Explosive device thrown near Bangkok rail station, no injuries

An explosive device was hurled toward a crowd at a riverside pier in the heart of the Thai capital but apparently missed its target on Tuesday, police said.

Worapong Boonthawee said the device was thrown from the Saphan Taksin Bridge and blew up at Sathorn Pier after falling into the Chao Phraya River below.

The mysterious bomber who immediately fled the scene could not be identified as yet and is still at large, the police said.

Thai authorities yesterday launched a massive hunt for a man captured in CCTV footage who is suspected of setting off the explosion inside Bangkok’s hugely popular Lord Brahma temple that killed at least 22 people in the country’s worst ever attack.

Chan-ocha, the prime minister, said in a televised address to the nation that the government will quickly “find the perpetrators and bring them to justice”. “We are looking for this guy”, he said.

In the morning, investigators surveyed the damage as police and soldiers guarded the area, still littered with shattered glass and other debris. Speaking to reporters, he continued what has been a notoriously prickly relationship with the media since the former general took control in a May 2014 coup that ousted a civilian government.