Thailand reeling in pipe bomb aftermath

Blast near popular shrine intended to weaken tourism and economy as man on CCTV not yet identified.

Thai authorities are looking for a suspect seen on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage near a popular shrine, where a bomb blast killed 22 people, including nine foreigners from several Asian countries.

The government said the attack, during the Monday evening rush-hour, in the capital’s bustling commercial hub, was intended to weaken the economy.

No-one has claimed responsibility.

On Tuesday, a small explosive was thrown from a bridge over a river, but no-one was injured, raising tensions in the city, a police officer at the scene said.

National police chief, Somyot Pumpanmuang, said the suspect for Monday’s blast was wearing a yellow shirt and was seen in a first CCTV image with a backpack, and in a later one without the bag. He could be Thai or a foreigner.

“That man was carrying a backpack and walked past the scene at the time of the incident. But we need to look at the before-and-after CCTV footage to see if there is a link,” Somyot said.

Police earlier said they had not ruled out any group, including elements opposed to the military government, for the bombing at the Erawan shrine, although officials said the attack did not match the tactics of Muslim insurgents in the south.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha also referred to the man on CCTV as a suspect, without giving details. He said there were “still anti-government groups out there”, although he did not elaborate.

Police were deployed to the blood-splattered site on Tuesday. Some were wearing white gloves and carrying plastic bags, searching for clues to an attack that could dent tourism and investor confidence.

The Thai baht fell 0.57% to 35.57, its weakest in six years, amid concern the bombing may scare off visitors. Thai stocks fell as much as 3%.

123 people were wounded in the blast, which was caused by a pipe bomb.

“Police are not ruling out anything, including (Thai) politics and the conflict of ethnic Uighurs, who, before this, Thailand sent back to China,” Somyot said.

Thailand forcibly returned 109 Uighurs to China last month.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of the Turkic-speaking and largely Muslim minority have fled unrest in China’s western Xinjiang region. Many Uighurs have travelled through Southeast Asia to Turkey.

The blast comes at a sensitive time for Thailand, which has been riven for more than a decade by a sometimes violent struggle for power between political factions in Bangkok.

An interim parliament, hand-picked by a junta that seized power in a 2014 coup, is due to vote on a draft constitution next month.

The draft has been criticised as undemocratic, that it is intended to help secure the military’s grip on power and limit the influence of elected politicians.