Bangkok bomb suspect part of ‘network’

A Thai motorbike taxi driver who believes he picked up the chief suspect in the bombing of Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine shortly after the blast said the man appeared calm and spoke an unfamiliar language on his cellphone.

According to CNN, Thai police are “very sure” that the man in yellow is the bomber.

In a CCTV footage released by police, the man carried a dark-colored backpack near the shrine.

Police officials at the shrine said that the Brahmin statue worshipped at the site had only suffered “minor damage”. Prawut said that bombing could be related to the shrine attack.

This August. 17, 2015, image, shows a man wearing a yellow T-shirt near the Erawan Shrine before an explosion that occurred in Bangkok, Thailand.

Along with this, a reward of 1 million baht, or more than $28,000, is on offer for anyone who can provide further information on the people behind the bombing.

“I think the government and the police have done very well last night, they protected us and we feel safe, I just want to feel like life is back to normal”.

Five of the victims have been identified as Thai and four as Chinese – two of them from Hong Kong. He told reporters there that he was “completely” confident that police can ensure security in Thai capital.

Among those who paid respects was an office worker, Nuansupha Sarunsikarin, who expressed shock and sadness over the attack, which no one has claimed responsibility for.

The open-air Erawan Shrine reopened to the public Wednesday, two days after the explosion tore through the area killing at least 20 people – including foreigners – and wounding more than 120 injured.

The government says the unprecedented attack on the city was designed to wreck the country’s economy, which depends heavily on tourism.

“There is a network”, Police Chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said.

Prawut, the police spokesman, said other security footage of the suspect was also used to create the sketch, however this was still not enough to determine his nationality.

Prawut told theBangkok Post that Tuesday’s pipe bomb was probably meant to land on a busy platform leading to a pier, but hit a pillar and bounced into a canal, sending a large plume of water into the air.

Bangkok was rattled again yesterday when an explosive device was hurled at ferry pier in Bangkok.

A motorcycle taxi man told police that the suspect hired him for a drop to the nearby business district of Silom.

Prime Minister Pravut Chan-o-cha warned the suspect on Wednesday to “quickly turn yourself in otherwise you might be killed by security forces.”People who know him, relay this message”, he said”.

The man is seen carefully removing his backpack inside the shrine – at the spot the bomb went off – then getting up without it and immediately leaving.

Mr Payuth, late on Wednesday, played down suspicion that Uighur Muslims were behind the attack in retaliation of Thailand deporting more than 100 Uighurs from Thailand to China in July.

The blast comes at a sensitive time for Thailand, which has been riven for a decade by a sometimes violent struggle for power between political factions in Bangkok. China urged Thailand to thoroughly investigate the blast and punish those responsible.