Thai Police Reward The Police With 3m Baht In Bangkok Bomb Case

When I first seen the news that Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmoung said the police team who tracked down the Bangkok bomb suspect arrested on Saturday afternoon were being rewarded with 3 million baht my first thought was, isn’t that their job?

As it turns out it’s not that “reward” money but cash donated by the police chief himself and a few of his mates to say thanks to the investigators for their hard work.

Of course, that does put things in a new light and thankfully it isn’t another PR disaster for authorities at a time when they are neck deep in the smelly stuff after amongst other blunders showing a suicide bombers vest during the televised announcement on Saturday evening when revealing information about the capture of a suspect in Nong Chok district earlier in the day making it appear it was found during the raid.

Anyway, some rich cops have just made some poor cops a little richer.

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Phone data leads to arrest Bangkok Bomber

NOTHING TO CHANCE: More than 100 police and military officers were involved in the arrest. 

 News > Security Phone data leads to bomb arrest Ball bearings and bomb-building equipment found in suspect's room.

A police source close to the investigation said the arrest of the foreign man, who is believed to be Turkish, came after investigators spent more than a week sifting through every mobile phone call made within the vicinity of the shrine around the time of the bombing on Aug 17. 

He said officers managed to identify three Turkish phone numbers which had activated international roaming services and were in use near the blast site.
.Police apparently traced one of those phone numbers to the suspect apprehended yesterday. Around 100 police and soldiers moved in to make the arrest around 3pm at the Pool Anant apartment building in Nong Chok district, in the city’s eastern outskirts.
.A military source said the suspect held a Turkish passport by the name of Adem Karadag, 28, although the document was later found to be fake.
.A large quantity of bomb-making materials and equipment which allegedly belong to the suspect were seized from his rented room.

READ MORE: BangkokPost
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Hounded Online and Off, Man Commits Suicide Over Bangkok Bombing Claim

PATHUM THANI — A man committed suicide last night in his northern metro Bangkok home, days after an online claim was made that he was the bomber behind the Erawan Shrine attack.

Kittisak Meemang, 36, was discovered hanged in his bedroom at his home in Pathum Thani province at around 9pm last night, police told reporters, and his family believes he was hounded into taking his life after someone used his Facebook account to post a message in his name.

“The [statuses] said something like, ‘I am the one who bombed Ratchaprasong Intersection,’” his sister Anchittha Meemang said, referring to the intersection where the shrine is located.

Police ruled his death a suicide, saying they found nothing to indicate he’d been assaulted.

Anchittha said that before killing himself, Kittisak had recounted visiting an internet cafe on Sunday where he forgot to logout from his Facebook account. He told Anchittha that someone must have used his account to post a message claiming he was responsible for the bomb which killed 20 people and injured 150 more.

“I tried talking to him and deleted all the messages on my brother’s Facebook, and I deactivated it to end the problems,” she said, adding they went together to a local police station to file a report together as evidence his account was misused to post the message.

His family told reporters that Kittisak was involved in a car accident last year which left him with unspecified “brain damage.” They believe he took his life after becoming distraught over the chorus of condemnation he received for the message, including death threats and intimidation that carried over into the physical world.

His aunt Usa Meemang said Kittisak said he received “many” death threats via Facebook before deleting his account.

Two men on a motorcycle stopped Kittisak while he was going to work at around 9am yesterday and punched him before driving away, she said, adding that he filed a police complaint and then chose to stay home from work.

“After I cooked my dinner, I didn’t see my nephew coming down from his bedroom to eat dinner, so I went to see him, and I discovered that he was hanged dead,” Usa said.

Police sent Kittisak’s body for an autopsy and said the incident is under investigation.

Source: Khaosan

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Turkish Suspect Arrested In Connection With Bangkok Bombing

A Thai police handout photo shows Turkish suspect Adem Karadag after his arrest Saturday in Bangkok in connection with a bombing August 17 at a central Bangkok shrine, which killed 20 people. A police spokesman said bomb-making materials were found at his apartment and they were similar to the device that detonated nearly two weeks ago. EPA

BANGKOK (DPA) - A foreign suspect was arrested Saturday in connection with a bombing this month at a Bangkok shrine that killed 20 people, police said.

"We arrested a 28-year-old foreign national who had in his possession bomb-making materials, including fuses, ball bearings and pipes," police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said.

The materials were similar to the device used in the August 17 bombing, Prawut said, adding that the suspect probably was linked to the attack but might not have been the actual bomber.

The spokesman also showed a picture during a press conference of a dozen passports emblazoned with a crescent and star found in the possession of the suspect. Local media reported that the passports are Turkish in origin.

A police source who declined to be named said police acted on a tip from the landlord who owned the apartment that the suspect was renting.

The landlord grew suspicious because the suspect did not speak Thai and rented five rooms on the same floor of the apartment complex.

Local residents told reporters that the suspect had been living in the apartment for two weeks before the bombing at the Erawan shrine in the heart of Bangkok.

Kasem Pooksuwan, the motorcycle taxi driver who said he drove the suspect away from the bombing, said pictures released of the man arrested looked similar to the bomber.

"They have the same chin and nose," Kasem said.

Television footage late Saturday showed the suspect wearing a black hood being taken away from the apartment complex as onlookers watched.

Police said the suspect will be interrogated.

Anthony Davis - a regional security analyst with Britain's IHS Jane's, which provides intelligence to militaries and governments - said at a forum this week that the Bangkok bombing did not fit the pattern of attack of local and regional groups.

Davis said the most likely group to have carried out the attack is a far-right Turkish organization known as the Grey Wolves. Davis said that the motive for such an attack could have been the repatriation of Uigher refugees to China by the Thai government.

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Thai Govt: Global terror 'unlikely' in well-planned bombing

ERAWAN SHIRINE 

 The National Council for Peace and Order said it has at this stage ruled out any link between the Erawan shrine bomb in Bangkok and international terrorism, in its daily briefing on nationwide live television 
at noon on Thursday.

NCPO spokesman Winthai Suvaree said security agencies collaborating with Thailand's allies had come to the same preliminary conclusion -- the incident is unlikely to involve international tourism, and 
Chinese tourists were not the direct target because people of other nationalities were also affected. 

Col Winthai said the bombing was probably the work of organised crime, or kabuankarn. A bomb exploded at busy Erawan shrine on Ratchaprasong intersection on Monday night, killing 20 people and injuring another 125. The police investigation has led to the issue of an arrest warrant for an 
unnamed foreigner, based on CCTV footage, and two more men were being sought for questioning. 

A month to plan

National police chief Somyot Pumpunmuang said Thursday morning that the deadly bombing took more than a month to plan and was executed by more than 10 people. "This blast was made by teams," Pol Gen Somyot said, adding it would have taken about a month to plan Monday's assault on the Erawan shrine.

Stating his belief that "more than 10 people" were involved, Pol Gen Somyot said the bomber would have needed several people to survey the site, plan an entry and exit strategy and acquire and make the 
bomb, which brought carnage to the capital at rush hour. 

"I believe this network has links with people inside Thailand," he added.  

Victims' families contacted 

 The bombing claimed the lives of at least 13 foreigners -- from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. One of the Hong Kong victims was also a British national.

The government has already contacted the families of 16 victims, helping them submit documents for compensation, and nine have already received payment. Of the injured, 70 people have been contacted to submit the necessary papers, and some of them have already been paid. According to the Public Health Ministry, 56 of the injured have left hospital, while 67 remained hospitalised as of Thursday morning.

Col Winthai said the identities of most of the deceased had been verified. Two were still being verified, so people who think they may be their relatives should contact the Police Hospital. 

He warned that the NCPO would increase the level of legal action against people who post misinformation about the bombing on social media, and against people who incite confusion and panic. AFP news agency reported on Thursday that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha said he would not attend a memorial service for the victims at the shrine on Friday because of growing fears for his safety.

"I will not go there on the advice of my security. I am not afraid of dying, but I am afraid others may die with me as my risk is increasing day by day," he said during an official function at Bangkok.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack, which has no precedent in Bangkok.

Source: BangkokPost

Thailand PM urges bombers to surrender for own safety

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Wednesday urged bombers who attacked Bangkok this week to turn themselves in for their own safety, saying, otherwise, they could be killed. 

The bombers could be murdered
by the masterminds who hired them to set off explosives at the Erawan shrine and Sathorn pier, Gen Prayut said, expanding on an earlier remark by national police chief Somyot Pumpunmuang that the suspects in the attacks were part of a "network." 

"They know authorities are determined to catch the bombers" and may kill them to ensure their silence, the general said. 

 "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. It is better than hiding,"
the prime minister said.

Gen Prayut urged the public to look out for and report people who planned violent attacks, saying they would be easy to spot because they're generally amateurs who would be acting strangely and trying to disguise their appearances. 

He noted that CCTV cameras at both the Ratchprasong intersection and Sathorn pier have given authorities clear indications of the suspects' movements. 

 While not disclosing more information about the suspects, the general did rule out that Uighur Muslim terrorists were behind the bombings, saying that if that had been the case, an Uighur group would have 
claimed responsibility by now.

 He attempted to soothe the public by saying violent incidents can happen anywhere in the world at any time because people lacked morality and awareness of the damage that can result from their actions. 
 Source: BangkokPost



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