BANGKOK: The son of ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra has handed police a reward of nearly US$200,000 for their investigation into the deadly Bangkok blast, after authorities declared the first suspect arrested was the bomber.
The unprecedented August attack at a shrine in a bustling shopping district killed 20 people, mostly ethnic Chinese tourists, landing a fresh blow to the nation’s image as a holiday paradise after last year’s military coup and months of street protests which preceded it.
The reward from Panthongtae Shinawatra — the first born son of populist leader Thaksin — follows Thai police rewarding their own officers some US$84,000 for arresting the bombing suspect two weeks after the blast.
“My team has handed seven million baht (US$192,000) to the national police headquarters to boost the spirits of officials,” Panthongtae declared in a Facebook post on Saturday.
Thailand’s national police chief Jakthip Chaikinda confirmed the money had been received, telling reporters yesterday that the sum was marked for police officers involved the investigation and those who provided tip-offs.
It was not immediately clear if any members of the public would receive a cut for tip-offs. The earlier reward from police was earmarked only for officers as officials at the time said they had not received any public tip-offs after their call for information.
After weeks of an often confusing and contradictory probe, police last month announced that the foreign man they had arrested in possession of bomb-making equipment in August was the main yellow-shirted suspect seen on CCTV leaving a rucksack at a shrine moments before the blast.
They said the man — named by police both as Bilal Mohammed and Adem Karadag — had confessed to planting the bomb. The suspect’s lawyer later confirmed his client had admitted doing so.
But mystery still shrouds the motive for the unclaimed attack.
Yesterday Jakthip said police had not ruled out any motive for the crime with warrants out for more than a dozen other suspects believed to be involved.
There is only one other man in custody over the attack, a foreigner named as Yusuf Mieraili who is a Chinese passport-holder of Uighur ethnicity. — AFP