No motive or suspects emerge yet in Bangkok explosion

Eight foreigners were among those killed at the Erawan shrine, an attack which could hurt the tourism industry. The dead includes two Malaysians, two Taiwanese, two Singaporeans, a Hongkongnese, and the rest Thais.

The thoughts of all Australians are with the injured and the families of those who have lost their lives through this dreadful act.

Emergency services and first aid responders were on the scene and those injured have been given full medical attention, according to the statement. “I actually tried to walk over to help people but Leify pulled me back and said “what are you doing, there could be another bomb”.

As of this morning, the death toll reached 22.

Three Chinese were among the dead, China’s official Xinhua news agency said.

Chinese, Hong Kong, Singaporean and Malaysian citizens were among the 21 people confirmed killed, with more than 100 injured as the blast sent a fireball into the sky and incinerated motorcycles.

While bombings are rare in Bangkok, they are more common in southern Thailand, where a Muslim separatist insurgency has been flaring for several years.

The Thai government described the attack as an attempt to destroy the economy.

However, an AFP report mistranslated Prayuth’s comments to mean these so-called “Facebook Prophets” were suspected of Monday’s bombing attack.

Australia will continue to liaise closely with Thai authorities in relation to this attack and will work to strengthen our bilateral and regional counter-terrorism cooperation. “I don’t know.” Australian computer programmer Howard Fenton said he was dismayed to see violence return to Bangkok’s streets. Today we are already checking CCTV footage.

Last week, Thaksin posted a message on YouTube urging his followers to reject the draft constitution because he said it was undemocratic.

The improvised bomb blew up at around 7pm on Monday at the Erawan Shrine in the Thai capital, an open-air Hindu temple popular with both locals and tourists.

The Thai capital has endured more than a decade of unrest, with the junta ruling the nation since May last year after toppling the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra.

“The perpetrators intended to destroy the economy and tourism, because the incident occurred in the heart of the tourism district”, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told Reuters.

It accounts for about 10 per cent of the economy and the government had been banking on a record number of visitors this year following a sharp fall in 2014 because of protests and the coup. The explosion is currently under police investigation.

Police initially said they found a suspicious object near the blast site and were concerned about a second explosion. Some were shredded. There were legs where heads were supposed to be.

Thailand’s defense minister says investigators are getting closer to determining who set off the bomb that killed at least 18 people in central Bangkok, though he did not give further details. As for tourist businesses, other tourist sites, hotels, restaurants, tour operators, and shopping malls remain open, while transportation links, major roads and airports continue to operate. Police combed through shattered glass and other debris Tuesday from a bomb blast in cent…

Luxury arcades and shops surrounding the bomb area had some of their windows blown out by the blast.

“If the bomb is indeed terrorism related, it could rattle investor confidence and we could easily see the USD/THB leg higher”, said Stephen Innes, senior currency trader at Oanda in Singapore.