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Huge explosion rocks central Bangkok - casualties reported
- Thread starter singveld
- Start date
Speak for yourself. Tonychat has a big influence on my voting decisions.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha appealed for the prime suspect - who has a one million baht (HK$217,700) bounty on his head - to surrender because "he might get killed to stop him from talking".
"If the person wants to be safe, he should turn himself in. Officials will find a legal way to provide him with safety. It's better than living in hiding. It would make his life miserable," Prayuth said, adding the man must have been hired to plant the bomb.
National police chief Somyot Poompanmoung believed the suspect did not work alone. "They work as a network [and] know how to escape. No one person can do this," he said.
The prime suspect might not be a foreigner and could have been wearing a disguise, he said.
But national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri later said the prime suspect was overheard speaking a foreign language other than English.
“Foreign language, not English also,” Prawut told reporters. He did not elaborate on how police knew which langauge the suspect spoke.
But police said earlier they had interviewed two motorcycle taxi riders near the shrine, one of whom gave a ride to the suspect.
Prawut also gave a description of the suspected ethnicity of the alleged bomber, using the Thai phrase “khaek khao” - a word often used to describe light skinned Muslims from South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.
"His skin is white and he has a high nose. Whether khaek khao or not I don’t know. But from the footage it looked like that,” he said.
--------------------
See how the vile pm tried again to steer opinion towards suspect being non foreign and part of a network?
Even though his subordinates already presented evidence contradicting him.
Asking suspect to surrender for fear of his life?
Dunbfuck for real? As if the bombers would consider haha
"If the person wants to be safe, he should turn himself in. Officials will find a legal way to provide him with safety. It's better than living in hiding. It would make his life miserable," Prayuth said, adding the man must have been hired to plant the bomb.
National police chief Somyot Poompanmoung believed the suspect did not work alone. "They work as a network [and] know how to escape. No one person can do this," he said.
The prime suspect might not be a foreigner and could have been wearing a disguise, he said.
But national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri later said the prime suspect was overheard speaking a foreign language other than English.
“Foreign language, not English also,” Prawut told reporters. He did not elaborate on how police knew which langauge the suspect spoke.
But police said earlier they had interviewed two motorcycle taxi riders near the shrine, one of whom gave a ride to the suspect.
Prawut also gave a description of the suspected ethnicity of the alleged bomber, using the Thai phrase “khaek khao” - a word often used to describe light skinned Muslims from South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.
"His skin is white and he has a high nose. Whether khaek khao or not I don’t know. But from the footage it looked like that,” he said.
--------------------
See how the vile pm tried again to steer opinion towards suspect being non foreign and part of a network?
Even though his subordinates already presented evidence contradicting him.
Asking suspect to surrender for fear of his life?
Dunbfuck for real? As if the bombers would consider haha
AFTERMATH
The different theories considered, and why they are met with scepticism
PRAVIT ROJANAPHRUK
THE NATION August 20, 2015 1:00 am http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nat...ies-considered-and-why-they-are-30267028.html
So far, at least six theories have emerged in the aftermath of the deadly bombing at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine, which left up to 20 dead and over a hundred others injured. The theories range from the Uighur minority from the west of China, Islamic terrorists, the anti-government red shirts to separatists from the South and the military junta itself.
Here are the theories and why they may or may not hold water:
THE UIGHUR
The government repatriated more than a hundred of the Uighur people who had fled to Thailand from China and were looking to make their way to Turkey. This move caused anger and can be considered a motive for revenge. CCTV footage shows a man, possibly Uighur looking, entering the shrine, leaving behind a backpack and walking out of the area shortly before the explosion. The Erawan Shrine is popular among Chinese tourists.
Police have pointed out that this type of bomb has not been previously used in Thailand, and though some entertain the Uighur theory, others say this Chinese minority does not have the ability or a level of hatred high enough to unleash an attack as deadly as this.
THAI-MALAY SEPARATISTS
BBC's defence and diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus was quoted as saying that this theory is possible, noting that the separatists have been "fighting Thai rule for more than a decade".
Police, however, say this type of bomb has never been used in the deep South, and Marcus himself says that the separatists have never targeted the capital. Also, he said, attacks and causalities in the deep South have been dropping.
Army chief General Udomdej Sitabutr said on television that this blast did not match the incidents in the South.
ISLAMIC STATE OR AL-QAEDA-LINKED
JIHADIST GROUPS
Reuters quoted Angel Rabasa, an expert on Islamist militancy at the RAND Corporation, as saying that these groups are expanding their reach in Southeast Asia.
Now Rabasa himself is casting doubts on this theory as such groups usually take responsibility for their attacks.
THE RED SHIRTS
Immediately after the attack, government spokesperson Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd indicated that those who had lost political power might have been behind the attack. Subscribers to this theory claim that supporters of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, wanting to undermine General Prayut Chan-o-cha's government and to sink the economy, are desperate enough to opt for such extreme measures.
Many social-media users have cast doubt on this theory, saying this attack is far too cruel and indiscriminate to be carried out by Thais.
Others say the government stands to gain more by using this incident as an excuse to stay in power longer - they could claim that the country is not ready for elections and introduce more draconian measures to control the population.
THE MILITARY JUNTA
Many pro-Thaksin red shirts believe the bombing was engineered by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to prolong its stay by convincing people that Thailand is not ready for elections and by placing the blame on the red shirts and Thaksin.
Those subscribing to this theory find the quick clearing out of the bombing site suspicious and possibly a move to remove evidence.
However, this idea has been rejected by some, who say the NCPO and the government stands to lose more from the blast, as it would have a very severe impact on Thai tourism.
They also find it difficult to comprehend that any government can commit such cruelty.
THOSE UNHAPPY WITH LATEST MILITARY RESHUFFLE
There has been some speculation that those who stand to lose from the latest military reshuffle decided to express their displeasure in a very deadly manner.
This theory has been rejected by some, who say there is no history of such extreme action being taken in response to a military reshuffle.
The different theories considered, and why they are met with scepticism
PRAVIT ROJANAPHRUK
THE NATION August 20, 2015 1:00 am http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nat...ies-considered-and-why-they-are-30267028.html
So far, at least six theories have emerged in the aftermath of the deadly bombing at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine, which left up to 20 dead and over a hundred others injured. The theories range from the Uighur minority from the west of China, Islamic terrorists, the anti-government red shirts to separatists from the South and the military junta itself.
Here are the theories and why they may or may not hold water:
THE UIGHUR
The government repatriated more than a hundred of the Uighur people who had fled to Thailand from China and were looking to make their way to Turkey. This move caused anger and can be considered a motive for revenge. CCTV footage shows a man, possibly Uighur looking, entering the shrine, leaving behind a backpack and walking out of the area shortly before the explosion. The Erawan Shrine is popular among Chinese tourists.
Police have pointed out that this type of bomb has not been previously used in Thailand, and though some entertain the Uighur theory, others say this Chinese minority does not have the ability or a level of hatred high enough to unleash an attack as deadly as this.
THAI-MALAY SEPARATISTS
BBC's defence and diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus was quoted as saying that this theory is possible, noting that the separatists have been "fighting Thai rule for more than a decade".
Police, however, say this type of bomb has never been used in the deep South, and Marcus himself says that the separatists have never targeted the capital. Also, he said, attacks and causalities in the deep South have been dropping.
Army chief General Udomdej Sitabutr said on television that this blast did not match the incidents in the South.
ISLAMIC STATE OR AL-QAEDA-LINKED
JIHADIST GROUPS
Reuters quoted Angel Rabasa, an expert on Islamist militancy at the RAND Corporation, as saying that these groups are expanding their reach in Southeast Asia.
Now Rabasa himself is casting doubts on this theory as such groups usually take responsibility for their attacks.
THE RED SHIRTS
Immediately after the attack, government spokesperson Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd indicated that those who had lost political power might have been behind the attack. Subscribers to this theory claim that supporters of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, wanting to undermine General Prayut Chan-o-cha's government and to sink the economy, are desperate enough to opt for such extreme measures.
Many social-media users have cast doubt on this theory, saying this attack is far too cruel and indiscriminate to be carried out by Thais.
Others say the government stands to gain more by using this incident as an excuse to stay in power longer - they could claim that the country is not ready for elections and introduce more draconian measures to control the population.
THE MILITARY JUNTA
Many pro-Thaksin red shirts believe the bombing was engineered by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to prolong its stay by convincing people that Thailand is not ready for elections and by placing the blame on the red shirts and Thaksin.
Those subscribing to this theory find the quick clearing out of the bombing site suspicious and possibly a move to remove evidence.
However, this idea has been rejected by some, who say the NCPO and the government stands to lose more from the blast, as it would have a very severe impact on Thai tourism.
They also find it difficult to comprehend that any government can commit such cruelty.
THOSE UNHAPPY WITH LATEST MILITARY RESHUFFLE
There has been some speculation that those who stand to lose from the latest military reshuffle decided to express their displeasure in a very deadly manner.
This theory has been rejected by some, who say there is no history of such extreme action being taken in response to a military reshuffle.
Reward baht30k to entice tuk tuk driver who gave ride to suspect
B30,000 offered for Erawan tuk-tuk driver to come forward
20 Aug 2015 at 11:48
B30,000 offered for Erawan tuk-tuk driver to come forward
Published: 20/08/2015 at 11:48 AM http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/gen...red-for-erawan-tuk-tuk-driver-to-come-forward
Police are offering 30,000 baht for the tuk-tuk driver who took the suspected Erawan bomber to come forward after learning he took Thailand’s most wanted man to a hotel near the Ratchaprasong intersection Monday evening.
A police photo shows the tuk-tuk transporting the suspected bomber to the Erawan shrine.
Police said on Thursday that the three-wheeled taxi delivered the suspect to Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel next to the shrine on Ratchadamri Road at 6.37pm on Aug 17.
The tuk-tuk driver was encouraged to contact Pol Col Noppasit Mitrpakdi, investigative chief of the Metropolitan Police Division 6 at 085-358-7777 anytime.
Police promise to keep secret the identity of the driver and guaranteed his safety.
The suspected bomber was described as a "Caucasian, Arab or mixed race" man, aged 20 to 30, and about 170cm tall. He wore a yellow t-shirt and black-framed glasses, placed a backpack inside the shrine coplex and and left the location just before the explosion.
It was reported that the suspect left the area on a motorcycle taxi and got off at the nearby Lumpini public park. He directed the motorcyclist with a piece of paper with words "Lumpini Park".
The explosion killed 20 people and injured 125 others. Police assume it resulted from a timer-detonated pipe bomb professionally assembled.
B30,000 offered for Erawan tuk-tuk driver to come forward
20 Aug 2015 at 11:48
B30,000 offered for Erawan tuk-tuk driver to come forward
Published: 20/08/2015 at 11:48 AM http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/gen...red-for-erawan-tuk-tuk-driver-to-come-forward
Police are offering 30,000 baht for the tuk-tuk driver who took the suspected Erawan bomber to come forward after learning he took Thailand’s most wanted man to a hotel near the Ratchaprasong intersection Monday evening.
A police photo shows the tuk-tuk transporting the suspected bomber to the Erawan shrine.
Police said on Thursday that the three-wheeled taxi delivered the suspect to Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel next to the shrine on Ratchadamri Road at 6.37pm on Aug 17.
The tuk-tuk driver was encouraged to contact Pol Col Noppasit Mitrpakdi, investigative chief of the Metropolitan Police Division 6 at 085-358-7777 anytime.
Police promise to keep secret the identity of the driver and guaranteed his safety.
The suspected bomber was described as a "Caucasian, Arab or mixed race" man, aged 20 to 30, and about 170cm tall. He wore a yellow t-shirt and black-framed glasses, placed a backpack inside the shrine coplex and and left the location just before the explosion.
It was reported that the suspect left the area on a motorcycle taxi and got off at the nearby Lumpini public park. He directed the motorcyclist with a piece of paper with words "Lumpini Park".
The explosion killed 20 people and injured 125 others. Police assume it resulted from a timer-detonated pipe bomb professionally assembled.
my friend only go to thailand to call chicken.
Is it good for him to support thailand economic this way?
1 million baht, what cheap skate. That is a pretty low number, like they do not want to catch him.
Thai police go around telling he is not alone. How do they know that, they do not even know who is he.
Then thai police say that there is no foreign connection. How do they know that? The thai police is just talking cock on TV. Like tonychat talking in this forum. Total rubbish from thai police.
Here's the erawan shrine site of a deadly bomb blast on monday
I visited the place just 2 days after the explosion. It's now the safest place in bkk. I wonder where the next bomb location will be.
I visited the place just 2 days after the explosion. It's now the safest place in bkk. I wonder where the next bomb location will be.
rest in place indeed
All quiet now
The 4 faced buddha was undamaged
Last edited:
trickle down and tickle down (between your legs) economics. chicken feeds chicks. chicks go to school. school employs teachers. teachers pay food vendors. food vendors buy from chicken farmers. chicken farmers fuck chicken.
so now we know why the busy chicken had to cross the road ....so many fucking times
they have not caught the bomber yet.
true , but he dun like to support the military junta.
Nigger if you care to actually read the post you quoted I wrote I wonder where the next bomb location will be which means I know the bomber is not caught yet. The erawan shrine is now the safest public place because security has been stepped up at that place and its unlikely the bomber will bomb it again understand?
Hong Kong girl, 9, forced to undergo third surgery for Bangkok blast wounds after complications
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 12:50pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 6:07pm
Samuel Chan in Bangkok and Clifford Lo
[email protected]
[email protected]
Jasmine Chu, nine, had emergency surgery after an earlier operation to remove bomb shrapnel from her thigh. Photo: Chu King-fun
A nine-year-old Hong Kong girl injured in the Bangkok bomb blast underwent emergency surgery this morning to release pressure on her leg muscle near a vein repaired in an earlier operation.
The operation was the third time Jasmine Chu Sum-yu has undergone surgery after she was injured in Monday’s explosion. The two other occasions included a seven-hour overnight operation to remove a large piece of bomb shrapnel from her thigh.
The girl’s father, Chu King-fu, 61, nearly broke into tears while telling the media in Bangkok today that complications had set in.
But he was told by doctors that difficulties following previous surgery were anticipated and today’s operation was necessary to prevent muscular necrosis.
The emergency surgery, prompted by complications, lasted for more than two hours. Chu King-fu said it was a success.
“She didn’t even know the operation was over, and asked me when she would go to the operation theatre. And I told her, it’s over now, and it’s all right,” said Chu, and that’s the only words that he had exchanged with his daughter after the surgery.
“She was not as tense as this morning, because the pain was gone I guess … she appeared relieved.”
Asked if the doctor warned of any possible complication and whether a fourth operation should be expected, Chu said: “The doctor didn’t say whether this would be the last surgery, only that that [operation] was a success.”
“I wouldn’t be assured [of the local doctor’s diagnosis], but this time Dr Leung [Kai-shing, of the Hong Kong] is also of the same view.”
So far, almost 20 tiny pieces of shrapnel had been removed from her right thigh, said the father.
The attending doctor expected Jasmine would be able to be transferred out of the intensive care unit on Friday, but it is likely that she would need to stay in Thailand for a week more before she can return home.
As Chu spoke to the media after a session with a clinical psychologist sent by the Hong Kong Immigration Department, Jasmine had just started meeting the same psychologist for the first time for initial assessment of her psychological condition after the accident.
“There would be a problem a girl would mind though. There’s a scar left in her thigh now,” Chu said, adding that he had yet to see it himself. “But other than that, she now can move just as any other normal person.”
According to Dr Joe Leung Kai-shing of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, Jasmine received an emergency operation on Tuesday to mend her vein and the surgery was done well, but as expected, problems surfaced.
He said pressure on muscles near the vein increased today.
“So an emergency operation was carried out this morning to release the pressure. The surgery was needed and we also agreed,” Dr Leung said.
When the blast happened, Jasmine’s father was walking with a family friend, who was confirmed dead at the scene. Jasmine and another family friend were walking behind, at a space of 20 to 30 people away from the group ahead.
‘My dear daughter, will I ever see you again?’: Hong Kong families of Bangkok bomb victims hold Erawan Shrine vigil
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 1:13pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 9:59pm
Samuel Chan in Bangkok
Relatives mourn the Hong Kong victims of the Bangkok blast. Photo: Sam Tsang
The families of two Hong Kong women killed in the Bangkok bombing held a vigil this morning at the Hindu shrine where the explosion occurred.
Vivian Chan Wing-yan, 19, and Arcadia Pang Wan-chee, 24, were among 20 people killed by the blast at the Erawan Shrine in the centre of the Thai capital on Monday, which left more than 125 others injured.
All dressed in black and wearing surgical masks, Chan’s parents and several members of Pang’s family took turns to lay flowers outside the shrine’s fence.
The Pang family also hired a monk to mourn for the deceased. The two families did not speak to each other or the media during the 10-minute vigil.
Parents of the 19-year-old victim Vivian Chan Wing-yan hugged each other in tears. Photo: Sam Tsang
“My dear daughter, can you hear me? Will I ever see you again?” murmured a tearful relative of Pang. A middle-aged couple, also members of Pang’s family, turned their sight away from where she was killed and hugged each other in tears.
A psychologist from the Health Authority was at the scene to provide support.
Both families left in a van arranged by the Hong Kong Immigration Department.
Thai police clear two Bangkok bomb suspects including man from China but main suspect remains at large
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 1:32pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 11:47pm
Reuters and AFP in Bangkok
A police composite sketch of one of the suspected culprits in the bombing (left) and the other two suspects who have been cleared (right). Photo: SCMP Pictures
Thai police said they had questioned and freed one man who handed himself in after being seen on CCTV at the Bangkok shrine moments before a deadly bomb blast, but the prime suspect remains at large.
A Thai man wanted for questioning after he was seen on security camera footage “met police and was released”, national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri told reporters, adding a second man from China in the same shot had already left the country – but neither were “likely involved”.
The main suspect, believed to be a foreigner in a yellow shirt seen depositing a backpack at the scene was still at large, he added.
WATCH: Thai police release drawing of suspect in Bangkok shrine bombing
The two men – the Thai in a red shirt, and the Chinese in white – were initially believed to be possible accomplices of the suspected bomber.
They were seen standing in front of the lead suspect as he took a backpack off and placed it under a bench. They then left the crowed shrine in central Bangkok.
Moments later the bomb exploded killing at least 20 people, mainly foreigners, wounding scores more and sparking a manhunt for the bomber.
“The Thai man is from Chiang Mai,” Prawut said, explaining he had taken the Chinese man to the Erawan shrine on behalf of a mutual friend. The Chinese man returned home a day after the bomb.
Still image from closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage released by Thai police shows the suspects dressed in red and the other dressed in white - but they have been cleared. Photo: Reuters
Thai authorities have given conflicting and contradictory snippets of information on their quest for the bomber.
But they say they are still confident a bespectacled man in the yellow shirt, described in his arrest warrant as a foreigner is the prime suspect.
Yesterday, Thailand’s ruling junta said the attack was "unlikely" to be the work of international terrorists, adding it was not specifically targeted at Chinese tourists.
"Security agencies have cooperated with agencies from allied countries and have come to the preliminary conclusion that the incident is unlikely to be linked to international terrorism," said Colonel Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for the junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order.
A Thai military policeman and his bomb-sniffing dog inspect elephant statues at the Erawan Shrine. Photo: EPA
The Erawan shrine is popular with Chinese tourists. Thailand’s police chief said at least 10 people were suspected of involvement in the attack that killed 20 people, more than half of them foreigners.
"It is a big network. There was preparation using many people," police chief Somyot Poompanmuang told reporters.
"This includes those who looked out on the streets, prepared the bomb and those at the site and ... those who knew the escape route," he said. "There must have been at least 10 people involved."
Thailand said it would seek help from Interpol on finding the first suspect spotted in CCTV footage casually dropping a backpack at the shrine and then leaving moments before the explosion ripped through the popular tourist site. Police are unsure if the man, who was wearing a yellow T-shirt and spectacles, had fled the country.
An arrest warrant was issued for the unnamed suspect and released a composite image of him in glasses and with dark hair, describing him as tall and with fair skin.
In grainy security video, the young man with shaggy dark hair is seen entering the shrine compound with a backpack on, sitting down against a railing and then slipping out of the bag’s straps. He then stands up and walks out apparently holding a mobile phone, leaving the bag by the fence as tourists mill about.
Police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri on Wednesday gave a more detailed profile of the suspected ethnicity of the alleged bomber, using the Thai phrase “khaek khao” -- a word used to describe light-skinned Muslims from South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the bombing, which has no precedent in Bangkok.
A family member places photographs of four-year-old Lee Jing Xuan and her father Lee Tze Siang in front of their coffins. The two and three others in their family were killed in the Erawan Shrine blast. Photo: Reuters
“We will seek help from Interpol today,” Major General Apichart Suriboonya, the head of Thailand’s Interpol unit, said. “We have to use them... if any country has information on the suspect they can send it to us.”
A so-called Interpol "Blue Notice" asks its global membership to collect additional information on a suspect.
“We are doing our best,” Prawut said. “We have received a lot of information from the public since releasing of the sketch... we are investigating those leads."
When asked if the prime suspect was still in the kingdom, Prawut said: ”I don’t know”.
The arrest warrant, issued by a Bangkok court on Wednesday, accused the unnamed foreigner “of premeditated murder, attempted murder and bomb-making”.
The explosion claimed the lives of at least 13 foreigners -- from Britain, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Another 67 people remained in hospital by late Wednesday, 12 of whom were in critical condition.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha has described the bombing as the “worst ever attack” on Thailand.
It remains unclear who has the capacity and desire to carry out the mass casualty attack on a Southeast Asian nation that has not been hit by terrorism on such a scale.
Left with just guesswork, Thai media outlets have cast suspicion on militants from China’s Uygur minority, a group that faces cultural and religious repression in its homeland.
Last month Thailand forcibly repatriated more than 100 Uygur refugees to China, stirring speculation that Monday’s attack may have been an act of revenge.
But Uygur groups are not known to have ever carried out an attack outside China.
Islamic militant groups have targeted parts of Southeast Asia, including bombings on Indonesia’s holiday island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people. But Thailand has not been a prime target.
Beijing rejects ‘hugely irresponsible’ speculation that Uygur militants were behind Bangkok bombing
No evidence Xinjiang militants exploded bomb, insists Chinese embassy, as Thai junta says it is unlikely international terrorists were involved
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 20 August, 2015, 6:34pm
UPDATED : Friday, 21 August, 2015, 2:07am
Samuel Chan in Bangkok and Agencies
Relatives of Hong Kong victims of the bombing say a prayer outside the Erawan Shrine, scene of the blast, yesterday. Photo: Sam Tsang
China has slammed "hugely irresponsible" Thai media reports that Uygur separatists carried out Monday's deadly bomb attack in Bangkok. Beijing's first comments on the bombing, which killed 20 people and injured more than 120, came as Thai authorities said they no longer believed international terrorists were behind the atrocity.
"Don't you think it is hugely irresponsible for anyone to draw a conclusion without any evidence?" a spokeswoman for the Chinese embassy told the South China Morning Post yesterday in response to media reports suggesting a "revenge motive" by militants from the troubled Xinjiang region after Thailand deported 109 Uygurs back to China last month.
"The Thai authorities are still investigating now; no one should jump to such a conclusion at this stage," she said.
Thailand's junta said they suspected at least 10 plotters were involved in the attack on the Erawan Shrine, which was crowded with tourists, but Chinese nationals were not the "direct target".
"The security agencies have collaborated with intelligence agencies from a lot of countries and have come to the same preliminary conclusion that the incident is unlikely to be linked to international terrorism," military spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree said yesterday in a televised statement.
That leaves the possibility that the perpetrators were locals, feeding speculation that either Muslim separatists waging a low-intensity insurgency in southern Thailand, or domestic political activists, were involved.
But there has been no claim of responsibility so far and authorities have not blamed any group for the country's worst terrorist attack, which they claim was designed to wreck the economy.
The Erawan Shrine is particularly popular with tourists from China and other East Asian countries, and 11 foreigners were among the dead, including five from mainland China and two from Hong Kong.
The families of Vivian Chan Wing-yan, 19, and Arcadia Pang Wan-chee, 24, held a memorial yesterday at the shrine where the two Hongkongers were killed.
"My dear daughter, can you hear me? Will I ever see you again?" murmured a tearful relative of Pang.
Distraught relatives of other victims claimed the remains of their loved ones at a forensic institute. A 50-year-old man from mainland China was overcome by grief while he waited to retrieve the bodies of his daughter and wife.
Police said last night they had cleared two suspects in the bombing. The two two men, identified as a Chinese tourist and his Thai guide, were seen in a security video standing in front of the prime suspect at the shrine shortly before the bomb went off.
According to police, they questioned and freed the Thai man after he turned himself in, while the Chinese man had already left the country.
A mainland man is overcome as he arrives to collect the remains of his daughter and wife. Photo: AP
The two were seen shortly before the main suspect - wearing a yellow shirt and shorts, glasses, and sporting a wispy beard - sat down and left behind his backpack. Described earlier as a "foreigner", he remains at large, and his details have been sent to Interpol.
Checks at airports and other exit points found that no one matching his description had left the country since the attack.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha suggested the main suspect was in disguise. "The criminal altered his appearance," Prayuth said. "It means there was preparation. It was as though he knew a camera was going to be there."
Prayuth had earlier suggested the attack was Thailand's problem and should be resolved internally, but yesterday he called it a threat to the whole region.
National police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said the attack was planned at least a month in advance and a "big network" was involved. "This includes those who looked out on the streets, prepared the bomb and those at the site and ... those who knew the escape route. I believe there must have been at least 10 people involved," he said.
The blast comes at a sensitive time for Thailand, which has been riven for a decade by a sometimes violent struggle for power between political factions in Bangkok. A parliament hand-picked by the junta, which seized power in a 2014 coup, is due to vote on a draft constitution next month.
Critics say the draft is undemocratic and intended to help the army secure power and curb the influence of the country's elected politicians. The government has promised to restore democracy late next year.
Reuters, Associated Press
BOMBING AFTERMATH
Analysis: Too early to rule out any motives
Regime takes flak for trying to 'set narrative'
Published: 21/08/2015 at 03:48 AM http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/663588/analysis-too-early-to-rule-out-any-motives
Just a day after the arrest warrant was issued for a suspected "foreigner" bomber in the Erawan shrine blast case, the military junta said it remained confident the attack has no link to international terror networks.
Regional security analysts think otherwise.
"It seems like a conscious effort on the part of the government to present a certain narrative of what has happened," said Matthew Wheeler, Bangkok-based security analyst at the International Crisis Group.
From day one of the blast, senior government officials were constantly referring to suggestions it was related to domestic politics, with the prime minister referring to a possible red-shirt link.
In this series of CCTV images released by police and reconstructed by the media, the presumed bomber in the yellow shirt hailed and took a tuk-tuk to the Erawan shrine on Monday evening. Authorities are under fire for trying to claim they know why the bomber acted - but really are just setting their own narrative. (Photos courtesy Royal Thai Police via Reuters)
"It is interesting because it seems to contradict what senior officials have said -- that a suspect wearing a yellow T-shirt caught on security camera was a foreigner and that retaliation by the Uighurs may have been a motive. It is contradicting those earlier suggestions."
Others have suggested it is premature for the government to rule out any theories at all, given the lack of any hard evidence.
"Every hypothesis that has been presented has holes and inconsistencies that investigators and analysts are still unable to explain credibly," said Ambika Ahuja, Southeast Asia analyst at the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
Despite suggestions by Gen Prayut that anti-government groups might have had a hand in the attack, Ms Ambika said the timing was not right if their goal is to force an early election.
"This attack, if anything, would push elections further away and distract from the electoral roadmap," she said.
The theory that the damage was inflicted by a red-shirt protester should be given a possibility rating of between "very low" to "moderately high", American security consultant Zachary Abuza writes.
Mr Abuza graded the domestic motive "moderate" as it would discredit the junta for being unable to provide security in the heart of Bangkok and devastate the already fragile economy.
But past attacks reveal red-shirt attacks are on a small scale, amateurish, and certainly do not inflict mass casualties.
"If you wanted to hurt the junta, this would do," he said, although he cautioned that such an attack would be "counter-productive to their cause and give the junta and their supporters greater cause to crack down and cling to power".
On the Uighur revenge theory -- the hypothesis which Thai police believe and the Chinese media suggest -- Mr Abuza ranks that "low" as he doesn't think the Muslim Chinese ethnic group has a network large and sophisticated enough to carry out such an attack.
"Uighurs do have a legitimate grievance against the junta. And there is clearly a growing radicalisation among them," he wrote. "But an attack like that would lose all public or international sympathy."
Flip-flopping on his earlier remarks, Gen Prayut said Thursday the Uighur revenge motive was one of the three theories the authorities had so far. On Wednesday he ruled out this police suggestion.
But Ms Ambika said patterns for politically-motivated terror attacks are not always uniform, and silence from the culprits does not rule out any agenda-driven political groups.
"Looking at the pattern of whether or not a group claims responsibility for an attack can potentially generate false signals," said Ms Ambika, who noted that many attacks in the Middle East and North Africa go unclaimed.
On whether southern Muslim insurgents may be to blame, Mr Abuza ranked this theory "moderately high". He and ICG's Mr Wheeler agreed there was evidence the militants had expanded their work beyond the four southernmost provinces.
The April car bomb attack at the underground parking area of the Central Festival Shopping Mall on Koh Samui in which several people were injured was initially blamed by the ruling junta on the "old power clique".
But a police investigation led to the arrest of two Thai Muslim suspects on charges of terrorism and attempted murder. Another was killed while on the run and there are warrants out for six others.
Although the bomb set off at the Erawan shrine, an improvised explosive device made of galvanised steel pipe with ball bearings inside and lids on both ends, was different from IEDs commonly used in the Muslim South, the southern insurgents have the ability to make "fairly sophisticated IEDs inflicting mass casualties", said Mr Abuza.
"The junta wants it not to be southern insurgents, because if it is, then they have to do something about it," said Mr Abuza, the author of Conspiracy of Silence: The Insurgency in Southern Thailand.
"There is palpable frustration with the peace process and lack of government will, especially with the military's hold on power extended to 2017. They know they have to escalate violence or else the junta will never negotiate in a serious manner."
But such an attack would lead to a major crackdown by security forces and cause the movement to lose the "little international support or sympathy it enjoys", he said.
Mr Abuza also ranked the Islamic State (IS) theory as "moderately high" as IS has "plenty of people in Bangkok who live in the shadows that it could draw on".
But it is not known to have operating cells in Thailand.
Eurasia's Ms Ambika would also not rule out the probability of a revenge attack by those in the armed forces who have been sidelined in recent years and in the upcoming reshuffle.
"The incident highlights the fragility of peace in Bangkok and will increase the stakes for the army government."
Analysis: Too early to rule out any motives
Regime takes flak for trying to 'set narrative'
Published: 21/08/2015 at 03:48 AM http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/663588/analysis-too-early-to-rule-out-any-motives
Just a day after the arrest warrant was issued for a suspected "foreigner" bomber in the Erawan shrine blast case, the military junta said it remained confident the attack has no link to international terror networks.
Regional security analysts think otherwise.
"It seems like a conscious effort on the part of the government to present a certain narrative of what has happened," said Matthew Wheeler, Bangkok-based security analyst at the International Crisis Group.
From day one of the blast, senior government officials were constantly referring to suggestions it was related to domestic politics, with the prime minister referring to a possible red-shirt link.
In this series of CCTV images released by police and reconstructed by the media, the presumed bomber in the yellow shirt hailed and took a tuk-tuk to the Erawan shrine on Monday evening. Authorities are under fire for trying to claim they know why the bomber acted - but really are just setting their own narrative. (Photos courtesy Royal Thai Police via Reuters)
"It is interesting because it seems to contradict what senior officials have said -- that a suspect wearing a yellow T-shirt caught on security camera was a foreigner and that retaliation by the Uighurs may have been a motive. It is contradicting those earlier suggestions."
Others have suggested it is premature for the government to rule out any theories at all, given the lack of any hard evidence.
"Every hypothesis that has been presented has holes and inconsistencies that investigators and analysts are still unable to explain credibly," said Ambika Ahuja, Southeast Asia analyst at the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
Despite suggestions by Gen Prayut that anti-government groups might have had a hand in the attack, Ms Ambika said the timing was not right if their goal is to force an early election.
"This attack, if anything, would push elections further away and distract from the electoral roadmap," she said.
The theory that the damage was inflicted by a red-shirt protester should be given a possibility rating of between "very low" to "moderately high", American security consultant Zachary Abuza writes.
Mr Abuza graded the domestic motive "moderate" as it would discredit the junta for being unable to provide security in the heart of Bangkok and devastate the already fragile economy.
But past attacks reveal red-shirt attacks are on a small scale, amateurish, and certainly do not inflict mass casualties.
"If you wanted to hurt the junta, this would do," he said, although he cautioned that such an attack would be "counter-productive to their cause and give the junta and their supporters greater cause to crack down and cling to power".
On the Uighur revenge theory -- the hypothesis which Thai police believe and the Chinese media suggest -- Mr Abuza ranks that "low" as he doesn't think the Muslim Chinese ethnic group has a network large and sophisticated enough to carry out such an attack.
"Uighurs do have a legitimate grievance against the junta. And there is clearly a growing radicalisation among them," he wrote. "But an attack like that would lose all public or international sympathy."
Flip-flopping on his earlier remarks, Gen Prayut said Thursday the Uighur revenge motive was one of the three theories the authorities had so far. On Wednesday he ruled out this police suggestion.
But Ms Ambika said patterns for politically-motivated terror attacks are not always uniform, and silence from the culprits does not rule out any agenda-driven political groups.
"Looking at the pattern of whether or not a group claims responsibility for an attack can potentially generate false signals," said Ms Ambika, who noted that many attacks in the Middle East and North Africa go unclaimed.
On whether southern Muslim insurgents may be to blame, Mr Abuza ranked this theory "moderately high". He and ICG's Mr Wheeler agreed there was evidence the militants had expanded their work beyond the four southernmost provinces.
The April car bomb attack at the underground parking area of the Central Festival Shopping Mall on Koh Samui in which several people were injured was initially blamed by the ruling junta on the "old power clique".
But a police investigation led to the arrest of two Thai Muslim suspects on charges of terrorism and attempted murder. Another was killed while on the run and there are warrants out for six others.
Although the bomb set off at the Erawan shrine, an improvised explosive device made of galvanised steel pipe with ball bearings inside and lids on both ends, was different from IEDs commonly used in the Muslim South, the southern insurgents have the ability to make "fairly sophisticated IEDs inflicting mass casualties", said Mr Abuza.
"The junta wants it not to be southern insurgents, because if it is, then they have to do something about it," said Mr Abuza, the author of Conspiracy of Silence: The Insurgency in Southern Thailand.
"There is palpable frustration with the peace process and lack of government will, especially with the military's hold on power extended to 2017. They know they have to escalate violence or else the junta will never negotiate in a serious manner."
But such an attack would lead to a major crackdown by security forces and cause the movement to lose the "little international support or sympathy it enjoys", he said.
Mr Abuza also ranked the Islamic State (IS) theory as "moderately high" as IS has "plenty of people in Bangkok who live in the shadows that it could draw on".
But it is not known to have operating cells in Thailand.
Eurasia's Ms Ambika would also not rule out the probability of a revenge attack by those in the armed forces who have been sidelined in recent years and in the upcoming reshuffle.
"The incident highlights the fragility of peace in Bangkok and will increase the stakes for the army government."
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