Bangkok Blast: Police Release CCTV Image Of Suspect

Police in Thailand are searching for a suspect who was seen on CCTV near a shrine where a bomb went off on Monday killing 22 people, the country’s Prime Minister has said.

The man, dressed like a tourist in a T-shirt, shorts and sandals, is seen taking off his backpack and leaving it underneath a bench at the busy junction in central Bangkok.

According to a Sky news report, Royal Thai Police spokesman Prawuth Thawornsiri told the Khaosod website the man was officially a suspect in the attack.

At least 20 people died in Monday’s explosion, including nine foreigners, and more than 120 were injured.

In a separate attack on Tuesday, an explosive device was thrown at a pier in Bangkok, but no-one was hurt

Still images of the suspect had already been released.

In the new footage, he is shown carefully and deliberately removing his backpack inside the shrine, getting up without it and immediately leaving the scene.

The spot where he was sitting is precisely where the bomb went off a few minutes later, says the BBC’s Jonathan Head in Bangkok.
“There is a suspect… we are looking for this guy,” Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters.
Authorities were “quite close” to identifying the suspect, Thai government spokesman Maj Gen Weerachon Sukhontapatipak told the BBC, but other leads were also being pursued.

He said no motive was being ruled out, but that the bomber did not appear to be Thai and the character of the bombing was “quite different” from previous bombings by southern Thai insurgents.

He said security at transport hubs and tourist sites was being beefed up.

The bomb was detonated at about 19:00 local time (12:00 GMT) on Monday when the shrine, and the nearby Ratchaprasong junction, were crowded.
PM Prayuth called it the “worst ever attack” on Thailand.

“There have been minor bombs or just noise, but this time they aim for innocent lives. They want to destroy our economy, our tourism.”
In Tuesday’s incident, a device – possibly a grenade – was reportedly thrown at the busy Sathorn pier in Bangkok.