The police issued an arrest warrant seeking for “a foreign man, unnamed, according to the sketch” and announced a reward of one million baht (USD 28,000) for any information on the suspect.
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No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion, and the government believes the attack on one of the capital’s best-loved shrines was created to wreck Thailand’s economy, which is heavily dependent on tourism. Authorities also released a sketch of the suspect, but apart from this, there were few solid leads.
“Security agencies have collaborated with intelligence agencies from allied countries and have come to the same preliminary conclusion that the incident is unlikely to be linked to global terrorism”, said Col. Winthai Suvaree, the military spokesman. “None of them are watertight, though it really means that there’s a lot of work to be done on terms of following up who might have been the perpetrator”, he said.
Thailand police today released a sketch of a young “foreign man” suspected of carrying out a bombing at a hugely popular Lord Brahma temple, that killed at least 20 people, and offered a 1 million baht reward for any information in tracing him down along with his accomplices.
Police said one of the two is now known to be a Chinese tourist and the other was his Thai tour guide.
Tourists have also been asked to help.
Gao Yan Ping, from Jiangxi province, China, center, is overcome with emotion at the Police General Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, after he arrived to claim the body and remains of his daughter and his wife who were killed in Monday’s bombing at the Erawan Shrine, Thursday, August 20, 2015.
Both are seen leaving the area shortly before the man in yellow also leaves.
The man is seen carefully removing his backpack inside the shrine – at the spot the bomb went off – then getting up without it and immediately leaving. Officials described the suspect as a “foreign man” Wednesday, but police said they’re not sure he is from another country, the AP reported.
The footage showed that two males, dressed in red and white respectively, were standing close to the main suspect who was wearing a yellow T-shirt and glasses. “It’s a network”, Somyot said.
He made the comment as he headed into a meeting of national police commanders, adding that he was carrying orders from the prime minister who “is anxious about the security of people and tourists in Thailand”.
Prayuth told reporters that the man must have been hired to plant the bomb.
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The attack left at least 11 foreigners dead, with Chinese, Singaporeans, Indonesians and a family from Malaysia among the victims. A stream of worshipers and Buddhist monks arrived to pray at the Hindu religious site, which is popular with locals and Chinese tourists. There was a second blast on Tuesday, but it wasn’t deadly.
