Bangkok Bomber Was Part of a Network, Says Top Policeman
BY AT EDITOR
AUGUST 19, 2015
A man suspected of planting a deadly bomb in the Erawan shrine in Bangkok Monday was part of a wider “network”, Thailand’s top policeman said Wednesday, AFP reports.
With no claim of responsibility, the motive and identity of the culprit remain a mystery.
“It’s a network,” police chief General Somyot Poompanmoung told reporters without elaborating, a day after CCTV footage emerged showing a suspect leaving a backpack moments before the blast struck.
“We believe there must be people helping him, Thai people,” he added, appearing to rule out the action of a lone wolf attacker.
Police had initially said a second explosion at a Bangkok pier Tuesday that caused no injuries may also be linked, deepening fears for residents as police conceded they do not know who was responsible.
But on Wednesday, Somyot said the second attack might also be a “copycat” and that police were keeping all options open.
Thai police have offered a one million baht ($28,000) reward for information that leads to the arrest of the main suspect.
Widely circulated video of the suspect, apparently young and slightly built, and sporting glasses and shaggy dark hair, has prompted social media chatter that he could be a foreigner.
In a televised address Wednesday, Thai junta spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree said security has been tightened in tourist areas “especially where there are many Chinese tourists, to regain their trust and confidence.”
Erawan Shrine reopens
A stream of devotees arrived at the Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine which reopened Wednesday after the violent incidents Monday.
They knelt, lit incense and laid flowers at the Hindu temple as about a dozen monks led the prayers.
A relative of the dead Malaysians laid bundles of clothes at the shrine to represent the lost loved ones, according to a monk.
The shrine — a popular tourist attraction that typifies the kingdom’s unusual blend of Hindu and Buddhist traditions — and its surrounding had already been largely restored.
One devotee had more reason than most to give his thanks to the deity, Brahma, the Hindu god of creation.
Tommy Goh, 56, a Thai-Malaysian from Penang, said only a delayed taxi from his hotel spared him from being at the shrine around the time of the blast.
“Every year I come down to this shrine, we were meant to be here around 6.50-7pm but the taxi didn’t arrive from the hotel … so we went somewhere else,” he told AFP. “Ten minutes later and it could have been so different!”
Among the devotees was an office worker, Nuansupha Sarunsikarin, who expressed shock and sadness over the attack.
“I’m depressed for those innocent people who had to pay for something they’re not involved with and now have no chance to live their lives,” he said.
AUGUST 19, 2015
A man suspected of planting a deadly bomb in the Erawan shrine in Bangkok Monday was part of a wider “network”, Thailand’s top policeman said Wednesday, AFP reports.
With no claim of responsibility, the motive and identity of the culprit remain a mystery.
“It’s a network,” police chief General Somyot Poompanmoung told reporters without elaborating, a day after CCTV footage emerged showing a suspect leaving a backpack moments before the blast struck.
“We believe there must be people helping him, Thai people,” he added, appearing to rule out the action of a lone wolf attacker.
Police had initially said a second explosion at a Bangkok pier Tuesday that caused no injuries may also be linked, deepening fears for residents as police conceded they do not know who was responsible.
But on Wednesday, Somyot said the second attack might also be a “copycat” and that police were keeping all options open.
Thai police have offered a one million baht ($28,000) reward for information that leads to the arrest of the main suspect.
Widely circulated video of the suspect, apparently young and slightly built, and sporting glasses and shaggy dark hair, has prompted social media chatter that he could be a foreigner.
In a televised address Wednesday, Thai junta spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree said security has been tightened in tourist areas “especially where there are many Chinese tourists, to regain their trust and confidence.”
Erawan Shrine reopens
A stream of devotees arrived at the Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine which reopened Wednesday after the violent incidents Monday.
They knelt, lit incense and laid flowers at the Hindu temple as about a dozen monks led the prayers.
A relative of the dead Malaysians laid bundles of clothes at the shrine to represent the lost loved ones, according to a monk.
The shrine — a popular tourist attraction that typifies the kingdom’s unusual blend of Hindu and Buddhist traditions — and its surrounding had already been largely restored.
One devotee had more reason than most to give his thanks to the deity, Brahma, the Hindu god of creation.
Tommy Goh, 56, a Thai-Malaysian from Penang, said only a delayed taxi from his hotel spared him from being at the shrine around the time of the blast.
“Every year I come down to this shrine, we were meant to be here around 6.50-7pm but the taxi didn’t arrive from the hotel … so we went somewhere else,” he told AFP. “Ten minutes later and it could have been so different!”
Among the devotees was an office worker, Nuansupha Sarunsikarin, who expressed shock and sadness over the attack.
“I’m depressed for those innocent people who had to pay for something they’re not involved with and now have no chance to live their lives,” he said.
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