BANGKOK — Authorities have put a 1 million baht bounty on their chief suspect in Monday’s devastating bomb attack which killed at least 20 people and injured more than 100 in the Thai capital.
Two days after a man was seen leaving a backpack at the Erawan Shrine minutes before the blast, police this afternoon issued a composite sketch of the suspected bomber and announced the bounty for information leading to his arrest.
Anyone with information about the attack or the suspected bomber can phone tips in to 1599.
The so-called “yellow-shirt man" was seen on security cameras entering the shrine area at the corner of a busy intersection in downtown Bangkok during peak traffic. The blast ripped through worshipers making merit and praying as well as passers-by on the sidewalk.
The shrine reopened this morning as police announced they’d widened their hunt to include possible Thai co-conspirators in the attack.
The sketch image shows a curly haired man with indeterminate Asian-European features. He has a thick black shock of hair. National police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang speculated he might have been wearing a wig at the time of the attack.
In footage taken before the attack, the man enters the shrine area about 15 minutes before the blast, when it is packed with worshipers and foreign tourists. He immediately slips off his backpack after sitting on a bench and departs seconds later while using a smartphone. He turns left on Ratchadamri Road toward the Erawan Hotel.