On 17th of August 2015, Irena and I were cafe/food hopping in Siam Square One late in the afternoon. Soon after, we decided to go to Big C Supercenter via the Sky Bridge under the BTS tracks.
Since we have been using the Sky Bridge and walking almost the same way exiting into Central World, I had the thought of exiting into Gaysorn Plaza to get to Big C Supercenter. But mother nature decided to lead us into Central World to use to toilet. After using the toilet, we exited the building and saw smoke and a huge commotion. Initially, I thought some vehicle had exploded. Many locals were talking photos and videos with their phone. After looking at the scene, we thought that is was something minor. And maybe it was better to stay away from the site as the "exploded vehicle" might explode again. I searched the internet to look out for clues to what has happened 50 meters from us, but I guess the news was a little slower than us. I didn't want to approach any locals as I might sound like a bimbo not knowing what has happened.
We continued to walk towards Big C Supercenter from Central World and had to cross an overhead bridge. We could see parts of the commotion from the bridge. The traffic was messy and vehicles going towards the exploded scene were diverted away from it. At the same time, emergency vehicles were trying their best to squeeze through to the scene. I guess the Thais handled it pretty well.
We then resumed our supermarket shopping until someone from home messaged me to ask if we were alright as a bomb had just exploded in Bangkok.
At that moment, my heart jumped a little. Having the thoughts of, "We were about 30 meters from the site 10 minutes before the blast(bomb probably exploded when we were using the toilet, cos when we were out, smoke from blast was still visible)", "If we went towards the direction of Gaysorn Plaza, could the blast affect us?". I could confidently say that we would not be directly affected by the blast itself but the sound, seeing the people injured/killed could affect us emotionally. I immediately told Irena that thankfully we needed to use the toilet. If not, it would have been a different story for us altogether.
Before the news could spread, I quickly reported my safety to my parents. People who learned that I was in Bangkok started to message me. I assured them with my reply. We then headed back to the hotel as soon as possible for safety.
We understood the situation better after watching the news. We thanked God for our safety, that we were not at all affected by the blast, yet our heart goes out to casualties and families who were affected badly. Terrorism is not fun. Innocent lives(could be us) were lost! #prayforbangkok
Tried to recollect the situation as accurately as possible. What a holiday!
