Alwaght- A suspect of Bangkok bombing that killed 22 people and injured 123 others was identifed, Thailand's junta leader said on Tuesday adding "we are looking for this guy".
Condemning the blast as the "worst ever attack" on the kingdom, Prime Minister Prayuth Chanocha, said the suspect had been seen on CCTV footage near the blast site. Prayuth said that the person in question was believed to belong to an “anti-government group based in Thailand’s northeast”. The area is a powerbase for the red-shirt anti-coup movement.
Police also released CCTV footage showing a young man in a yellow T-shirt walking near the shrine wearing a backpack, but then a short time later walking away without it.
The deadly bombing attack occurred on Monday in one of the Thai capital's most popular tourism hubs, at the Hindu shrine of Erawan close to five-star hotels and upscale shopping malls.
Eight foreigners, including Chinese, Hong Kong, Singaporean, Indonesian and Malaysian citizens, were among those killed at the shrine.
The kingdom's worst ever attack that injured more than 100 other people and left body parts strewn across crushed pavement, alongside shattered windows and incinerated motorcycles could hurt the tourism industry which is a rare bright spot in an otherwise gloomy economy, and tarnishing the junta's reputation.
Bangkok has experienced a decade of fierce political violence amid a power struggle between the military, backed by the middle class and elite, and the poor led by populist politician Thaksin Shinawatra.
He is living in self-imposed exile after being ousted as premier in 2006. The junta has ruled the nation since May last year after toppling the elected government of Thaksin's sister, Yingluck.
More than 90 people were killed in 2010 during clashes between security forces and Thaksin supporters -- many in the same area as Monday's bomb.
But the anti-junta groups have never conducted such a large attack, nor one that was apparently aimed at a tourist zone.
