Thai authorities said on Tuesday they were looking for a suspect seen on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage near a famous shrine where a bomb blast killed 22 people, nearly half of them foreigners.
The government said the attack during the Monday evening rush hour in the capital’s bustling commercial hub was aimed at destroying the economy. No one has claimed responsibility.
Jangling nerves in the city on Tuesday, a small explosive was thrown from a bridge towards a river pier, sending a plume of water into the air, but no one was injured.
The man suspected of the bombing at the Erawan shrine was seen in grainy CCTV footage entering the compound with a backpack on, sitting down against a railing and then slipping out of the bag’s straps.
Wearing a yellow shirt and with shaggy, dark hair, the young man then stands up and walks out holding a blue plastic bag and what appears to be a mobile phone. The backpack was left by the fence as tourists milled about.
National police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said the suspect could be Thai or foreign.
“That man was carrying a backpack and walked past the scene at the time of the incident. But we need to look at the before and after CCTV footage to see if there is a link,” Somyot told a news conference.
Police earlier said they had not ruled out any group, including elements opposed to the military government, for the bombing at the shrine, although officials said the attack did not match the tactics of Muslim insurgents in the south.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha also referred to the man as a suspect without giving details. He said there were “still anti-government groups out there,” although he did not elaborate.
Police were at the blood-splattered site on Tuesday, some wearing white gloves and carrying plastic bags, searching for clues to an attack that could dent tourism and investor confidence.
Police said the death toll was 22, with 123 people wounded.
“Police are not ruling out anything including (Thai) politics and the conflict of ethnic Uighurs who, before this, Thailand sent back to China,” Somyot said. Thailand forcibly returned 109 Uighurs to China last month.
The Erawan shrine, on a busy corner near top hotels, shopping centres, offices and a hospital, is a major attraction, especially for visitors from East Asia, including China. China urged Thailand to thoroughly investigate the blast and punish the perpetrators.
Four Chinese, a British resident of Hong Kong, 2 Malaysians, a Singaporean, an Indonesian and a Filipino were also killed.Scores of people were wounded, including many Asian tourists.
