Huge explosion rocks central Bangkok - casualties reported

[singveld]

Two other Malaysians, identified as Tan Rui Hun and Tan Kim Siok were injured in the incident.

Rui Hun has been warded at the Hua Chiew Hospital Kim Siok was discharged from the hospital earlier, it added.

 

[Narong Wongwan]

Almost a week on since the deadly Bangkok bomb attack, national police chief Somyot Pumpunmuang said investigators need some luck to catch those behind it, and they have already left the country.

Pol Gen Somyot was speaking to reporters early Sunday morning after a ceremonial show of security strength meant in part to reassure the public over safety.

"We need some luck. If the police have good fortune we might be able to make an arrest but ... if the perpetrator has good fortune maybe they can get away, " the police chief said.


----------

Walau eh this one machiam Short arse fuck Wong Cunt Sing's famous Mat Selamat whereabouts comments

 

[Susanoo]

Police fear Bangkok bombing suspect may have fled the country

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 23 August, 2015, 12:28pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 23 August, 2015, 12:28pm
Associated Press
in Bangkok

CCTV footage shows the main Thai bombing suspect (R-in yellow shirt - circled by Thai Police) on the back of a motorbike, riding away from Erawan shrine just two minutes after a bomb was detonated at the popular shrine in Bangkok on August 17. Photo: AFP

Despite new surveillance video that may offer a possible clue to the bombing in central Bangkok that killed 20 people, Thai police said Sunday the perpetrators may have already fled the country.

Surveillance video leaked to Thai media shows a man in a blue shirt placing a bag on a riverside walkway, then kicking it into the water on Monday night shortly after the explosion several kilometers away at the downtown Erawan shrine. About 18 hours later, at 1 p.m. Tuesday, an explosion took place at the same spot near a busy pier, causing no casualties.

Colonel Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for Thailand’s ruling junta, also said that closed circuit television showing the main bombing suspect was used to trace the route he took to and from the site of Monday evening’s rush-hour attack. He said that a police sketch of the suspect had been distributed to border posts.

Police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said he believes the perpetrator would have timed an escape carefully and “wouldn’t have much time to stay around.”

“I suspect that he may have left, but we will keep searching, in case we can find others who may be in the country or find clues, evidence and witnesses who may have seen him,” he told Channel 3 TV network.

Police have offered a reward that on Friday was raised to 3 million baht ($85,000). On a police arrest warrant, the suspect is described as a “foreign man,” although a military spokesman said a connection to international terrorism seemed unlikely.

Thailand’s police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said investigators would need some luck to catch those behind the attack.

“I have to say we need some luck. If the police have good fortune we might be able to make an arrest but ... if the perpetrator has good fortune maybe they can get away,” he told reporters Sunday after a ceremonial show of security strength meant in part to reassure the public over safety.

So far the operation to find who carried out the attack appears to have made little headway with apparently contradictory statements coming from the military-backed government and the police.

Theories abound as to who was responsible for the attack.

They include ethnic Uygurs angry that Thailand repatriated to China more than 100 of their countrymen who had fled from there; Islamic separatists who have been carrying out an insurgency in southern Thailand for a decade; frustrated supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra angry at the military government that opposes his return to politics; and rival factions within the army contending for power.

 

[Susanoo]

Hong Kong news photographer held in Bangkok for trying to carry bulletproof vest onto flight

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 23 August, 2015, 10:57pm
UPDATED : Monday, 24 August, 2015, 2:03am

Staff Reporter

A partially damaged Hindu statue at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand. The Thai capital has been on high alert since a bomb attack at the shrine on August 17. Photo: EPA

A Hong Kong news photographer has been detained at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport for trying to carry a bulletproof vest onto a flight leaving the Thai capital.

Anthony Kwan Hok-chun, a photographer for the newly launched Initium Media news outlet since May, was detained by airport police on Sunday afternoon and faces trial on Monday.

Kwan was preparing to board Thai Airways Flight 602 to Hong Kong and had the vest in his hand baggage.

The detained photographer Anthony Kwan.

He was on his way back after spending a week covering the aftermath of the August 17 Erawan Shrine bombings.

Initium executive chief editor Annie Zhang told the South China Morning Post that the company had hired a Bangkok-based lawyer to help Kwan and was also sending staff to Thailand.

“We cannot comment further as it has already entered judicial proceedings, but we are very concerned about this incident,” Zhang said.

Bulletproof vests are controlled items under Thai law and require licences for non-military or police use.

Hong Kong Journalists Association chairwoman Sham Yee-lan said the situation was “very serious” and questioned why a reporter was detained for carrying a piece of equipment for self-defence.

“It is very common for war journalists to carry one. It is definitely not a weapon,” she said. "There is no good reason for this arrest.”

The association has contacted the Security Bureau for help.

When reached by phone, Kwan apologised and responded calmly that it was "not convenient to talk".

The Hong Kong Immigration Department said it was informed of the incident and had been able to establish contact with Kwan and provide advice to him.

It was now trying to understand the situation from the relevant authorities in Bangkok through the Office of the Commissioner of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong and the Chinese Embassy in Thailand.

“The Immigration Department will continue to keep close contact with the involved person, the OCFMA and the embassy and render practical assistance,” the spokesman said.

 

[Susanoo]

Bomb technique was 'taught by foreigners'

Kittipong Maneerit,
Panya Thiosangwan
The Nation August 23, 2015 1:00 am

Family members and friends of Di Wu Chengi, a Chinese tourist killed in last Monday's explosion at the Erawan Shrine, take part in a church service at the Holy Redeemer Church in Bangkok yesterday.

Police looking for taxi driver who took suspect from yannawa to hua lamphong

INVESTIGATORS believe that the plotters behind the Erawan Shrine and Sathorn pier blasts might have relied on a foreign bomb-making technique, an informed source said.

"Such a technique did not exist in Thailand before. And our in-depth investigations reveal that foreigners of unknown nationality came to Thailand in 2011 to provide training on such a technique," the source said.

The suspected bomber wanted in connection with the bloody attack at the Erawan Shrine does not look Thai.

The shrine attack occurred on Monday night and the bloodless pier attack happened on Tuesday afternoon. The shrine blast killed 20 people and injured more than 100. The bomb at the pier exploded in a canal.

According to the source, TNT was used for both pipe bombs.

"Explosive powder was stuffed into steel pipes with a huge number of ball bearings," the source added.

The source said the detonation of a TNT bomb could be delayed for several days, if an electric circuit was involved. "This means the authorities will have to go back at least four days when examining security footage." The source said the pier bomber clearly did not intend to cause any casualties as the bomb was placed in a canal directly adjacent to the Chao Phraya River.

"That person must have known full well that the destructive power of the bomb would be reduced when it is immersed in water," the source said.

Police have also considered the possibility that the pier blast might have been unintentional, as the person who discarded the bomb in the water might have just wanted to get rid of the explosives after the attack at the shrine, the source said.

Security footage showed the person, who put the bag believed to contain a bomb in the canal, did so not long after the shrine attack.

Another source disclosed that the suspected shrine bomber took a taxi to the Hua Lamphong train station and then took a tuk-tuk to the shrine on Monday.

"Police are trying to locate the taxi driver. We have been informed that the taxi picked up the suspect from Yannawa area," the source added.

The tuk-tuk driver gave police the Bt20 the suspect used to pay the fare.

"The bank note has been submitted to the scientific crime detection unit for fingerprint and DNA analysis. It could provide crucial evidence to nail down the suspect," the source added. Police spokesman Lt-General Prawut Thavornsiri said a sketch of the suspect had been given to Interpol so that 190 other countries could help with the search for the suspect.

He confirmed that there had been much progress in the case. "But I can't disclose details."

The National Council for Peace and Order shared his stance.

"Officials are working to bring the culprits to justice. But at this point, we can't disclose details, as that may affect the ongoing investigations," NCPO spokesman Winthai Suvari said yesterday in a nationally televised statement.

He said 56 of the shrine-blast victims remained hospitalised.

In a related development, officials from the Chinese embassy in Bangkok accompanied the relatives of four Chinese tourists killed at the shrine to the Institute of Forensic Medicine yesterday.

The relatives secured the bodies ahead of the funeral rites being held.

 

[Susanoo]

Police scouring Bangkok guesthouses for bomber

The Nation, Agencies August 24, 2015 1:00 am

Checking places popular among foreigners; Indonesian probe of MIT Islamic state link

SECURITY officials are checking guesthouses, apartments and places popular among foreigners in their bid to catch the suspected bomber behind the deadly Erawan Shrine blast.

The blast killed 20 people and injured more than 100 last Monday.

"There are more than 10,000 places in Bangkok that we have to inspect and search," Metropolitan Police chief Lt-General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said. "We may also need to repeat searches at some places." Srivara said investigators had interviewed more than 10 witnesses and planned to interview all survivors of the blast.

Asked about Japanese media reports that the suspected bomber was a Spanish man, Srivara said he had not yet seen those reports.

No arrest has been made yet in connection with the blast, described as the worst ever attack on Thai soil.

National police chief Somyot Poompanmuang said yesterday that all relevant officials had been working hard to solve this case. "We have had a clear focus. It's just that we can't disclose details at this time," he said.

He said the delay in the investigation was related to the lack of modern equipment, not the ability of officials.

Somyot spoke after he oversaw the start of the "Searching the city to crack down on criminals' dens " operation yesterday morning. Participating in the Bangkok-based operation were police, soldiers and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration police.

The operation was aimed at restoring local residents' and tourists' confidence in the wake of the blasts, he said. Asked if police knew who was behind the shrine attack, Somyot said, "We have had some information. Some of those involved are still in Thailand."

But he refused to say if the suspects were Thais or foreigners.

Security footage showed a man in a yellow-shirt, who did not look Thai, walking into the Erawan Shrine with a backpack just before 7pm on August 17 and leaving without it a few minutes later. The blast occurred shortly after he walked out. He was last seen getting onto a motorcycle taxi.

An informed source revealed yesterday that investigators had already summoned 15 taxi drivers for questioning to determine if any had given a ride to the suspected bomber on that day. "He's also seen getting into a taxi but grainy footage makes it hard to identify the licence plate number."

In regard to a second bomb that exploded harmlessly near Sathorn Pier the following day, August 18, spokesman Pol Lt General Prawut Thavornsiri said police were investigating whether a man in a blue shirt had carried the bomb to that spot.

Bomber 'was an Asian'

The man in the blue-shirt was caught on CCTV and that video clip has also circulated widely, but not officially. "Our preliminary check suggests this man was an Asian," Prawut said. "He did not use the same route as the yellow-shirt man [responsible for the blast at the Erawan Shrine]".

Meanwhile, Indonesian police are currently looking into whether the East Indonesian Mujahidin (MIT) terrorist group had links to the Erawan Shrine bombing, the Jakarta Post has reported. The Post said Kompass online quoted Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan as saying that MIT, a terrorist group in Poso, central Sulawesi, was being targeted. "We are currently pursuing [MIT]. I have received reports about their movements," said Luhut, with his reports having come from the National Police chief General Badrodin Haiti, according to the Post.

Up to 140 Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers from Kelapa Dua in Depok had been flown to Poso to assist with the operation. The terror group is said to have 30 to 40 members.

"If we don't act, they can mobilise more power from various places, including weapons," Badrodin was quoted as saying.

There has been some speculation that the Islamic State (IS) was behind the Bangkok bomb blast, and in Indonesia, the IS movement is allegedly supported by the MIT, which is led by Santoso.

In Thailand, a National Council for Peace and Order spokesman said two rumour-mongers had been arrested for allegedly causing public confusion, one in Bangkok and the other in Ayutthaya province.

 

[Susanoo]

Poso terrorists may be linked with Bangkok bombing

The Jakarta Post
Asia News Network August 23, 2015 2:17 pm

Indonesia's police are currently looking into whether the East Indonesian Mujahidin (MIT) terrorist group led by Santoso in Poso, Central Sulawesi, has links to the recent deadly bombing in Bangkok, said Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

Kompass online quoted Luhut as saying that the terrorist group in Poso is being targeted by police.

No arrests have been made in relation to the recent bombing in Bangkok. According to some speculation, the Islamic State (IS) was behind the attack, and in Indonesia, the IS movement is allegedly supported by the MIT.

"We are currently pursuing [MIT]. I have received reports about their movements," said Luhut, with his reports having come from the National Police chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti.

Up to 140 Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers from Kelapa Dua in Depok have been flown to Poso to assist with the operation.

The terrorist group is said to have 30 to 40 members.

"If we don’t act, they can mobilize more power from various places, including weapons," said Badrodin.

 

[eErotica69]

The bomber is either still in Thailand or he is not in Thailand....

 

[Susanoo]

Thai police bemoan lack of equipment nearly a week after blast

Reuters
August 23, 2015, 5:34 pm

People ride their motorcycles past a digital billboard showing a sketch of the main suspect in Monday's attack on Erawan shrine, in Bangkok, Thailand, August 23, 2015. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

By Aukkarapon Niyomyat

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Nearly a week after a bomb in Thailand killed 20 people, authorities appear no closer to identifying suspects or a motive, with police saying on Sunday a lack of modern equipment was hampering their investigation.

The blast last Monday at one of the capital's most famous shrines, packed with Asian visitors, will inevitably dent the tourist industry, one of the economy's few bright spots.

Economic woes could undermine the military government as it steers the country towards an election next year under a new constitution critics say will not end a decade of turbulent politics.

The strongest evidence appears to be grainy CCTV footage of a young man who left a backpack at the Erawan Shrine before the explosion. He disappeared into the night, on a motorcycle taxi.

Authorities have issued confusing and at times contradictory statements about the suspect's appearance, the number of accomplices he might have had and the likelihood of foreign involvement.

National police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said progress was being made but a lack of equipment was a problem.

"We don't have modern tools to support our work ... we have difficulties with technology and data," he told reporters, without elaborating. "We have to wait for cooperation from abroad, to come and help with this equipment."

Police are also investigating another piece of CCTV footage that could provide clues to who was responsible for a small blast on Tuesday at a river pier that caused no injuries.

Police said they were investigating the footage of a man who appeared to push a bag off a walkway into the river. They have not confirmed the blasts were linked.

The Erawan Shrine, dedicated to a Hindu deity, is hugely popular with tourists from China and seven of the 14 foreigners among the dead were from mainland China and Hong Kong.

Police initially speculated Muslim ethnic Uighurs from western China might have been responsible but officials later cast doubt on an international link and said China was not targeted.

Muslims waging a low-level insurgency in southern Thailand have never been known to carry out such an attack and neither have activists from a decade-long struggle for power between the establishment and populist former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The government has offered $85,000 for information leading to the arrest of the bomber and the family of the self-exiled Thaksin has offered $200,000, the Bangkok Post reported.

As the hunt for the bomber went on, authorities said two people had been arrested for spreading "confusing information" on social media.

(Additional reporting by Viparat Jantraprapaweth; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

 

[THE_CHANSTER]

What a complete and utter joke the Royal Thai Police are . U.S law enforcement agencies were able to capture the Boston Marathon bombers within a week and uncover their identities even earlier.

The French Police and Gendarmerie were able to terminate the Charlie Hebdo culprits within 36 hours of the initial shooting.

But all the Thai Police seem able to do is

1) Publish a photofit that no-one recognizes.
2) Offer a US$28,000 reward (which no-one has yet claimed).
3) Clear away any valuable evidence from the crime scene with 24 hours.
4) Scratch their arses (or their navels).

Just embarrassing.

 

[tonychat]

What a complete and utter joke the Royal Thai Police are . U.S law enforcement agencies were able to capture the Boston Marathon bombers within a week and uncover their identities even earlier.

The French Police and Gendarmerie were able to terminate the Charlie Hebdo culprits within 36 hours of the initial shooting.

But all the Thai Police seem able to do is

1) Publish a photofit that no-one recognizes.
2) Offer a US$28,000 reward (which no-one has yet claimed).
3) Clear away any valuable evidence from the crime scene with 24 hours.
4) Scratch their arses (or their navels).

Just embarrassing.

The Thai police and the Military are a fucking disgrace!!!!

That is very inviting for future bombers. Because the Thai police and military are fucking useless!!!

 

[yinyang]

 

[yinyang]

Lumpini cameras failed with suspect getting off motorsai :*:

The big issue: The man in the yellow T-shirt

Published: 23/08/2015 at 09:01 AM http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/665668/the-big-issue-the-man-in-the-yellow-t-shirt

Police and the public know pretty much everything about the life of the man in the yellow T-shirt. Everything, that is, for the 20 minutes of that vile life between 6.38pm and 6.58pm last Monday.

In the beginning, he was wearing a backpack and carrying a plastic bag. He hailed a tuk-tuk driven by Suchart Panngam, 37, at Hua Lamphong train station and asked to be taken to “Chula”, meaning Chulalongkorn University. Along the route, he took out his mobile phone, found or Googled a map, and showed the driver he wanted to go to the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok Hotel, as it calls itself.

He got out of the tuk-tuk, walked to the compound of the Erawan shrine and sat on a bench at an iron fence separating the shrine from Phloenchit Road, as far from the actual shrine as possible while inside the compound. He took off the rucksack and tucked it under the bench against the fence. He stood up, walked 200 metres down Ratchadamri Road to Soi Mahatlekluang, where he climbed aboard the motosai taxi driven by Kasem Suksuwan. (In the meantime, the bomb went off, probably from a signal from his phone.)

He said nothing to Kasem, but showed him a scrap of paper with “Lumpini” written on it. On the way, he made a voice call on his mobile phone, speaking to someone in — according to Mr Kasem — a language that was not Thai or English. At the gate of Lumpini Park, the man in the yellow shirt got off the motorcycle.

Before that, nothing is known. After that apparently irrefutable testimony, mostly backed by photographic proof, all is speculation. It was troubling that all security forces claimed they could not get anything more. It was disturbing that the country’s top officials proved they could compete on a level playing field with foolish internet rumour-mongers.

After warning, pleading and suggesting that internet trolls and speculators get out of the way and let the facts speak, leaders spoke in the great vacuum of facts. From them, the nation learned the bomber is a Rohingya-Uighur of mixed blood, living in Isan where he was recruited from the southern insurgent movement by Isis agents financed by the red-shirt leaders trying to destroy the nation by attacking Chinese tourists.

In sheer body count, this is the worst butchery in Thailand in nearly three generations. But murderous violence is no stranger in Thailand. Bloody bombings have targeted tourism in the deep South several times since the first car bomb in Thailand killed five tourists at Sungai Kolok in 2005.

More to the point, Bangkok has had more than its share of blood in the streets, too.

How quickly have those involved tried to bury the very memory of the 50 days of raging violence of 2010 and its killings of innocents. That seven-week horror was only one of a murderous chain of atrocious butchery that has kept ladies and volunteers with soap and brooms scrubbing blood off the streets so often. Lest we forget, the green shirts have killed more Thais in Bangkok since 1973 than has the combined savagery of all the other colours of shirts combined.

Disturbing Point: All decent CCTV images are from commercial cameras. There wasn’t even one camera functioning at Lumpini Park, where the suspect disappeared. Fake cameras have haunted the investigation even more than horrible video quality.

More disturbing point: After the Valentine’s Day, 2012, bombing in Bangkok, police knew before sundown what suspects were in custody and the full identities of the three who managed to get through Suvarnabhumi airport, and where they fled. Now, after six sundowns, police are clueless on when the bomber arrived in Thailand, when he left — even if he arrived or left at all.

Most disturbing point: Authorities in charge refuse to consider that this unique, never-seen atrocity was unusual. Official speculation is sublime and unimaginative, not even a peek or a peep outside the box. They haven’t considered it was a mafia contract, or the worst drug-trafficking atrocity among many. No one has suggested it was a targeted murder — for insurance, say — and the other bodies were part of the cover-up. By refusing to consider all possible motives, authorities may be assuring the terrorists will get away forever.

The barbarity of last Monday touched the nation differently from all previous atrocities and brutality.

More than the dreadful toll of 20 dead and dozens maimed, the sudden, totally random nature of the evening attack on decency itself made it Thailand’s 9/11. The idea that The Man in the Yellow T-shirt has got away makes it desperately agonising.

 

[singveld]

The Thai police and the Military are a fucking disgrace!!!!

That is very inviting for future bombers. Because the Thai police and military are fucking useless!!!

cover up lah.
did 1 police or yellow elite die, only peasants and tourists. who care about tourists?

 

[singveld]

What a complete and utter joke the Royal Thai Police are . U.S law enforcement agencies were able to capture the Boston Marathon bombers within a week and uncover their identities even earlier.

The French Police and Gendarmerie were able to terminate the Charlie Hebdo culprits within 36 hours of the initial shooting.

But all the Thai Police seem able to do is

1) Publish a photofit that no-one recognizes.
2) Offer a US$28,000 reward (which no-one has yet claimed).
3) Clear away any valuable evidence from the crime scene with 24 hours.
4) Scratch their arses (or their navels).

Just embarrassing.

how can no one recognize the person at all?
obviously it is the work of shadow organisation.

 

[singveld]

come to bangkok to call chicken. near miss. nearly become chicken feed.

 

[LordElrond]

The Thai police and the Military are a fucking disgrace!!!!

That is very inviting for future bombers. Because the Thai police and military are fucking useless!!!

Oh no i thought that is your favorite country now you have nowhere to go

 

[tonychat]

Oh no i thought that is your favorite country now you have nowhere to go

I am an Australian.

 

[yinyang]

Majority of CCTVs were out, 15 of 20 :*:

BOMBING AFTERMATH

Faulty CCTV 'curbs hunt for suspect'
15 of 20 cameras onescape route 'broken'

Published: 25/08/2015 at 03:48 AM http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/667532/faulty-cctv-curbs-hunt-for-suspect

Most of the security cameras installed along the escape route used by the suspect in the Erawan shrine bombing were broken, which is hindering the investigation into the incident, according to the police chief.

National police chief Somyot Poompunmuang said Monday 15 of the 20 cameras from Ratchaprasong intersection to Silom were out of order.

The cameras are owned and maintained by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

Pol Gen Somyot said the images obtained from the five working cameras do not give his men a complete picture of the incident. "The footage jumps around from one camera to another. And because some of the images were not available due to the broken cameras, we have had to rely on our own imagination," the police chief said.


It looks like a CCTV camera. But is it working? Is it a dummy? Police now are plagued by fake and faulty cameras.

Police last week released a sketch of the prime suspect seen on CCTV footage leaving a rucksack at the Erawan shrine 15 minutes before the explosion.

A male suspect in a yellow T-shirt was seen on the surveillance images leaving the shrine after allegedly planting the bomb there on Aug 17. After he left the shrine and the bomb exploded, he took a motorcycle taxi to Silom.

A source said earlier that police are looking for another taxi driver who picked the suspect up from Silom Soi 9 after the explosion. Police have questioned about 15 taxi drivers whose vehicles appeared in CCTV footage around that time.

The Metropolitan Police Bureau has conceded that it is difficult to say whether the suspect is still in the country. According to the latest reports, the suspect possibly entered Chulalongkorn Hospital, changed his clothes and then fled the country to Malaysia.

Pol Gen Somyot said the police are missing some essential photographic evidence and therefore they might need to expand the scope of the investigation to fill in the gaps.

The police chief added it was fortunate the security cameras at the Dusit Thani Hotel captured images of the suspect, which showed him heading to Hua Lamphong train station.

However, Pol Gen Somyot said the investigation into the bombing is moving forward.

The BMA, meanwhile, declined to confirm if the 15 cameras were broken. Tripob Khantayaporn, director of the BMA's Traffic System Development Division, said the BMA operates security cameras throughout the city which are either directly connected to City Hall's central control panel or are stand-alone ones.

Images from the control panel-linked cameras are constantly monitored whereas the pictures taken by the stand-alone ones are reviewed every 15 days.

He said the cameras may not produce clear pictures because they are designed to see the surrounding areas from a certain vantage point, which is different from police-operated cameras which can zoom in on traffic offenders.

Mr Tripob added that the BMA has around 57,000 CCTV cameras in Bangkok. Of these, about 10,000 are new and capable of taking high-resolution pictures.

Also Monday, chemical analysis of blast residue found at the Erawan shrine has detected nitrite but it is not sufficient to identify the bomb type, a source in the MPB's explosive ordnance disposal unit said. The source told the Bangkok Post that nitrite is usually present in residue from C4 and TNT explosives so at this stage it cannot be determined if the device used in the Erawan bombing is C4 or TNT.

According to the source, the ball bearings used in the Erawan shrine and the Sathon pier explosions are from the same manufacturer. The ball bearings are about 6mm in diameter and are commonly found at hardware stores. "This type of bomb isn't commonly used in Thailand. The latest was the bomb in Sukhumvit Soi 71, but it is unlikely it was made by the same person. Their signatures are different," said the source.

A source at the Immigration Police Bureau also said intelligence reports from the National Security Council (NSC) indicate terrorists in Pakistan provide bomb-making training to various groups including Uighur extremists and insurgents in the deep South.

However, it cannot be verified if the Erawan shrine and Sathon pier bombs share any similarities with bombs constructed by terrorists in Pakistan as the components were too damaged for a thorough study.

MPB deputy commission Pol Maj Gen Charnthep Sesavej dismissed any connection between the Erawan shrine blast and the discovery of a MK2 grenade in Sukhumvit Soi 81.

A candlelit vigil was held Monday evening, a week after the Erawan shrine bombing that killed 20 people, including 14 foreigners.

He said police are also investigating if there is any link between the blast and the hacking of six official websites by a group who claim to be an Islamic group from Tunisia.

Meanwhile, the National Council for Peace and Order said a total of 139 people have been arrested and a small amount of firearms and drugs confiscated in the Friday to Monday crackdown targeting tourist guesthouses and accommodations across the city.

The Justice Ministry and the Tourism and Sports Ministry have distributed financial support to the relatives of 16 of those killed in the bombing.

A total of 104 people have lodged petitions for financial aid. Out of the remaining injured, two people were discharged over the weekend, leaving the number of those being treated at various hospitals at 50.

 

[eErotica69]

The Junta is a big joke.