was left by the embassy gates in a backpack. The second bomb weighed around five kilograms and contained gasoline and fertilizer, packed inside a cardboard box. That bomb was also hooked up to a cell phone-triggered detonator, and was thrown inside the gates. |
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 |
Phan Nguyen Thanh Hien Si was the man who actually planted the bombs at the embassy. He arrived in a taxi around 4:00am. After the bombs were found and defused, authorities asked taxi drivers in the area to help identify the man who planted the bombs as the security cameras at the embassy were not monitored at the time of the incident. Authorities increased security around embassies and missions in the area after the incident. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Free Vietnam Movement |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Personal claim) |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
4 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
3 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
"Vietnam embassy bombs spark security alert at Bangkok missions," Agence France-Presse, June 19, 2001. |
Nopporn Wong-Anan, "Thai police defuse bombs at Vietnam embassy," Reuters, June 19, 2001. |
"Three suspects arrested over Vietnam embassy bomb attack," Agence France-Presse, June 21, 2001. |
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