Main Suspect in Bangkok Bombing Arrested, Thai Prime Minister Says
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| Royal Thai Army officers walk with a man whom officials say is the main figure behind the country’s worst-ever terrorist attack, last month’s bombing at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok that killed 20 |
Thai authorities arrested a second foreign suspect in the bombing of a shrine in central Bangkok closer to determining who orchestrated the attack and why.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters Tuesday that a foreign man, whom he described as the main figure behind the country’s worst-ever terrorist attack, was detained as he was trying to cross Thailand’s eastern border into Cambodia. Gen. Prayuth didn’t say if he was the same man as the one caught on security cameras placing a pipe bomb beneath a bench at the Erawan Shrine during the evening rush hour on Aug. 17, but other officials in the ruling junta said he could be.
Tuesday’s arrest came after a breakthrough Saturday, when police arrested another foreign man at a Bangkok apartment building. Police said they found bomb-making equipment and fake passports in the rented room, prompting Gen. Prayuth to say for the first time Monday that the suspects might be involved with ethnic Uighurs attempting to flee repression in China and reach Turkey, where members of the Muslim-Turkic group have tried to resettle.
The investigation, however, is a sensitive matter for Thailand’s leaders, who have worked to build strong ties with China after seizing power in a coup d’état last year.
China’s embassy in Bangkok issued a statement shortly after the bombing criticizing media for speculating that the blast might have been retaliation for Thailand’s decision to deport more than 100 Uighurs back to China consulate in Turkey. The bomb itself was planted at a site known to be popular with visitors from China.
Seven of the dead came from China, along with other visitors from Malaysia, Singapore Indonesia, in addition to local Thais.
Leading figures in Thailand’s ruling junta insisted for days following the bombing that it wasn’t the work of international terrorists, saying it was linked instead to political conflicts in Thailand.
In recent years Thailand has seen riots, shootings and marathon street protests, culminating in last year’s military coup.
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