Thailand hunts suspect spotted on CCTV with bomb-laden backpack

BANGKOK // Thai authorities were on Tuesday hunting for a man who was shown on security footage strolling into a packed religious shrine and placing a bomb-laden backpack before an explosion that killed at least 20 people.

The attack occurred on Monday in one of the Thai capital’s most popular tourism hubs, ripping through a crowd of worshippers at the Hindu shrine close to five-star hotels and upscale shopping malls.

At least 11 of the victims were foreigners, with Chinese, Hong Kong, Singaporean, Indonesian and Malaysian citizens among the 20 confirmed killed, police said.

British authorities confirmed that a Hong Kong resident with a British passport had been killed. It was not immediately clear if she was a dual national already counted among the two Hong Kong victims. But Thai police have not listed any Britons in their updates on dead or injured from the blast.

More than 100 other people were injured as the blast left body parts, shattered glass and incinerated motorcycles strewn across the crushed concrete of a busy intersection.

On Tuesday Bangkok was hit by another blast when a small device was thrown into a canal and exploded near a busy train station in the city centre.

“No one was killed or injured. Police are at the scene to investigate what kind of device it was,” said an officer at Yanawa police station.

He said the incident took place shortly after 1pm local time near the Saphan Taksin BTS skytrain station, which is close to the luxury Shangri-La hotel, the Mandarin Oriental, and the French embassy.

CCTV footage of the incident, posted by Thairath TV, showed commuters scurrying for cover over a footbridge after the device exploded in the canal, sending a large plume of water into the air.

Officers believed the device was thrown from a road and rail bridge which spans Bangkok’s Chao Phraya river and overlooks the canal below, the Yanawa officer said.

Junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha on Tuesday branded Monday’s bombing the “worst ever attack” on Thailand, as he said the hunt was on for the bomber who was filmed on closed circuit television at the shrine.

Police released images showing the man – who appeared young and slightly built, and wearing a yellow T-shirt and dark shorts – walking into the shrine with a backpack.

He sits down and places the backpack underneath a bench, then walks away from the shrine clutching a blue plastic bag while reading what appears to be a smartphone.

National police spokesman Prawut Thavorn said the man left the scene aboard a motorcycle taxi, which are common in Bangkok, and the blast occurred three minutes later.

“It is quite clear that he is the perpetrator in this case,” Mr Prawut told local television station Channel 3, adding that police were also trying to track down the motorcycle taxi driver.

However, Mr Prawut and other security chiefs did not reveal if they had any motives for the attack.

Bangkok has endured a decade of deadly political violence amid a power struggle between the military – backed by the middle class and elite – and the poor, led by populist politician Thaksin Shinawatra.

Mr Shinawatra is living in self-imposed exile after being ousted as prime minister in 2006. The junta has ruled the nation since May last year after toppling the elected government of Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck.

Bangkok’s power struggle has seen repeated rounds of deadly street protests and bombings for nearly a decade.

More than 90 people were killed in 2010 during clashes between security forces and Thaksin supporters – many in the same area as Monday’s bomb.

But the anti-junta groups have never conducted such a large attack, nor one that was apparently aimed at a tourist zone.

And with no one claiming responsibility for Monday’s assault, political and security experts said there was no obvious culprit.

Junta leaders said the bomb was clearly aimed at damaging the country’s tourist industry, which is a rare bright spot in an otherwise gloomy economy, and tarnishing the junta’s reputation.

“[The attackers] had the clear target of destroying our economy and tourism ... and discrediting the government,” said defence minister Prawit Wongsuwon.

Thailand’s baht currency slumped to a more than six-year low on Tuesday and shares fell on the Bangkok bourse over concerns that the attack could damage the tourism sector.

Built in 1956, the Erawan is an enormously popular shrine to the Hindu god Brahma but is visited by thousands of Buddhist devotees every day.

The bomb was detonated shortly before 7pm in the middle of the city’s rush hour, sending a fireball into the sky as commuters and tourists fled in panic.

Thais walking near the blast site on Tuesday expressed fear about more potential violence in the coming days.

“I’m worried about Bangkok, I don’t know what will happen next,” one woman, who gave her name as Rivewan.

* Agence France-Presse