Poll says more attack on protesters could happen

BANGKOK, Jan 19 (TNA) – Such violence similar to Friday’s bombing attack on anti-government protesters in the Thai capital could happen again in the near future, most of poll respondents believed. The survey, conducted by Suan Dusit Poll on 1,369 people in Bangkok and surrounding provinces between January 17 - 18, showed that up to 82.3 per cent of the total respondents believe more severe incidents would occur in the future as the bombing was aimed at creating turmoil and challenging the law. One male anti-government protester died and 37 others wounded after a bomb was hurled from a deserted building in central Bangkok on Friday afternoon. To date, no one was arrested. According to the poll, 71.32 per cent of the respondents said the attack should not have occurred and 16.98 per cent said it was a “political game” aimed at scaring the protesters and causing chaos in the country. Up to 68.27 per cent of the total respondents said they believed the incident was caused by ill-intentioned people. Asked whether the incident would invite more people to join in the ongoing anti-government protest, about 58 per cent of the respondents said they believed it would while the rest was on the contrary. (TNA)