Thailand Seeks Interpol Help in Hunt for Suspects in Bangkok Shrine Bombing

The suspect doesn’t look like an average Thai national and a motorcycle taxi driver who said he took the suspect away from the scene after the explosion stated that he spoke a foreign language and that it didn’t seem to be English.

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of a man who entered a Bangkok temple shortly before a blast that killed 22 people could shed light on who was behind the unprecedented attack.

Thailand’s national police chief, Somyot Poompanmoung, yesterday gave the most detailed profile of the mysterious assailants, saying there were more than 10 involved and that they had carefully planned it.

In a televised address to the nation, the junta spokesman said that while questioning of witnesses and survivors led to the arrest warrant for the “foreign man”, there was not believed to be a link to an worldwide terrorist group.

Less than 24 hours later, a second, smaller bomb went off at a Saphan Taksin pier but did not cause any injuries. He told reporters on Wednesday that the suspect did not work alone.

According to the Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLAW), at least 751 people were summoned and at least 428 arrested.

The confirmed Chinese fatalities include five from Chinese mainland and two from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Chinese Embassy in Thailand said Wednesday.

The gesture follows the Erawan Shrine bombing that killed 20 including 13 tourists on Monday.

Thai authorities have described Monday’s bombing as a terrorist attack that targeted the country’s tourism industry.

“The people of Bangkok are as kind as they always are and only a short while after the bomb, Thai China and others were in a large queue at the hospital donating blood”, added Stewart. “We still have to investigate in more detail”, he said.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

A military spokesman also said that Chinese tourists, who were among the victims, were not the “direct target”.

By ruling out foreign militant involvement, police appeared to dismiss speculation that it might have been Uighur separatists from western China, angry at the forced repatriation of more than 100 of their number from Thailand. Though there has been little violence aimed at Thailand’s coup, whose leaders have cracked down on dissent, the “Red Shirt” movement that supported the ousted elected government clashed with the military in 2010 protests that left about 90 people dead.

Police detectives were quoted as saying by the Bangkok Post that two men seen in the CCTV inside the shrine compound on Monday evening in front of the suspected bomber were probably not involved. News reports said 120 people were injured and around 60 of them are hospitalised and still in critical condition.

Adding to the sense of insecurity, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said he would not attend a memorial service for the victims at the shrine on Friday because of growing fears for his life.

Thai security forces are sharing information with Interpol, the global police organization, and with intelligence agencies from allied countries, officials said.