By Max Constant
BANGKOK
An investigation into a bomb blast that killed 20 people in central Bangkok is making some progress, with Thai police releasing a composite sketch of the main suspect Wednesday while affirming that he was helped by “at least two accomplices”.
The drawing shows a young man with long dark hair and glasses, who may be an Asian or European.
Police are yet to determine his nationality or if he is still in the country, however junta leader-cum-Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha ruled out a possible link with "Uighur militants" Wednesday – a theory which had been doing the rounds in Thai media since the bombing.
A reward of Bht1 million ($28,000) has been offered to anyone who can provide information on the man that police are now referring to as “the bomber”.
Pictures taken by security cameras at the Hindu shrine where the bomb blast occurred late Monday showed the man entering the compound, leaving his bag under a bench, and then departing a few minutes before the explosion.
Information provided to police by a motorbike taxi used by the man after his departure helped experts to compose the sketch, according to Khaosod online.
At a news conference, police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said that the “bomber” had been helped by “at least two other persons” – a conclusion police reached after examination of security camera footage.
An arrest warrant is about to be delivered, Thavornsiri added.
Earlier in the day, Police Chief General Somyot Poompanmuang had told local media that the suspect had not acted alone.
“I am confident that there are Thais involved,” he said, adding that the suspect belonged to a “network”.
“So we are looking for other suspects. Usually, this kind of bomb attack is not planned by only one person."
Chan-ocha, meanwhile, has called on the perpetrators to surrender to police, arguing that if they don’t do so, they risk being killed.
“I would like to tell those behind the incidents that if they want to be safe they should turn themselves in. Officials will work out legal solutions to guarantee their safety,” he told the Bangkok Post.
He added that the masterminds know the authorities are determined to catch the bombers.
"They may kill them to ensure their silence,” he said.
Chan-ocha also ruled out the theory – heavily propagated by Thai media on Wednesday – that "Uighur militants" unhappy with the deportation to China of 109 Uighur by Bangkok last month were behind the bombing.
“If it had been the case, the Uighur group would have claimed responsibility by now,” he said.
Several experts on the Uighur issue also ruled out the possibility, saying that such an operation had never been carried out outside of China, where most of the Uighur live.
Numerous other hypothesis and theories - most based on sheer speculation and bias, but some madcap and bizarre - have been discussed by Thais and some foreigners on social networks.
One such notion is that the bombing was masterminded by the United States, “because the U.S. was unhappy about Thailand getting too close to China."
The idea was met with some derision.
