On Wednesday, Buddhist monks led prayers for the reopening of a Bangkok shrine located in busy Ratchaprasong commercial district.
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Thai police said Thursday they were still unsure if the prime suspect in the Bangkok shrine bombing had fled the country, as information from the public flooded in after a sketch of the “foreign” man was released.
An arrest warrant has been issued for the unnamed suspect, who was filmed on security footage placing a backpack at the shrine before the blast that tore through the popular tourist site, killing 20 people – mostly foreigners.
“There must be people who know (the) escape route and take the bomber to do it”.
Police now say they have identified two more possible suspects in the bombing outside the Erawan shrine on Monday (Aug 17).
As Michael Sullivan tells our Newscast unit from Bangkok, a sketch of the suspect was released Wednesday, and is based on images from surveillance cameras.
“I am confident that there are Thais involved but I am not saying it is just Thais or that there are foreigners”, he said.
Police said Thursday one of the men in the video is now known to be a Chinese tourist and the other was his Thai tour guide.
Mr Prayuth has called the attack “the worst incident that has ever happened in Thailand” and vowed to track down those responsible.
The arrest is for premeditated murder and bomb making, police spokesman Lt Gen Prawut Thavornsiri told a press conference today.
The Erawan Shrine is popular with Chinese tourists as well as people from Thailand.
Police questioned the driver on Thursday.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blast.
The two men have not been named.
Speaking on television Tuesday evening, Prayuth said the attack shows that Thailand “still has a person or a group of people with hostility to the nation operating actively”, according to a translation published in the English-language Bangkok Post.
Police suspect the young man caught in grainy footage leaving a backpack at the crowded shrine shortly before the explosion is foreign but Kissana said Thai police were not focused on any particular country or region with their appeal to Interpol.
Victims’ relatives have been struggling to come to terms with the tragedy, including a Malaysian family that lost four of its members.
Police also said that the attack was carefully planned by a network of more than 10 people.
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A spokesman for the government, Werachon Sukhontapatipak, said there were “patterns” between the two bombs in that both used TNT but no link had been established as yet.
