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Thai Police Announce Arrest in Bangkok Shrine Bombing Thai Police Announce Arrest in Bangkok Shrine Bombing
(about 4 hours later)
BANGKOK — The Thai police on Saturday arrested a foreign man who they said was likely to have been involved in the deadly bombing of a Bangkok shrine nearly two weeks ago. BANGKOK — Thai security forces raided an apartment building in a Bangkok suburb just before dawn on Saturday and arrested a foreign man the authorities believe was involved in the deadly bombing of a Bangkok shrine nearly two weeks ago.
“We have arrested one perpetrator and seized a lot of evidence including bomb-making materials,” said Gen. Somyot Poompanmoung, the head of Thailand’s national police force. General Somyot told reporters outside the apartment where the man was arrested that it was too early to say with full certainty whether there was a link to the bombing. The police said they found bomb-making materials and stacks of fake Turkish passports in the apartment, but they did not announce the nationality of the suspect, or his name.
But a spokesman for the national police, Prawut Thavornsiri, announced in a nationally televised address that the suspect “is in the same group of the perpetrator.” The seizures and arrest were possibly the first major breakthroughs in an investigation that has been criticized for its missteps and slow pace.
Any arrest connected to the blast would be the first major breakthrough in an investigation that has been criticized for its missteps and slow pace. The Aug. 17 explosion at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok’s central shopping district killed 20 people and was the worst attack of its kind in recent Thai history. More than 100 people were wounded and close to three dozen remain hospitalized.
The Aug. 17 explosion at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok’s central shopping district killed 20 people and was the worst attack of its kind in recent Thai history. More than 100 people were wounded, and a dozen remain in serious condition. Gen. Somyot Poompanmoung, the head of Thailand’s national police force, said he was confident that the suspect was linked to the bombing and said he appeared to be part of a larger network.
The arrest on Saturday was made at an apartment in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood in the northern suburbs of Bangkok. The police said they found fuses, metal pipes and ball bearings that resembled those used in the blast. The man began renting the apartment on July 31, the police said. “We believe some of them are on the run in the country and some of them may have fled the country,” he said.
During the televised announcement the police showed images of stacks of what appeared to be Turkish passports. The Thai news media also showed images of a Turkish passport with a picture matching the man who was arrested, but there were indications that it might have been a counterfeit. Thailand is a major production hub of fake passports. General Somyot declined to discuss the motives of the group but described them as driven by a “personal grudge on behalf of their friends.”
The suspect arrested Saturday was charged with possession of bomb-making materials and put under military custody. Thailand has been under military rule since the military seized power from an elected government in May 2014. “It’s not transnational terrorism,” he said.
Before Saturday, the police had said that they had few leads in the investigation. Security cameras show a man in a yellow shirt placing a bag under a bench at the shrine shortly before the explosion, which occurred during the evening rush hour. The man’s movements across Bangkok were partly reconstructed by the authorities, based on footage from other security cameras and interviews with taxi drivers. Thai authorities have openly said they are reluctant to describe the attack as terrorism over fears it would hurt the country’s tourism industry, a growing part of an economy that has struggled in recent years. More than 20 million visitors have come to the country so far this year.
Thai media speculated Saturday that any Turkish connection to the blast would increase the chances that the attack was in retaliation for Thailand’s forced repatriation of around 100 ethnic Uighurs to China in July. The Uighurs are an ethnic minority in western China who speak a language related to Turkish. The shrine is especially popular among ethnic Chinese tourists from across East Asia and more than half of the dead in the bombing were ethnic Chinese, raising questions about the motive for the attack.
The Thai media speculated Saturday that any Turkish connection to the blast would increase the chances that the attack was in retaliation for Thailand’s forced repatriation of around 100 ethnic Uighurs to China in July. The Uighurs are an ethnic minority in western China who speak a language related to Turkish.
The repatriation was widely criticized at the time by the United Nations and Western governments because of the prospect that the Uighurs would face persecution. Thailand’s consulate in Istanbul was attacked soon after the Uighurs were sent back.The repatriation was widely criticized at the time by the United Nations and Western governments because of the prospect that the Uighurs would face persecution. Thailand’s consulate in Istanbul was attacked soon after the Uighurs were sent back.
But any Uighur connection to the blast remained far from certain on Saturday. The Turkish passport purported to belong to the suspect had a number of crude errors. There was no date of issue; instead “Date of Expiry” was repeated twice. Among several words misspelled was Istanbul, which appeared to use the wrong Turkish letters. But any Uighur connection to the blast remained far from certain on Saturday. Copies of the passport used by the arrested suspect circulated on social media Saturday and appeared to be a crude counterfeit of a Turkish passport. There was no date of issue; instead “Date of Expiry” was repeated twice. Among at least four misspelled words was Istanbul, using the wrong Turkish letters.
Thai authorities said they were contacting “diplomats” about the arrest on Saturday but did not say from which country. Thailand is a major production hub of fake passports, an underground industry that churns out a wide range of travel documents.
Thai authorities said they were contacting “diplomats” about the arrest on Saturday but did not say from which country. They also said they had trouble communicating with the suspect and were seeking interpreters.
Before Saturday, the police had said that they had few leads in the investigation. Security cameras show a man in a yellow shirt placing a bag under a bench at the shrine shortly before the explosion, which occurred during the evening rush hour. The arrest on Saturday was made at an apartment in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood in the northern suburbs of Bangkok. The police showed images of numerous fuses, metal pipes and bags of ball bearings that resembled those used in the blast. The suspect began renting the apartment on July 31, the police said. The bomb-making equipment seemed to raise the possibility that the group was planning further attacks.
The suspect was charged with possession of bomb-making materials and put under military custody. Thailand has been under military rule since May 2014.