Ekip
September 15, 2015•Update: September 15, 2015
By Max Constant
BANGKOK
For the first time since the Aug. 17 deadly bombing in Bangkok, Thailand's police have recognized that the blast is connected to the deportation by Bangkok of 109 Uighur to China in July.
"The bombing is a result of the interests of human smuggling rings being affected by the crackdown by Thai authorities and is connected as well to the sending of 109 Uighur to China," Thai police chief General Somyot Pumpanmuang told reporters at a press conference Tuesday.
"But in this case [the sending of the Uighur], it was necessary to follow the law," he added.
Pumpanmuang also mentioned the ransacking of the Thai consulate in Istanbul which took place on news of the deportation, saying that it was "too early to say if the same group of people [involved in the consulate ransacking] was also involved in the bombing".
Up until Tuesday, Thai authorities had been wary of publicly connecting the blast to the July deportation.
