Bomb attack at central Bangkok tourist attraction kills 18

[GeeseHoward]

Cops link Bangkok bombing to human smuggling in China

Nattasuda Anusondisai, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 12:46 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 01:04 PM EDT

People pray after a religious ceremony at the Erawan shrine, the site of a recent deadly blast, after its was repaired, in central Bangkok, Thailand, September 4, 2015. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

BANGKOK -- Thailand's national police chief said Tuesday that authorities are now certain that last month's deadly bombing at a Bangkok shrine was related to the trafficking of Uighur Muslims from China to Turkey.

Somyot Poompanmoung's comments marked the first time authorities have publicly linked the Aug. 17 bombing to the smuggling of Uighurs, after weeks of hinting at it and saying only that they believe the attack was carried out by human traffickers angered by a crackdown on their network.

In the past week, several Turkish and Chinese links to the bombing appeared to strengthen the theory that the attack was to avenge Thailand's forced repatriation of more than 100 ethnic Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gurs) to China in July. The deportations stirred anger in Turkey, where the Thai Consulate in Istanbul was attacked by a group protesting the expulsions.

Uighurs, an ethnic minority in western China, are related to Turks, and Turkey is home to a large Uighur community.

"It's a network that smuggles Uighurs from one country to the other," Somyot told reporters. "The bombing at Rajaprasong resulted from the fact that Thai authorities destroyed or disrupted their human trafficking network and they couldn't continue their business."

Rajaprasong is the area of Bangkok where the bombing at the busy Erawan Shrine occurred. The blast killed 20 people and injured more than 120.

Thai authorities have avoided calling the bombing an act of terrorism, which they fear would harm Thailand's image as a tourist destination. For the same reason, authorities said they wanted to avoid singling out motives linked to specific countries or religious groups.

Somyot said the bombing and the attack of the consulate in Istanbul "came from the same cause," apparently referring to the trafficking network. "We destroyed their business, which caused anger," he said.

On Monday, police said a key suspect in the bombing travelled with a Chinese passport and had fled to Turkey.

The suspect, identified as Abudureheman Abudusataer, left Thailand on Aug. 16 for Bangladesh, said national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri. He said information gathered by Thai police and Bangladeshi officials showed that the man departed Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, on Aug. 30 and travelled to Istanbul as his final destination, via New Delhi and Abu Dhabi.

Thai police had previously said the man may have directed the bombing.

"He departed Dhaka on Aug. 30 for Delhi by Jet Airways," Prawut said. "From Delhi, he continued his travel to Abu Dhabi, and from Abu Dhabi he travelled on Aug. 31 to Istanbul. This is his final destination. It's clear."

A senior Turkish government official, however, denied that the man had escaped to the country.

A statement issued Tuesday by Ankara's diplomatic mission in Thailand said it had not been contacted by Thai authorities about the allegations that the suspect had fled to Turkey.

Two other key bombing suspects have been arrested and are in custody, charged with possession of illegal explosives. One of them was captured at an apartment on the outskirts of Bangkok where police also discovered bomb-making material, and was in possession of a fake Turkish passport, police said.

The other was caught near the border between Thailand and Cambodia and was carrying a Chinese passport. Police said his fingerprints were found on a container with explosive material confiscated from the apartment

 

[GeeseHoward]

Confusion over the identity of suspect

THE NATION September 17, 2015 1:00 am

Lawyer to seek Turkey Embassy's assistance; Jakthip returns from Malaysia with 'useful info'

THE LAWYER for Bilal Muhammed, one of the first men to be arrested in connection with the Bangkok bomb blast last month, will call on the Turkish embassy tomorrow to verify information given by his client.

Deputy national police chief General Jakthip Chaijinda returned from Malaysia yesterday, saying he had useful information to track down accomplices of those involved in the attack.

Lawyer Chuchart Kanpai said on Nation Channel that he plans to seek the help of the Turkish embassy to confirm statements made by Muhammed.

Earlier identified as Adem Karadag based on his fake passport, Muhammed was captured at an apartment in Bangkok where some bomb-making materials were also seized on August 26.

Thai authorities believe these materials were related to the recent blasts in the capital.

"But he told me that he entered Thailand on August 21," the lawyer said.

The bloody bomb attack on the Erawan Shrine took place on August 17, killing 20 people and wounding more than 100. The following day, an explosive blew up harmlessly under Sathorn Pier.

Chuchart said he did not believe everything that Muhammed has told him.

"I will try to find the truth. If he violated laws, he will be punished," he said.

Muhammed was cited as saying that he was born in China, is of Uighur origin and had migrated to Turkey in 2004 along with his family.

His family has already obtained Turkish citizenship, though he has not yet received his Turkish passport, so he had to use a counterfeit one to travel to Vietnam in the hope of finding a job in Southeast Asia.

"He said he had US$4,000 [Bt143,840] in his pocket when he left Turkey. In Vietnam, he met a man known as Abdullah who provided him with a new fake passport for $1,200," Chuchart said.

Abdullah took Muhammed from Vietnam to Laos and then Thailand.

"He said he expected to travel to Malaysia to seek a job there," the lawyer said.

Chuchart was quoted in earlier reports as saying that the suspect had insisted he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and that he did not play any role in the bomb plot.

The Abdullah referred to by Muhammed is most probably Abu Dustar Abdulrahman, or Izan, who flew out of Bangkok on August 16 to unclear destinations and is one of the 12 suspects wanted by Thai authorities. Police reportedly asked Turkey for cooperation to trace his whereabouts.

On Tuesday, the Turkish embassy issued a statement saying it has not yet been contacted by Thai authorities to verify any information about Izan and that it has no information concerning the investigation.

A police source said officials from the Turkish embassy had come to the Metropolitan Police Headquarters yesterday to help check more than 200 passports that police had retrieved from the apartment where Muhammed was nabbed.

Jakthip refused to confirm whether any of the three suspects in Malaysian custody were the yellow-shirted suspect seen in footage before the Erawan Shrine blast or the blue-shirted suspect accused of the Sathorn Pier blast.

"We need to investigate further," he said.

He added that either he or another senior Thai police officer might be allowed to interrogate the three suspects in Malaysia today.

Police has already gained a lot of information on the yellow-shirted man, he said.

National police chief General Somyot Poompanmuang dismissed reports that the recent Bangkok bombings were in retaliation for Thailand's deportation of Uighurs to China.

 

[GeeseHoward]

Thai police issue arrest warrant for Pakistani over Bangkok blast

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 17 September, 2015, 10:59pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 17 September, 2015, 10:59pm

Associated Press in Bangkok

The suspect, Abdul Tawab, was believed to have frequented the apartment that contained explosives. Photo: EPA

Thai police on Thursday obtained an arrest warrant for a Pakistani man in connection with last month’s deadly bombing in Bangkok that the authorities blame on a people-smuggling gang that moves ethnic Uygurs out of China.

Police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said the warrant for Abdul Tawab cites charges of conspiracy to possess unauthorised explosives and conspiracy to possess unauthorised war materials. The warrant was based partly on testimony that he had frequented an apartment where police found bomb-making materials and arrested another suspect.

Tawab is the first Pakistani suspect wanted in connection with the August 17 bombing that killed 20 people. Twelve previous warrants seek the arrests of a Thai woman and 11 men who are believed to be Turkish or Chinese, or whose nationalities are unknown. Two men have been arrested so far.

Thai police are also searching for this man, who is believed to be a Uygur. Photo: AFP

Police say the motive for the bombing at the Erawan Shrine in central Bangkok’s Rajprasong intersection was revenge for Thai authorities having interfered in their smuggling business, though they have not detailed how. They insist the perpetrators are part of a criminal network, and did not have political motives.

There has been speculation that the attack might have been done to punish Thailand for forcibly repatriating more than 100 Uygurs to China in July. Uygurs allege they are oppressed under Chinese rule, and a small and sometimes violent separatist movement is active. Uygurs are Muslims, and there are also fears that some Uygurs have allied themselves with international jihadist groups.

Thai officials insist the attack was unrelated to any kind of political terrorism, and only on Wednesday did police even publicly acknowledge that the alleged people-smuggling ring moved Uygurs from China to Turkey, where they have linguistic and ethnic links. The identification of previous suspects as being from Xinjiang, the west China home of the Uygurs, and from Turkey seemed to support a link to the Uygur political cause, but the naming of a Pakistani suspect bolsters the police theory that the case involves a multinational smuggling gang.

“This network is related to the smuggling of illegal workers. Most of them were not forced, they wanted to go to this and that country without being caught,” Prawut said. “The people who planted the bomb at Rajprasong used this network’s services.”

Asked if the Pakistani suspect was still in Thailand, Prawut said he would check with immigration police, adding that the authorities had found a woman they believed was his girlfriend. He appeared to be referring to a woman detained this past weekend on an apartment in Bangkok. No charges have yet been filed against her. Thai media have speculated that the Pakistani man may have fled across Thailand’s southern border, and could be one of three people Malaysian authorities have detained at Thailand’s request.

 

[GeeseHoward]

BANGKOK BLAST

Arrest warrant issued for Pakistani

THE NATION September 18, 2015 1:00 am

ABDUL TAWAB

MIN BURI Court yesterday issued an arrest warrant for Pakistani Abdul Tawab on charges of possessing explosives and weapons without a permit. The items in question might have some connection with the Erawan Shrine and Sathorn Pier bombings last month, police said.

A police source said the man might be the head of a human trafficking syndicate that helped two bomb suspects - a man wearing a blue shirt seen in a video passing the crime scene and another man who fled to Malaysia.

Police used clues obtained from searches of an apartment in Nong Chok district on August 29 to convince the court to approve the warrant.

Reports have suggested that Tawab had twice transferred funds to a bank account belonging to a Turkish man who is the husband of Wanna Suanson, a Thai woman also wanted by police but whose whereabouts are unknown.

Last month, two explosions rocked the capital. The one on August 17 at the popular Erawan Shrine killed 20 people and wounded more than 100. At least five Chinese tourists were killed and many others hospitalised. The other blast on the following day under Sathorn Pier caused no casualties.

Authorities are desperately struggling to bring the perpetrators to justice but so far have only two men known as Adem Karadag and Mieraili Yusufu.

Police have failed to narrow down their nationalities, roles in the bomb plot and motives, but give a lot of confusing information to the public every day.

A lawyer said a man earlier identified as Adem Karadag based on his fake passport is in fact named Bilal Muhammed. He was captured at an apartment in Bangkok where some bomb-making materials were also seized on August 26.

His nationality is also unclear. Thai police needed assistance from the Turkish embassy to check more than 250 passports that police had retrieved from the apartment where Muhammed was nabbed. Lt-General Prawut Thavornsiri, a police spokesman, said the embassy officials could not verify the passports but police cannot have them sent to Turkey for examination as requested by the embassy, as they are pieces of evidence. "We might copy the barcodes and pass them to Turkey for verification," he said.

Police would also ask Turkey to trace one of the prime suspects, Abu Dustar Abdulrahman, or Izan, who reportedly flew from Bangladesh to Turkey, Prawut said. However, no contact between Thailand and Turkey on this point has not been officially made , although Thai police have said this to the public for days.

Deputy National Police chief General Jakthip Chaijinda blamed the media for the failure, saying their in-depth stories alerted all the suspects.

"If the media hadn't reported on the suspects' movements, we would have got them last week," he said.

Jakthip obtained no significant information during his visit to Malaysia on Wednesday after a report that Kuala Lumpur had arrested three suspects for illegal entry.

 

[GeeseHoward]

Police keen to talk to cabbie about bomb suspects

THE SUNDAY NATION September 20, 2015 1:00 am

POLICE investing last month's Bangkok bomb blasts want to interrogate a taxi driver who regularly drove some of the main suspects.

Royal Thai Police spokesman Lt-General Prawut Thavornsiri yesterday said that the cab driver was found to have offered his service to some of the foreigners suspected of involvement in the bombs at the Erawan Shrine and Sathorn pier.

"We got new information that this taxi driver drove for the suspects regularly, particularly the man in the blue shirt who was involved with the explosion at Sathorn pier," Prawut said.

The spokesman said that police had allowed three people questioned as witnesses in this case to go home after being interrogated, adding that they had provided "useful information" to investigators.

Prawut said that the witnesses who had earlier been in military detention knew the suspects but they appeared to have no involvement with the attacks.

He added however that they would be charged later if they were found to had a role in the blasts.

The three witnesses were identified as Pakistani man Jawed Igbal, Panisara Chaleeratrom, the wife of a wanted Pakistani named Abdul Tawab, and taxi driver Chob Sakulthong.

Prawut said that based on the latest information obtained from the three witnesses, police had been able to make a sketch of the man in blue shirt, who was caught on a security camera dropping an explosive device into the water at Sathorn Pier.

He said that police would disclose the information later.

 

[GeeseHoward]

Thai police chief unable to confirm reports of Bangkok bomber’s arrest in Malaysia

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 22 September, 2015, 10:13pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 22 September, 2015, 10:13pm

Kyodo in Bangkok

A man wearing a yellow T-shirt and carrying a backpack is seen walking near the Erawan shrine, where a bomb blast killed 22 people in Bangkok. Photo: Reuters

Thailand’s national police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang on Tuesday said he could not confirm reports claiming that Malaysian authorities had arrested a key suspect in the deadly bomb attack in Bangkok.

Reports have claimed Malaysia has detained a man, believed to be the bomber, who was captured on CCTV in a yellow T-shirt near the site of the explosion at the city’s Erawan shrine on August 17. However, Somyot said he had not been informed of such a development.

“When news occurs, we have to examine it by all means in a bid to clarify it. However, at this stage, we cannot confirm this report,” he said.

Among the 20 dead were at least six Chinese nationals, including four from the mainland and two young women from Hong Kong.

Thailand’s national police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said he had not been informed of any fresh developments in Malaysia. Photo: AP

According to local media, the man was apprehended in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday night and confessed to Malaysian police that he was the person who planted the explosive device at the shrine.

A Thai newspaper on Thursday published a picture of a man claimed to be the same suspect.

Police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri responded to the news, saying he had seen the picture but could not confirm whether it was the man and that the Thai police had not been contacted by Malaysian authorities regarding the matter.

Somyot had previously severely criticised immigration officials over allegedly corrupt practices which have allowed illegal migrants to travel in and out the kingdom. A new Immigration Bureau chief was appointed on Monday.

At least one prime suspect, a Chinese Uygur man Meiraili Yusufu, was found to have entered Thailand from Cambodia via the eastern border province of Sa Kaeo.

 

[GeeseHoward]

Malaysia detains eight suspects, including four Uygurs, over Bangkok bombing

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 23 September, 2015, 3:44pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 23 September, 2015, 10:21pm

Associated Press in Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian police Deputy Inspector General Noor Rashid Ibrahim said he did not think the suspects were linked directly to the bombing in Thailand. Photo: AP

Eight people, including four believed to be ethnic Uygurs, have been detained in Malaysia for questioning in connection with last month’s bombing of a shrine in Bangkok that killed 20 people, a senior official said on Wednesday.

National deputy police chief Noor Rashid Ibrahim said they were detained in the past week in Kuala Lumpur as well as in northeastern Kelantan state.

Four of the eight were Malaysians involved in human trafficking, while another four were believed to be Uygur men who entered the country illegally, he said. While there was no evidence they were directly involved in the bombing they were being investigated to see if they had any role in other activities surrounding the blast.

“Right now, there is no concrete evidence to show that they are directly involved,” Noor Rashid said.

He said Thai police had been notified, and he hoped they could aid in identifying the men. Thailand will need to provide basic proof of their involvement in the bombing if it wanted to extradite the suspects, he said.

Police are still hunting for this man, who is believed to the bomber. Photo: Reuters

Noor Rashid initially said the Uygurs had no documents on them and that their only offence was entering Malaysia illegally from Thailand. However, he later said they had passports but it was unclear if they were genuine. He didn’t give further details.

The August 17 blast at the Erawan Shrine in the Thai capital also injured more than 120. Among the 20 dead were at least six Chinese nationals, including four from the mainland and two young women from Hong Kong.

In Bangkok, Thai Police Chief Somyot Poompanmoung said he had not received any confirmation from the Malaysian police that the suspects were involved in the blast.

Thai authorities have arrested 2 suspects they say were linked to the bombing, but believe the actual bomber and the mastermind of the plot have fled the country.

Thailand has suggested those behind the blast may have been from a gang involved in smuggling Uygurs from the Chinese region of Xinjiang, while others speculate they may be separatists or Islamist extremists angry that Thailand repatriated more than 100 Uygurs to China in July.

 

[GeeseHoward]

Thai police say detained man is Bangkok 'bomber' seen on CCTV putting rucksack at shrine before blast

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 26 September, 2015, 11:35am
UPDATED : Saturday, 26 September, 2015, 11:38am

Agence France-Presse in Bangkok

In this photo taken on September 5, a suspect identified by the ruling junta as Adem Karadag is escorted by Thai commando units upon his arrival at a court in Bangkok. Photo: AFP

Thai police on Saturday said a foreigner held in custody over last month’s deadly Bangkok attack was the same yellow-shirted man seen on CCTV placing a rucksack at the shrine moments before the blast.

Authorities have earlier said it was unlikely that either of the two men detained over the August 17 blast, which left 20 dead, were the bomber in what has been an often confusing and contradictory police investigation.

On Saturday national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said the probe now revealed the first arrested suspect, a man police identified as Adem Karadag whose nationality remains unconfirmed, was the bomber.

“It is confirmed that Adem is the man in the yellow shirt based on CCTV footage, eyewitness accounts and his own confession,” Prawut said.

“After he placed the bomb at the shrine he called a motorbike taxi and changed his shirt at a restroom in (nearby) Lumpini Park.”

A foreign suspect in the August 17 Bangkok bombing, who was apprehended on September 1, has admitted to having handed a bomb to a yellow-shirted man suspected to be the bomber. Photo: Xinhua

Karadag’s lawyer - who says his client’s real name is Bilal Mohammed - could not immediately be reached for comment but earlier this week had cast doubt on rumours of his confession to the crime and has said his client was not in the country at the time of the attack.

The suspect now faces up to eight charges including premeditated murder, Prawut said.

Karadag was due to undergo a reenactment of his alleged role in the crime - a standard Thai police procedure - at the shrine.

The unprecedented attack in the heart of Bangkok’s bustling downtown district last month stunned the nation and dealt a fresh blow to Thailand’s reputation as a tourist haven.

The majority of the blast’s fatalities were Chinese visitors, who believe prayers at the shrine bring good fortune. More than 100 other people were left injured.

The motive for the bombing remains unclear but this month Thailand’s police chief linked the attack to China’s Uighur minority for the first time, after weeks of speculation over their role.

A woman prays at the Erawan shrine, the site of recent deadly blast that killed 20 people, in central Bangkok. Photo: Reuters

Somyot Poompanmoung blamed the blast on a gang of people-smugglers motivated by revenge for a crackdown on their lucrative trade including the transfer of Uygurs.

That motive has been widely dismissed by security experts who instead have pointed to Thailand’s forced deportation of 109 Uygurs to China in July, a move that ignited anger in Turkey where nationalist hardliners see the minority as part of a global Turkic-speaking family.

Mostly Muslim Uygurs have long accused Beijing of religious and cultural repression in China’s far western Xinjiang region, with hundreds of refugees believed to have fled in recent years, often heading to Turkey via Southeast Asia.

Thai police arrested Karadag in a flat on the outskirts of Bangkok late last month saying he was in possession of bomb-making equipment and dozens of fake Turkish passports.

The other man is custody has been identified as Yusufu Mieraili, who was seized with a Chinese passport that police believe is real. It notes Xinjiang as his birthplace.

Karadag’s lawyer Chuchart Kanphai has previously said his client was born in Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi, but moved to Turkey in 2004 where he received Turkish nationality and found work as a truck driver with his brother.

He entered Thailand on August 21, four days after the bomb blast, with the aim of finding work in Malaysia, the lawyer has said.

 

[GeeseHoward]

Arrest warrants sought for 16 from military court

THE NATION September 26, 2015 1:00 am

CHANGE IN CASE JURISDICTION IN KEEPING WITH NCPO GUIDELINES, SAYS CITY POLICE CHIEF

POLICE INVESTIGATORS yesterday sought permission from a military court to issue arrest warrants for 16 suspects for their alleged involvement in last month's bombing at the Erawan Shrine, the Metropolitan Police commissioner said.

All of them, including Adem Karadag, who is now believed to have been the bomber, have been charged with colluding in committing premeditated murders and attempted murders and colluding in an explosion that caused deaths, Police Lt-General Sriwara Rangsipramanakul said yesterday.

Investigators are convinced that Karadag, or Bilal Muhammed, is the man seen in CCTV images in a yellow T-shirt who left a backpack containing an explosive device at the shrine on August 17. The explosion left 20 people dead and more than 100 others injured; many foreign tourists were among the casualties.

Sriwara said police have evidence to prove that Karadag was the bomber. The suspect had earlier confessed his role.

Sixteen arrest warrants had been issued for suspects in connection with the bomb blasts at the Erawan Shrine and for a blast at Sathorn Pier the following day.

The Metropolitan Police chief said yesterday that the new arrest warrants being sought from the military court would be for both Thai and foreign suspects, adding that some have already had arrest warrants issued for them by a civilian court. But he declined to identify all of them, claiming he could not remember all the names.

"In seeking the arrest warrants from the military court, the police is acting in line with an order from the National Council for Peace and Order," he said without elaborating.

Under an NCPO order issued after the coup, cases involving explosive materials that are considered military supplies must come under the jurisdiction of the military court, a source familiar with the police investigation said yesterday. That was why the new arrest warrants were being sought from the military court.

Royal Thai Police spokesman Lt-General Prawut Thavornsiri said yesterday that two of the new arrest warrants being sought from the military court were for two foreigners not on the wanted list earlier. Eight other suspects were those already wanted through arrest warrants issued by civilian courts.

Police to reveal 'whole picture' soon

Prawut said investigators had long suspected that Karadag, who was arrested at his apartment room in a Bangkok suburb late last month, was the bomber but they had no clinching evidence to prove it. "Now there is more evidence and there are witnesses who confirm our earlier suspicion," he said, adding the police would soon reveal to the public "the whole picture" of this case.

Meanwhile, national police chief Pol General Somyot Poompanmuang has instructed his adviser on forensic science, Police General Jarumporn Suramanee, to work with the Metropolitan Police for digital 'superimposition' of images to determine whether Karadag is the bomber, whose image was caught on security cameras.

Somyot said an ally country and a company with the necessary equipment had offered to help with the digital superimposition, but he declined to identify them.

The police chief said that personally he was convinced that Karadag was the bomber. He added that the suspect had confessed to his role without being tortured. Karadag's lawyer Choochart Khanphai, yesterday denied media reports that his client had confessed to planting the explosive device.

"My client, a Turkish citizen, maintains that he came into the country on August 21, which is after the bombing," the lawyer told Deutsche Presse-Agentur by phone. The man travelled to Thailand on a fake passport, hoping to continue to Malaysia in search of work, he said.

However, a police source said yesterday that Karadag was caught on security camera inside a Bangkok convenience store in early August.

 

[GeeseHoward]

Thai police lead key suspects to Bangkok bomb site for re-enactment

Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Athit Perawongmetha, Reuters
First posted: Saturday, September 26, 2015 01:25 PM EDT | Updated: Saturday, September 26, 2015 01:38 PM EDT

Police officers escort a key suspect in last month's Bangkok bombing, yellow shirt, identified as Adem Karadag, during a re-enactment for the Aug. 17 bombing at Bangkok's popular Erawan Shrine on Sept. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

BANGKOK - Police in Thailand led two suspects to the scene of last month's Bangkok bomb blast for a re-enactment of their alleged crimes on Saturday, a day after police said one of the men was responsible for planting the bomb that killed 20 people.

Fourteen foreigners were among those killed in the attack, the worst incident of its kind in Thai history. It dealt a fresh blow to Thailand's important tourism industry, which had just begun to recover after political protests last year.

Police escorted the two men to the shrine and a nearby shopping mall in the Thai capital.

The men, handcuffed and wearing body armour, walked through the re-enactment, a standard Thai police procedure, while bystanders were kept at a distance.

National police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said on Friday one of the two men was the same yellow-shirted man seen in security footage placing a backpack at the shrine moments before the blast.

Prawut told reporters at the shrine on Saturday that the first arrested suspect, who has been referred to both as Bilal Mohammed and Adem Karadag, the name on a Turkish passport he holds, was responsible for the bombing.

"We have now identified him as the one who killed 20 people and injured many others," said Prawut.

Karadag, whose nationality remains unconfirmed, wore a yellow shirt on top of his prison uniform and sat on a bench at the shrine during the re-enactment - the same place the man seen in security footage left the backpack containing the bomb.

The second man arrested, Yusufu Mieraili, used a mobile phone to trigger the bomb, Prawut said without giving further details.

Mieraili, dressed in a dark blue shirt, went through his re-enactment near a shopping mall a stone's throw from the shrine, from where police say he detonated the bomb.

Authorities had earlier said it was unlikely that either of the two men detained over the Aug. 17 blast were the bomber in what has been an often contradictory police investigation.

Police had also said they believed Mieraili conspired in the attack but did not detonate the bomb.

Karadag's lawyer, who says his client's real name is Bilal Mohammed, said Karadag maintains he is innocent and had last visited him on Sept. 15.

"The appearance of the yellow shirt man [in CCTV footage] and Adem do not match. I do not believe Adem would confess," lawyer Chuchart Kanphai said.

The motive for the attack remains unclear.

 

[GeeseHoward]

ERAWAN ATTACK

Bomb suspect set to lose passport

THE NATION September 28, 2015 1:00 am

Move follows Wanna Suansan breaking promise to surrender to police

POLICE have asked the Foreign Ministry to revoke the passport of a female suspect wanted in connection with the deadly bomb attack at the Erawan Shrine in August.

Police spokesman General Prawut Thavornsiri said the whereabouts of Wanna Suansan was not known.

Wanna had broken her promise |to surrender, Prawut said.

An arrest warrant was issued for Wanna, a native of Phang Nga, as she had rented flat rooms in Bangkok's Min Buri district to bomb suspects. Explosives and bomb-making |materials were found in those flats.

Her Turkish husband, Emrah Davuloglu, is also wanted under an arrest warrant.

Wanna, believed to be in Turkey when the warrant was issued, denied any involvement in the blast and told the media in telephone interviews that she would surrender and come back to Thailand to fight for her innocence.

Meanwhile, Chuchart Kanpai, the lawyer of alleged Erawan Shrine bomber Adem Karadag, remained adamant that his client was not the bomber and he did not believe Karadag had confessed as police claim.

He will meet Karadag, whose nationality is still unclear, at a special prison today along with representatives of the Turkish embassy in Bangkok.

Police led Karadag - now known as the yellow-shirt man - on a re-enactment of the crime on Saturday to try to substantiate his alleged confession.

"I am sure that Karadag is not the

bomber as he has different body type from the yellow-shirt guy seen on the surveillance camera. The yellow-shirt guy is tall and has broad shoulders but my client has a smaller build," Chuchart said.

He revealed that he tried to visit his client in prison several times but was denied, having been told Karadag was being treated for flu and high blood pressure.

The lawyer admitted that he was worried Karadag would be tried in a military court as it would rule out an appeal option.

A police investigator meanwhile revealed that one of the bomb suspects, Yongyut Pobkaew, had a record related to his alleged involvement in many bomb-related cases and had an arrest warrant issued against him for alleged explosives possession.

Yongyut met Wanna many times at a house and had conversations with Mieraili Yusufu, a prime suspect in the case, on numerous occasions.

Mieraili was arrested at the Thai-Cambodian border province of Sa Kaew on September 2.

The shrine blast killed 20 |people and wounded more than 100.

In a related development, Vice Admiral Krisda Charoenpanich, deputy judge advocate general, said a bomb-squad team found nothing suspicious about reports that a suspect-looking man with a backpack and wearing sunglasses entered the Bangkok Military Court compound on Friday. The man went onto the roof of the building and left.

Krisda said the initial investigation revealed that the man may be a tourist or was looking for a toilet. It is common for people to enter the court's compound to use its toilets, he said.

Meanwhile, police spokesman Prawut said the alleged blast |"mastermind", Abudustar Abdulrahman or Isan, was now in Turkey after fleeing Thailand one day before the blast.

He said police were checking reports that he was on the move again, in a bid to locate Isan.

In a related development, Lt-General Srivara Rangsibrah-|manankul, the metropolitan police commissioner, has issued an order to transfer three police colonels at Lumpini Police Station to inactive posts at police headquarters.

The order cited that the transfers were needed to prevent damage to the authorities.

But a source said it was because the officers had failed to spot the suspected yellow-shirt bomber in CCTV footage at Lumpini Park after the bomb went off.

It was discovered recently that the suspect change into a grey shirt at a toilet at the park.

 

[GeeseHoward]

BANGKOK BLAST

Suspect Bilal says not paid for shrine bomb

The Nation October 1, 2015 1:00 am

His lawyer believes he did the attack to repay a personal favour; knows only one of the suspects

The prime suspect in the Erawan Shrine bombing yesterday went back on his previous denials and admitted to his lawyer that he planted the deadly bomb, which killed 20 people and injured more than 100 others on August 17.

"But he says he was not paid for it. So, I personally believe he might have done it to repay a personal favour," said Chuchart Kanphai, the suspect's lawyer.

Chuchart yesterday met with his client, Bilal Mohammed, for more than two hours. The suspect, also known as Adem Karadag, had up to now stuck to his story that he was not the yellow-shirted person caught on a surveillance camera leaving a backpack full of explosives at Erawan Shrine.

Chuchart said Bilal confessed to him that he had placed the bag containing the explosives at the site. He said he was acting in accordance to the instructions of Abdullah Abdullahman, who had been staying at the Poon Anan Apartment in Bangkok's Nong Chok district.

Bilal was arrested at the same apartment on August 29 and bomb-making materials were also found. He and Abdullah stayed in different rooms on the same floor.

For the first time since the bombing, it is now clear what role Abdullah played in the attack. On September 7, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Abdullah along with a sketch artist's drawing based on a description provided by Bilal.

Chuchart said Bilal had told him he did not know any of the other suspects wanted for the blast, apart from Abdullah.

"Bilal came to Thailand on August 14," Chuchart said.

The lawyer said Bilal was sticking to his story that he planned to travel on to Malaysia. But the suspect has already backtracked from his previous claim that he was a Turkish citizen, Chuchart said.

"He now tells me that he is an Uighur. Though born in Turkey, he had lived in Urunchi, China," the lawyer said.

He added that Bilal had asked for an Uighur interpreter because he could not speak English or Turkish fluently.

"He has said he wants to contact his relatives in Turkey," Chuchart said.

According to the lawyer, relevant embassies have indicted it is difficult to verify the identity of Bilal given that so many people use exactly the same name.

Chuchart said he has changed his defence strategy and is now planning to fight Bilal's case by asking for leniency on the grounds that the suspect made a confession.

The authorities have arrested two suspects in connection with the bomb blast. The other suspect in detention was named as Mieraili Yusufu.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Lt-General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul yesterday confirmed reports that Aod Payungwong, also known as Yongyut Pobkaew, who is also wanted for the Erawan Shrine blast, was a former red-shirt guard.

"His name appears in the investigation report for his violation of the state-of-emergency decree in 2010. We also have a clear picture of him," the senior police officer said.

According to Srivara, Yongyut has been prosecuted in nine cases already. Last year, he was also wanted for crimes related to explosives.

Pol Maj-General Chayaphon Chatchaidej, Metropolitan Police Bureau deputy spokesman, said witnesses had implicated Yongyut in the Erawan Shrine blast.

"They had seen him with Wanna [Suansan] at the Maimuna Garden apartment," Chayaphon said.

Wanna is another of the suspects wanted for the deadly attack. Witnesses said she had rented rooms for many of the other suspects.

Pol Colonel Manop Sukhonthanapat, superintendent of Talat Phlu Police Station, said Yongyut had provided an address when he was arrested for his previous crimes; however, a probe has found that as many as 27 other people live at the same address.

An informed source said officials checked on the house that Yongyut had previously identified as his address in Ayutthaya province, but the current residents insisted that they did not know him.

Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda, the incoming national police chief, yesterday said police were paying close attention to the technique used to make the August 27 bomb and the detonating cord used.

"They are unique. But the detonation is reminiscent to what we found in the deep South," Chakthip said.

 

[GeeseHoward]

Hunt for Thai bomb suspect intensifies

The Nation October 2, 2015 1:00 am

Police have interviewed his mother and are attempting to confirm his identity

POLICE have stepped up their investigation of a Thai man suspected of supplying the explosives used in the Erawan Shrine blast.

The suspect, Aod Payungwong, has no identity card despite standing trial several times and being convicted of a crime, it was revealed.

Police visited Siriraj Hospital yesterday to see if Aod's birth was registered there.

They had earlier visited Ban Banglamung elderly care centre in Chon Buri province to talk to Anong Payungwong, 61, Aod's mother. Aod is also known as Yongyut Pobkaew.

He is one of two Thais wanted in connection with the shrine blast, which killed 20 people and wounded more than 100 others on August 17. Police have issued 17 arrest warrants in the case, with most of the suspects being foreign.

Police General Somyot Poompan-muang, a former national police chief, said Aod did not have an identity card. A police source quoted Anong as saying she had not seen her son in about five years and he had stopped sending her money during that period.

The source said Anong told police she delivered Aod at Siriraj Hospital and registered the birth there, making it possible for him to acquire the 13-digit identity card, but that he failed to apply for the card at a district office.

"We want to confirm his identity and his nationality is that of a Thai citizen," the source said.

Aod did not know who his father was, he worked as a garbage collector and frequently moved from place to place, the source said. He had a son and a daughter who were adopted by an Australian couple.

Police previously linked him to explosions when protesters took to the streets against the Abhisit government and later the Yingluck government.

The suspicion that he may be involved in the blast has led police to believe that politics may have played a part in the attack. He was given a suspended jail term in an explosive-related case.

Police General Jakthip Chaijinda, the national police chief, said the investigation would continue despite the closure of a centre set up as part of the probe.

He said he would not make changes to the investigation team.

Two suspects have been arrested in the case while 15 others are at large.

Police Lt-General Sriwara Ransibrah-manakul, deputy national police chief, said police had enough evidence to link Aod to the case.

 

[GeeseHoward]

Alert ordered after blasts in China

The Nation October 2, 2015 1:00 am

NATIONAL POLICE Commissioner Pol General Jakthip Chaijinda has ordered a close watch over the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok and major tourist sites after several explosions hit China on Wednesday.

Millions of Chinese people visit Thailand each year. The number of Chinese tourists in the country looks set to increase during the National Day holidays that began yesterday and run until next Wednesday. "We must be on alert," Jakthip said yesterday. "We need to ensure safety."

He said strict surveillance had not detected any suspicious activity to date. There is no report that terrorists have entered Thailand either.

In August, two blasts hit Bangkok. The one at the Erawan Shrine caused 20 deaths and injured more than 100. Several of them were Chinese.

Police are still investigating the Bangkok bombings.

In the border province of Chiang Rai, Chiang Saen immigration chief Pol Colonel Natcharit Pinpak said he had deployed more officials at the immigration checkpoint to facilitate the inflow of people, which is set to increase during the Chinese holidays.

"Many tourists have entered Thailand via Chiang Rai. They travel along the road from China to Laos and then to Chiang Rai," he said. He added that screening measures were strict as officials were committed to preventing criminals and terrorists from trying to sneak in by posing as holidaymakers.

 

[GeeseHoward]

Foreign Affairs helping in hunt to locate bomb suspects abroad

The Nation October 3, 2015 1:00 am

THE FOREIGN Affairs Ministry is working with international police to hunt down suspects behind the Erawan Shrine bombing who have fled the country. It has also said that four more warrants will be issued in relation to the attack.

Yesterday Royal Thai Police spokesman Lt-General Prawut Thavornsiri said that police had found information indicating two to three suspects have already left Thailand, so officers were working with countries where they may have gone and international police to try to track them down.

"I admit that it is hard to catch these suspects because the evidence against them is not strong, but I believe that we can arrest all of the suspects," Prawut said.

Aod's mother found

In regard to claims that police had arrested Aod Payungwong, also known as Yongyut Pobkaew, a Thai suspect in the shrine blast, Prawut said he had checked with the Metropolitan Police Bureau there was still no report of Aod's arrest. But the police had found his mother.

"Aod has not seen his mother for a long time and now a check is going on to find his birth certificate at Siriraj Hospital. He was last seen at Min Buri in Bangkok and Nong Chok district," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwon stressed that both Aod and Izan needed to be brought to police custody to investigate how and who they connected with.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said it was the police's duty to ensure that arrested suspects were not wrongly captured and there was no need for concern if there was evidence against them, as they were true suspects.

No links in Malaysian arrests

National police chief General Jakthip Chaijinda reassured that police would catch the remaining 15 suspects including Aod soon, saying police had found clear evidences and four investigation teams had been sent to possible hiding places.

Jakthip revealed that more than 200 witnesses had been interrogated and said four new arrest warrants would be issued. So police would do everything to capture them all as soon as possible.

Prawut also said the tracking of money transfers showed that most amounts exchanged within the group were not large, but police could detect where money was sent from.

On the effort to capture Abu Dustar Abdulrahman, or Izan, he said police were working with the Foreign Affairs Ministry to check on his |departure.

He also revealed that eight suspects arrested in Malaysia had no connection with the bomb case."For the suspicious white foreign man, who was found on close circuit camera roaming around Bangkok Military Court, Dusit District Court has issued a warrant for him for the allegation of trespass into the other office without good reason," he said.

On the Bt7 million reward for capturing the bomb suspects offered by Panthongtae Shinawatra, he said there was no word from Panthongtae on handing over the reward yet, but police wanted to be sure on his intention and how to manage the reward.

 

[GeeseHoward]

Thaksin's son gives Thai police reward for blast probe

AFP
October 4, 2015, 10:41 pm

Bangkok (AFP) - The son of ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra has handed police a reward of nearly $200,000 for their investigation into the deadly Bangkok blast, after authorities declared the first suspect arrested was the bomber.

The unprecedented August attack at a shrine in a bustling shopping district killed 20 people, mostly ethnic Chinese tourists, landing a fresh blow to the nation's image as a holiday paradise after last year's military coup and months of street protests which preceded it.

The reward from Panthongtae Shinawatra -- the first born son of populist leader Thaksin -- follows Thai police rewarding their own officers some $84,000 for arresting the bombing suspect two weeks after the blast.

"My team has handed seven million baht ($192,000) to the national police headquarters to boost the spirits of officials," Panthongtae declared in a Facebook post on Saturday.

Thailand's national police chief Jakthip Chaikinda confirmed the money had been received, telling reporters Sunday that the sum was marked for police officers involved the investigation and those who provided tip-offs.

It was not immediately clear if any members of the public would receive a cut for tip-offs. The earlier reward from police was earmarked only for officers as officials at the time said they had not received any public tip-offs after their call for information.

- Mystery motive -

After weeks of an often confusing and contradictory probe, police last month announced that the foreign man they had arrested in possession of bomb-making equipment in August was the main yellow-shirted suspect seen on CCTV leaving a rucksack at a shrine moments before the blast.

They said the man -- named by police both as Bilal Mohammed and Adem Karadag -- had confessed to planting the bomb. The suspect's lawyer later confirmed his client had admitted doing so.

But mystery still shrouds the motive for the unclaimed attack.

On Sunday Jakthip said police had not ruled out any motive for the crime with warrants out for more than a dozen other suspects believed to be involved.

There is only one other man in custody over the attack, a foreigner named as Yusuf Mieraili who is a Chinese passport-holder of Uighur ethnicity. Authorities have not confirmed the nationality of either of the two held.

Strong speculation has centred on a link to militants or supporters of the Uighurs, an ethnic group who say they face severe persecution in China.

But Thai authorities have avoided using the word Uighur largely, analysts say, for fear of angering China -- one of the ruling junta's few international friends.

In July the kingdom forcibly deported a group of 109 Uighurs back to China, sparking widespread condemnation.

Police have previously said they believe the bombing was a revenge attack by a people-smuggling gang angered at a recent crackdown on their illicit business.

And in a new twist last week they said domestic political grievances could also have been a factor in a country bitterly divided by rival factions, revealing one local suspect was linked to previous bombings in the kingdom.

Thailand's long-running political schism roughly pits the rural and urban poor loyal to Thaksin, toppled in a 2006 coup, against royalist elites backed by large portions of the military.

Thaksin currently lives abroad in self-imposed exile after a corruption conviction that he insists was political. His sister, ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra, was forced out of office days before the current junta seized power last May.

In his post Saturday Panthongtae criticised officials who had linked the blast to domestic politics when the evidence pointed to foreigners, saying they "should not receive a single baht" of the reward.

 

[Pulse]

Thailand indicts 2 Uygur men for deadly Bangkok shrine bombing that killed 20 people

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 24 November, 2015, 1:37pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 24 November, 2015, 1:52pm

Associated Press in Bangkok

Police officers escort suspects Bilal Mohammad, front, and Mieraili Yusufu, rear, as they arrive at a military court in Bangkok. Photo: AP

A military court in Thailand on Tuesday indicted two men police say carried out a deadly August bombing at a central Bangkok shrine that left 20 people dead, including six Chinese visitors.

The August 17 blast at the popular Erawan Shrine was one of the most serious acts of violence in Bangkok in decades. Authorities have declined to call it an act of terrorism out of apparent fear that it would hurt the country's huge tourism industry.

The two suspects, identified as Bilal Mohammad and Mieraili Yusufu, were indicted on 10 counts — none of them terrorism charges — connected to the blast. The charges included conspiracy to explode bombs and commit premeditated murder, said defense lawyer Chuchart Kanpai.

Both men have been described by officials as ethnic Uygurs from western China's Xinjiang region. Officials say the blast was carried out by a people-smuggling gang seeking revenge on Thai authorities for cracking down on their operation.

Thailand’s prime minister called the bombing the “worst ever attack” on Thailand. Photo: Reuters

Thai officials say there was no political or religious motive behind the attack but scepticism about the police explanation on the shrine attack has abounded because of leaks, contradictions, misstatements and secrecy surrounding the investigation.

The two men have been held at an army base since their arrests in late August and early September.

Media was not allowed to enter the military court Tuesday and the indictments took place before the two suspects arrived, said Chuchart, their lawyer.

They are being tried at a military court on an army base in Bangkok because cases of “national security” have been handled by the military since last May, when the army seized power in a coup from an elected government.

Former National Police Chief Somyot Poomphanmuang said before his retirement in September that the case against the two suspects was supported by closed-circuit television footage, witnesses, DNA matching and physical evidence, in addition to their confessions.

Police believe Bilal is this man who was seen at Erawan shrine before the blast. Photo: Reuters

Security camera footage from the Erawan Shrine showed a man wearing a yellow T-shirt who sat down on a bench at the outdoor shrine, took off a black backpack and then left it behind as he stood up and walked away. Time stamps showed he left the shrine just minutes before the blast occurred, during evening rush hour as the area in central Bangkok was filled with people.

Police believe that Bilal is the yellow-shirted man who planted the bomb and Yusufu is believed to have detonated the bomb.

Police said they have confessions from the two, and Bilal's lawyer says his client admitted planting the deadly bomb at the behest of another suspect who remains a fugitive. He says Bilal was induced to carry out the action by a promise that his emigration to Turkey would be expedited.

Early speculation about the bombing suggested it might be the work of Uygur separatists who were angry that Thailand in July forcibly repatriated more than 100 Uighurs to China, where it is feared they face persecution. The theory was bolstered by the fact that the Erawan Shrine is popular among Chinese tourists, who figured prominently among the victims of the bombing.

Some of the 15 other suspects are Turks, with whom Uygurs share ethnic bonds, and Turkey is home to a large Uygur community. Beijing charges that some Uygurs are Islamist terrorists and that some have been smuggled out of China to join Islamic State fighters in Syria, via Turkey.

 

[Pulse]

Thai police say arrests made abroad in connection with Bangkok bomb

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 03 December, 2015, 4:21pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 03 December, 2015, 4:21pm

Reuters in Bangkok

Arrest warrants have been issued for 17 people in connection with the attack, Thai police say. Photo: AFP

Thai police said on Thursday that suspects wanted in connection with a bomb that ripped through a Bangkok shrine, killing 20 people, have been arrested abroad and that Thailand was in the process of requesting their extradition.

More than 120 people were wounded in the August blast, the worst peacetime bombing in Thailand’s history.

So far, arrest warrants have been issued for 17 people in connection with the attack. Police have said many are thought to have fled abroad.

“We have caught more people with arrest warrants out for them in connection to this case, including Thais and foreigners, but they are currently abroad and we are in the process of working with the attorney general and foreign affairs ministry to bring them to Thailand,” Police Lieutenant General Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul, deputy national police chief, told reporters.

“I cannot give more details on this as it is a sensitive matter and could impact diplomatic relationships.”

There has been strong criticism of the police investigation because few facts have been clearly established. Authorities were also accused of failing to seal off the crime scene properly and rapidly hosing down the pavement before forensic evidence was recovered.

Wreckage of motorcycles at the scene of a blast in central Bangkok August 17, 2015. Photo: Reuters

It was not immediately clear if those detained would return to Thailand to appear in court.

Two suspects arrested in Thailand were indicted by a military court last month and are currently being held at a Bangkok military base. Ten charges were brought against the pair, including illegal possession of weapons, premeditated murder and murder for the bombing.

Documents sent by prosecutors to the military court say the two men are Chinese nationals from the Muslim Uyghur minority.

The men will formally hear the charges against them in February.

Police have said that the blast was in retaliation for a crackdown on human smuggling gangs earlier this year. They ruled out any link to the repatriation of 109 Uyghurs to China in July.

The Uyghurs are a Turkic-language speaking group that calls China's western Xinjiang region home. Some Turks see themselves as sharing cultural and religious bond with their Uyghur “brothers”.

The Uyghur issue is sensitive for the Thai government and any link between the bomb and the deportation of people at China's behest could expose it to censure that its foreign policy led to the bomb attack.

 

[Picasso]

‘We don’t know where they are’: Thai police say they are unable to find 15 suspects in connection with Bangkok shrine blast

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks that killed 20 and the two Uygur Muslims suspects who have been arrested deny all charges

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 20 April, 2016, 5:26pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 20 April, 2016, 5:26pm

Reuters

Thai police cannot find 15 suspects in connection with a bomb at a shrine in Bangkok last year that killed 20 people, an officer said on Wednesday, as two ethnic Uygur Muslims from China accused of involvement appeared in a military court.

No group claimed responsibility for the August 17 blast at the Erawan Shrine, a central tourist spot popular with visitors from China and elsewhere in Asia. Five of the dead were from China and two from Hong Kong. More than 120 people were wounded.

Analysts, diplomats and even officials suspected the attack was linked to Uygur sympathisers angered by Thailand’s deportation of more than 100 Uygurs to China the previous month.

But police ruled out “terrorism” and said the attack was retaliation for a crackdown on human-smuggling.

The two suspects who were arrested – Yusufu Mieraili and Adem Karadag– are Uygur Muslims, a minority from western China who speak a Turkic language. They have denied all charges.

Police have issued arrest warrants for 15 other people, eight of whom are thought to be either Turkish or in Turkey, according to the warrants and police statements.

“We don’t know where they are,” deputy police spokesman Major General Songpol Wattanachai said. “The perpetrators have done their utmost to escape.”

Shaven-headed and barefoot, Mieraili and Karadag – who is also known as Bilal Mohammed – were led in handcuffs and leg shackles into a cramped court in Bangkok’s old city.

Mieraili said he expected the trial would take “a very long time”. The men had marks on their foreheads which Mieraili said came from coming into contact with the floor during prayer.

Three judges heard evidence laid out in 25 thick files on a table beneath them. There was no jury.

The defendants’ lawyers said more than 500 witnesses could be called for the prosecution and defence, and that the high-profile trial could last a year or more.

Proceedings were laboriously translated through two interpreters from Thai to English to the Uygur language.

Police say Karadag was the man caught on CCTV footage at the shrine, sitting on bench, slipping off a bulky back-pack and walking away, just before the blast.

Most Uygurs live in China’s violence-plagued Xinjiang region, where exiles and human rights groups say Uygurs chafe under government policies that restrict their culture and religion.

China denies this and blames Islamist militants for the rising violence.

Thai National Security Council secretary Anusit Kunakorn said on Wednesday Thailand had received a security warning from Singapore about three Uygurs who had entered Thailand.

He did not give details.

On April 9, Thailand stepped up security because two Chinese Uygur men linked to “foreign terror groups” had overnighted on the resort island of Phuket, police said. They were later arrested in Indonesia.