CCTV footage showed a huge orange fireball as the bomb exploded and people fleeing down the street.
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The Prime Minister described the incident as the “worst to have ever happened in Thailand” and that while there had been previous minor bombs, this one had aimed to take innocent lives.
Thailand’s northeast is commonly considered the heartland of the dissident “Red Shirt” movement, that opposes Thailand’s junta.
“The bombing apparently has the intention to sow terror, and we condemn this act in the strongest terms”, he said in his statement, which was read by Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose in a media briefing.
Thanya Crawford was “shocked” and had to wait until morning in Thailand to check in on a friend in Bangkok. Link to video.
Prayuth said the attack, which took place during rush hour in the capital’s bustling commercial hub, was unprecedented in Thailand.
Thailand is predominantly Buddhist, but the three southern provinces where the insurgency has flared are Muslim majority.
There has so far been no claim of responsibility for the attack. The explosion appeared to have occurred in front of the Erawan shrine, a tourist landmark also popular with Thais. Two Hong Kong residents, two people from Malaysia and one person from the Philippines also died, officials said. Since 2004, more than 6,500 people, majority civilians, have been killed in violence in the region.
A wake of destruction – shards of glass, bloodstains and motorbikes scattered on the ground – greeted Xinhua reporters at the site of a loud blast that rocked downtown Bangkok Monday night.
At least one of the dead is believed to have been a guest of a hotel near the blast.
National police chief Somyot Poompanmuang said that the blast was caused by a pipe bomb that contained 3kg of high explosive. “They aim to destroy tourism, economy, our country”. They want to destroy our economy, our tourism’.
The intersection near the shrine was the site of months of anti-government protests in 2010.
Police investigate the scene at the Erawan Shrine the day after an… He said the motive behind the blast has yet to be concluded.
“Some were shredded. There were legs where heads were supposed to be”. Police now say he in fact was seen arriving by tuk-tuk and departing by motorcycle taxi.
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He called an urgent war room meeting with Cabinet members and security agencies at Government House.
