Bangkok bomb unlikely to be work of international terrorists: junta

The image was apparently based on security camera footage taken from the site of the Erawan Shrine in the minutes before the bomb was detonated.

The security footage showed the suspected bomber walking into the shrine with a backpack.

The Thai government said the attack was aimed at wrecking the country’s economy, which heavily relies on tourism.

The prime suspect might not be a foreigner and could have been wearing a disguise, he said.

“There is a network”, Police Chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said. “I’ve never come across any [Uygur], but it’s hard to tell just by appearance”, shoe shopkeeper Sue, a hijab-wearing Thai woman in her 30s, said.

They also offered a reward of 25,000 euros for any information leading to the bomber.

The warrant, issued by Bangkok’s Southern Criminal Court, accuses an “unnamed foreigner” of conspiracy to commit “premeditated murder” among other charges, linked to the bomb that killed 22 people on Monday.

A stream of people arrived at the Erawan Shrine, kneeling in prayer, lighting incense and placing flowers at the site where 36 hours earlier an explosion scattered body parts across one of the capital’s busiest intersections.

One devotee had more reason than most to give his thanks to the deity, Brahma, the Hindu god of creation.

Sunny Burns, an Australian actor who lives in Bangkok, said on his Facebook page that because people thought he looked like the man in the yellow T-shirt in the CCTV footage, he was receiving death threats on social media.

Another 17 people from mainland China, two from Hong Kong and three from Taiwan were receiving treatment in hospital, according to the Chinese embassy in Thailand, adding more than 10 other Chinese people who sustained minor injuries, have been discharged. “I’m still in total shock and being called a terrorist”. “We believe there must be people helping him…It’s a network.”

The shrine, a blood-spattered scene of charred motorbikes and debris after the blast, was reopened on Wednesday. A small explosive was thrown from a bridge towards a river pier.

The shrine – a popular tourist attraction that typifies the kingdom’s unusual blend of Hindu and Buddhist traditions – and its surrounding had already been largely restored.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is appealing to the main suspect who appears in the security video at the shrine around the time of Monday’s bomb blast to surrender because he says “he might get killed to stop him from talking”.

As the attack has no precedent in the country, police and observers have struggled to suggest a motive. A government spokesperson said there may be patterns between the two separate attacks but no direct link has been established just yet. Some erroneously pointed to an Australian model living in Bangkok, who said it was “traumatic” to be mistaken for a suspect in the bombing.