Injured Briton recalls bomb attack

12 April 2012

A Briton injured in one of a string of devastating bomb blasts in Bangkok has said he was in the "wrong place at the wrong time" - and spoke of returning to the country, despite the attacks.

Nine bombs exploded across the Thai capital on New Year's Eve and the early hours of New Year's Day, leaving three people dead.

Retired air steward Paul Hewitt, 55, from Horsham, West Sussex, was among 38 people - two of them Britons - who were wounded in the blasts.

He said Thailand's Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont had personally checked up on him and other foreign victims as they recuperated in hospital.

"You can't get much better than the Prime Minister coming to visit you with a basket of fruit," said Mr Hewitt.

He said he just happened to be standing in the "wrong place at the wrong time" and insisted that he would not be put off visiting the country again.

"I can't see why this would deter me from coming back," said Mr Hewitt. "I just happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could've happened anywhere in the world."

Mr Hewitt was admitted to hospital on Sunday night and discharged on Monday after one of the bombs, in a crowded shopping district, drove a piece of debris deep into his left arm.

The other Briton, Alistair Graham, reported to be aged 48, has been treated and discharged from hospital. It is not known what part of the country he comes from.

Nobody has as yet claimed responsibility for the explosions, which triggered a major security clampdown in the Thai capital and the cancellation of New Year's Eve celebrations.

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