“Police are not ruling out anything including (Thai) politics and the conflict of ethnic Uighurs who, before this, Thailand sent back to China”, Somyot said.
Advertisement
In one CCTV clip replayed on Thai television, a man of Middle Eastern or Caucasian appearance entered the Erawan Shrine where the blast occurred with a backpack. “He didn’t do it alone, for sure. It’s a network”, Somyot said. He did not elaborate. I think the usual suspects have been talked about for the last 48 hours, the Red Shirts and the insurgency down south, are not really going to take the centre stage in this investigation. The Associated Press reports that police released security video of a man wearing a yellow shirt and who they say placed the device in a bustling area of town.
Offerings left in a variety of languages at the Erawan shrine after it was the site of a bombing, August 19, 2015.
Bangkok saw death and destruction as a Hindu shrine in the heart of downtown Bangkok was bombed on Monday.
Although Thailand is predominantly Buddhist, Hinduism has an influence on its religious practices and language.
Blast near popular shrine intended to weaken tourism and economy as man on CCTV not yet identified.
Top: Relatives of the victims break down at Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bangkok on Tuesday. Tommy Goh, 56, a Thai-Malaysian from Penang, said only a delayed taxi from his hotel spared him from being at the shrine around the time of the blast.
A Sydney actor, model, tutor and fashion blogger has assured his friends, family and social media users that he is innocent after rumours began circulating that he was the Bangkok bombing suspect seen in CCTV footage before the deadly attack. Many business owners are anxious that the blast could scare off visitors. “I am very saddened by what happened”.
Four Chinese nationals, including two from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, have been confirmed killed in a Bangkok explosion Monday night, the Chinese embassy in Thailand said on Tuesday. The other victims were from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Raising tension in the city on Tuesday, a small explosive was thrown from a bridge over a river but no one was injured, a police officer at the scene said. Security video showed a sudden blast of water over a walkway at the pier as bystanders ran for safety.
The rebels, who Thai forces have been fighting for years, have rarely launched attacks outside their ethnic Malay heartland.
Advertisement
At least 20 people were killed and about 120 others injured, including six Taiwanese tourists, when the bomb went off in central Bangkok close to the Erawan Hindu shrine.
