Police ask Interpol to help track bomber suspect

An insurgency in southern Thailand and deep political divisions in the capital form the backdrop to the deadly bombing in Bangkok.

On Tuesday, a day after the bombing at a religious shrine in Bangkok’s busy Ratchaprasong commercial district, police released grainy closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of a young man wearing a yellow t-shirt.

The warrant is the first major step towards identifying a suspect revealed to the public after he was seen on CCTV calmly leaving a backpack at the Erawan shrine moments before the bomb went off.

The suspect, believed to be a foreigner, was caught on security footage placing a backpack at the shrine prior to the blast tearing through one of Bangkok’s popular tourist sites.

Speculation has swirled about the motive and identity of the bomber and his supposed accomplices.

Deputy police chief Jaktip Chaijinda said that, based on the footage, investigators “believe the man’s physical appearance resembles more that of a foreigner than a Thai”.

Meanwhile, of 123 people reportedly injured in the blast, 68 remained warded in hospitals, with 12 said to be in critical conditions. The person in the drawing is fair-skinned with thick, black hair, a wispy beard and black glasses.

Thailand’s military government has said the attack was unlikely to be the work of foreign militants and that it was not targeted at China, despite the shrine being popular with Chinese tourists.

A government spokesman initially said there were “patterns” linking the two bombs in that both used the explosive TNT, but police chief Somyot said no direct connection between them had been established.

A Thai motorbike taxi driver who believes he picked up the suspect shortly after the blast said he did not seem to be Thai. Thai officials downplayed suggestions that Muslim separatists from the country’s south were involved, saying it did not match their methods.

Local authorities have appealed for anyone with information surrounding the alleged bomber to come forward, offering a reward of one million Baht (the national currency) – equivalent to roughly AUD$40,000.

Mr Prawut said the prime suspect was overheard speaking a foreign language other than English, although he did not elaborate on how police knew this.

Distraught relatives of victims of Monday’s deadly bomb attack in Bangkok have claimed the remains of their loved ones at a forensic institute.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha initially said the attack was Thailand’s problem and should be resolved internally.

No group has claimed responsibility. As we previously reported, the explosion killed at least 20 people.