Huge explosion rocks central Bangkok - casualties reported

[yinyang]

Diff configurations of bomber :p

Bomb suspect's police sketch beamed around world

ASINA PORNWASIN
THE NATION August 21, 2015 1:00 am http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nat...lice-sketch-beamed-around-world-30267113.html

AFTER police released their sketch of the prime suspect in the deadly explosion at the Erawan Shrine, it soon went from locally to globally viral.

The drawing shows a fair-skinned man with thick, medium-length black hair, dark eyes, a wispy beard and black-framed glasses.



People have pitched in to predict and guess what the suspect would look like if he altered his appearance, such as by not wearing glasses, shaving his head or changing his hairstyle.

Art designer Witcha Suyara posted on Facebook that his friends had asked him to develop his impressions of the suspect in case he disguised himself.

"I hope my design skill will help police catch the guy faster," he said.

StickboyBangkok tweeted "Alternative photofits of #Bangkok bomber without glasses, with short hair & wearing a cap (Pic Anamisis Zaki)" with the image of the suspect in different looks.

Footage from surveillance cameras is being used to chase the suspect. For example, CSI LA Page on Facebook posted a video of the suspect riding a tuk-tuk and asked people to find the tuk-tuk driver who picked up the suspect.

Agence France-Presse also reported that Thais had taken to the Internet to crowd-source the identity of the prime suspect in the shrine bombing.

Netizens went into overdrive after police on Tuesday released a grainy security recording of a man appearing to place a bomb-laden backpack at the crowded shrine a few minutes before the blast.

On social media, Thais have been using the hashtag #bombercluephoto to collate images taken in the area where the bomb exploded.

"All camera around there before bomb. Please share and hashtag," Thai Twitter user @Kemkrithera wrote in English.

The report also mentioned that other Internet sleuths had focused their search on locating where that T-shirt could be bought.

One post, written by Thai Facebook user, Sa-nguan Khumrungroj, featured an Internet search for a very similar-looking T-shirt available in Indonesia.

"This shirt is sold in Indonesia," he wrote.

"I've seen this [for sale] in Pratunam," replied a friend, referring to a large garment market in Bangkok.

However, while the suspect is still at large, there are many falsely accused.

People who bear a resemblance to the suspect have posted their pictures and said they were not the suspect, just a look-alike.

Wisawa Bossbibi Suwannakul said on Facebook that the sketch seemed to be him, but just looked like him. It is not him.

After that, he decided to delete the post, saying he realised that the picture that compared him and the suspect in the sketch might be used in both proper and improper ways.

 

[laksaboy]

He could come to Singapore and join the SAF Volunteers Corp.

 

[tonychat]

The Thai police and military are fucked up.

 

[singveld]

Nigger if you care to actually read the post you quoted I wrote I wonder where the next bomb location will be which means I know the bomber is not caught yet. The erawan shrine is now the safest public place because security has been stepped up at that place and its unlikely the bomber will bomb it again understand?

how can it be the safest place in Bangkok? it is a public place. it has a tiny fence. do they have a security scanner before you enter - NO. can they stop a suicide bomber - NO. can they stop a suicide car? -NO. The safest place in Bangkok is US embassy.

 

[singveld]

He could come to Singapore and join the SAF Volunteers Corp.

not possible, singapore only take Indian or PRC chinese.

 

[yinyang]

 

[singveld]

Bangkok, Thailand (CNN)The chief suspect in the deadly bombing of Bangkok's popular Erawan Shrine is "an unnamed male foreigner," according to an arrest warrant issued Wednesday by a Thai court.

A Thai motorbike taxi driver who believes he picked up the suspect shortly after the blast also said he did not seem to be Thai.

Driver Kasem Pooksuwan, 47, told CNN that the man -- who spoke an unfamiliar language on his cell phone during the short ride -- didn't speak to him at all but showed him a piece of paper with the name of a central city park written in English.

"When I dropped him, he still appeared very calm, just like (a) normal customer. He seemed not in a hurry at all," Kasem said.

Thai police spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri earlier said police had questioned the motorcycle taxi driver but did not give details of what the man had told them.

Police believe the man suspected of carrying out the deadly bombing in the heart of the Thai capital probably had accomplices.

Examination of surveillance video footage from the Erawan Shrine indicates at least two others were helping the main suspect in the attack that killed 20 people and wounded more than 120 Monday evening, police officials said at a news conference Wednesday.

Authorities are hunting for the man seen on a surveillance video putting a backpack under a bench in the shrine and then walking away shortly before the blast went off.

Beyond the yellow T-shirt and dark-framed glasses he was wearing, little is known so far about the man who police say they are "very sure" is the bomber.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha appealed on Wednesday for the chief suspect to turn himself in to authorities. Addressing reporters, Prayuth said he feared the suspect "might be silenced by killing" and that if he wanted to be safe, he should surrender.

Here's where things stand with the investigation into the attack, which authorities have described as a deliberate act of terror:

The chief suspect
Police say they don't yet know the suspect's identity but do now appear to have concluded that he's a foreigner.

They are studying more than 10 days' worth of closed-circuit TV footage from the scene.

The surveillance footage shows the suspect in the yellow shirt sitting down on a bench in the shrine at 6:52 p.m. Monday and hiding the backpack under the bench, said Prawut, the police spokesman. The man left without the backpack, and the blast went off minutes after he set it down.

Police have released a sketch of the suspect, who is described as a dark-haired man with glasses and light facial hair.

Police also said the suspect had material wrapped around his forearms, which they say could indicate he had previously suffered some kind of injury.

A reward of 1 million Thai baht ($28,000) is being offered for information leading to the suspect's arrest, he said.

Kasem told CNN he thinks the suspect "is not Thai," although he admitted he did not look at his whole face. He said he remembers a long chin and white pale face very well, however.

"I wish I looked at his face more, but I really didn't know what happened yet at that time. Normally I would not stare at my customer's face," he said.

Kasem, who has been a Bangkok taxi driver for a little more than two years, said he did not think the unfamiliar language spoken by the man was English. He dropped his passenger at Lumpini Park, by which time he was no longer on the phone, he said. It wasn't clear whether he placed the call or received it.

 

[Narong Wongwan]

I'm quite sure they'll never find the bomber. All seems like a lot of wayang only now.

 

[singveld]

I'm quite sure they'll never find the bomber. All seems like a lot of wayang only now.

if they still have not found the bomber after 1 year, then the army ordered the secret bombing.

 

[Narong Wongwan]

if they still have not found the bomber after 1 year, then the army ordered the secret bombing.

The longer they drag this the longer they can postpone elections and stay in power. That's the end game

 

[Susanoo]

Thai police offer US$28,000 bounty for Bangkok blast suspect

Xinhua 2015-08-21 13:36 (GMT+8)

The suspect's sketch released by the police in Bangkok, Thailand, Aug. 19. (File photo/Xinhua)

Thai police on Wednesday offered a reward of 1 million baht (US$28,100) for any information leading to the capture of a suspect of the Bangkok explosion on Monday, which has killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 100 others.

The police released a sketch of the suspected perpetrator who was seen on a surveillance camera at the scene.

Camera footage showed that a foreign-looking young man who was wearing a yellow T-shirt and glasses, left a backpack purportedly with some dynamite inside at Erawan Shrine, a popular tourist destination in downtown Bangkok, shortly before the explosion.

The shrine reopened Wednesday morning amid heightened security, but far fewer tourists visited it than before.

Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha urged the "amateur" culprit to surrender himself to the police, warning he could otherwise be killed.

"The bombing suspect could probably be killed if he did not surrender for his own safety. His life is being fatally jeopardized by those who had hired him and might be looking to silence him," Prayut said.

Meanwhile, police chief Somyot Poompanmoung believed that the bombing was carried out by "a network."

According to the latest update from the Chinese Embassy in Thailand on Wednesday, six Chinese nationals, including four from the mainland and two from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, have been confirmed dead in the blast.

 

[Susanoo]

7 Chinese confirmed dead in Bangkok blast

Xinhua and Staff Writer 2015-08-21 09:14

A woman prays for the deceased at Erawan Shrine, Aug. 19. (Photo/Xinhua)

A total of seven Chinese nationals, including five from the mainland and two from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, were confirmed killed in a Bangkok explosion Monday night, the Chinese Embassy in Thailand said Wednesday.

The latest confirmed fatality was previously labeled as missing, according to the embassy.

Another 24 Chinese, including 19 from mainland China and five from Hong Kong, were being treated in hospitals, the embassy said.

Eight of the 24 were in intensive care units, including seven from the mainland and one from Hong Kong, it added.

A deadly explosion rocked Erawan Shrine, a popular tourist destination in downtown Bangkok, on Monday night, leaving at least 20 people dead and more than 100 others injured.

Thai police has offered a reward of 1 million baht (US$28,100) for any information leading to the capture of the suspect, and released a sketch of a young man wearing a yellow T-shirt and glasses.

 

[singveld]

A television station that dressed up a member of staff as the Bangkok bomber and sent him to the scene of the deadly blast has been forced to apologise, as foreigners with a passing resemblance to the main suspect are questioned by police.


Nation TV has admitted that sending the lookalike of the suspect to the site with a news crew was insensitive.

The re-enactment at Erawan shrine, where twenty people were killed and and more than 120 others were injured, has sparked outrage - forcing the television station to issue an apology.

 

[Jah_rastafar_I]

how can it be the safest place in Bangkok? it is a public place. it has a tiny fence. do they have a security scanner before you enter - NO. can they stop a suicide bomber - NO. can they stop a suicide car? -NO. The safest place in Bangkok is US embassy.

Pai seh I meant safest public place but yeah you're correct it doesn't look that safe

Ps i forgot to add the american embassy isn't a public place. You cannot just walk in. Following your logic the king's palace should be safer.

 

[singveld]

[video=youtube;4LvkEJIbBqw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LvkEJIbBqw[/video]

 

[singveld]

[video=youtube;ulxgqxfigmM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulxgqxfigmM[/video]

 

[singveld]

[video=youtube;OxHK6mbSRLI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxHK6mbSRLI[/video]

 

[singveld]

[video=youtube;RUOPCrn0WhY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUOPCrn0WhY[/video]

 

[singveld]

[video=youtube;zUMdxqjQmCs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUMdxqjQmCs[/video]

 

[singveld]

[video=youtube;XcPF_djvaJs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcPF_djvaJs[/video]