It was a weekend of a lot of explosions. Outside of the bomb attack at the Madrid airport, nine blasts went off across Bangkok, killing and injuring dozens of people. It is another question of why and who, as essentially both the former government as well as the opposition is out of power following a military coup in September. It could be either, and while the former opposition to ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was known to commit such acts, the military is blaming it on Thaksin supports. In this case, either makes sense, and such an attack by Islamists from the south of the country makes little of it.

Whatever the reason and whoever the perp, they seemed to have achieved their objective. Bangkok has become a fortress with a super heavy police presence.

The military junta ruling Thailand ordered a heavy police presence in Bangkok Tuesday, two days after eight bombs killed three people and injured 30 others.

The blasts forced the cancellation of New Year’s festivities and city residents have been urged to stay home and avoid crowded areas but few seemed to be taking the advice, a BBC correspondent reported.

Intelligence officials said they didn’t believe the bombings were associated with Islamist rebels who are active in the south, as they usually use cell phone-triggered bombs and Sunday night’s bombs were of a different type that used ammonium nitrate.

Various government officials hinted the chief suspects are supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a September coup. Thaksin was in Beijing on Sunday and one of his legal representatives denied Thaksin had any knowledge of the bombings.

No one has admitted responsibility for the blasts.

What it comes down to is the purpose and symbolism of a military government. It came to power promising security amid escalating conflict between the government and the opposition. Nobody truly needs to take responsibility for the attack as it simply leaves the general impression that the police state cannot effectively keep the people safe. I don’t think many Thais see a justification for the heavy police presence either, as many take a very nonchalant attitude toward these semi-frequent bombings. I truly doubt many would stop going about their daily routine just because it happened again.

The military will try to bolster its legitimacy by increasing its presence, but it cannot make a difference. The attacker could truly be anyone in opposition to the military government, so they cannot defend against it. As all terrorist attacks, it is attempting to infliuence the political process so that a change of government will eventually occur. Military governments, statistically, are the easiest (strangely enough!) to crumble.

To me, this only goes to show the benefits of democracy. Perhaps not the kind of populist and corrupt one that Thaksin created, but a liberal one. It does not promise its citizens ultimate security in exchange for everything else; only the promise that the people can try their best to live the life they want to even if bombs occassionally explode. Some things you just can’t help because some people will always be determined to pull it off. But the kind of prosperity that democracy offers is hard to be shaken by such things. Now, several months in power, the military government has enemies in both the former ruling government as well as the opposition. If this is to continue, Thailand is due for another round of political and systemic instability.