THAILAND-BLAST/SHRINE REOPENS Erawan shrine reopen as police hunt for accomplices of suspected Bangkok bomber

Record ID: 143390

  • Title: THAILAND-BLAST/SHRINE REOPENS Erawan shrine reopen as police hunt for accomplices of suspected Bangkok bomber
  • Date: 19th August 2015
  • Summary: BANGKOK, THAILAND (AUGUST 19, 2015) (REUTERS) MAN BUYING FLOWERS AND CANDLES FOR PRAYER AT THE ENTRANCE OF ERAWAN SHRINE ALTAR AT ERAWAN SHRINE INCENSE BURNING WORKERS FILLING INCENSE HOLDING AREA WITH SAND MAN PRAYING VARIOUS OF WOMAN LIGHTING UP INCENSE VARIOUS OF WOMAN PRAYING VARIOUS OF LOCAL RESIDENT, SANCHAI SRIPICHIT, WALKING TOWARDS SHRINE AND PLACING BURNING CANDLE IN INCENSE HOLDER (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) 41-YEAR-OLD BANGKOK RESIDENT, SANCHAI SRIPICHIT, SAYING: "So many bad things happen in this intersection but I believe Erawan shrine will protect everybody to get through this." WOMAN PRAYING IN FRONT OF SHRINE INCENSE BURNING BOARD WITH SIGN SAYING (In English): "STRONGER TOGETHER" AND MESSAGES FROM WELL-WISHERS OUTSIDE SHRINE ROSE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BANGKOK RESIDENT LIVING NEAR SHRINE, CHANTANA, SAYING: "I think the government and the police have done very well last night, they protected and we feel safe, I just want to feel like you know, life come back to normal life." VARIOUS OF BUDDHIST MONKS PRAYING AND BLESSING OTHER PRAYERS IN FRONT OF SHRINE
  • Embargoed: 3rd September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5ISSJRYAO007WEXQDEMY28BVI
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Erawan shrine reopened to the public on Wednesday (August 19) two days after a bomb blast killed 22 people and injured more than 120 others.
    In the freshly cleaned shrine flooded with international and local media, local residents came to pray and also pay their respects to the victims.
    "So many bad things happen in this intersection but I believe Erawan shrine will protect everybody to get through this," said 41-year-old Sanchai Sripichit.
    Others praised the government and police's response after the attack.
    "I think the government and the police have done very well last night, they protected and we feel safe, I just want to feel like you know, life come back to normal life."
    Thai authorities said on Wednesday they were looking for accomplices of the chief suspect for the Bangkok shrine bomb blast, a man who was captured on closed-circuit television (CCTV) dumping a backpack and walking away.
    The government said Monday (August 17) evening's attack at the popular Erawan shrine in the heart of Bangkok was aimed at wrecking the economy, which depends heavily on tourism.
    No one has claimed responsibility for the blast.
    Jangling nerves in the city on Tuesday, a small explosive was thrown from a bridge towards a river pier, sending a plume of water into the air, but no one was hurt.
    A spokesman for the government, Werachon Sukhontapatipak, said there were "patterns" between the two bombs in that both used TNT but no link had been established as yet.
    The footage of the young man with shaggy dark hair shows him entering the shrine compound with a backpack on, sitting down against a railing and then slipping out of the bag's straps.
    He then stands up and walks out apparently holding a mobile phone, leaving the bag by the fence as tourists mill about.
    National police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said the suspect could be Thai or foreign, though domestic media reports on Wednesday said he was not Thai.
    Police have not ruled out any group, including elements opposed to the military government, for the attack though they say it did not match the tactics of Muslim insurgents in the south or 'red shirt'.
    Police said they were considering the possibility that ethnic Uighurs were behind the bombing.
    Thailand forcibly returned 109 Uighurs to China last month.
    Hundreds, possibly thousands, of members of the Turkic-speaking and largely Muslim minority have fled unrest in China's western Xinjiang region, where hundreds of people have been killed, prompting a crackdown by Chinese authorities. Many Uighurs have traveled through Southeast Asia to Turkey.
    The blast comes at a sensitive time for Thailand, which has been riven for a decade by a sometimes-violent struggle for power between political factions in Bangkok.
    A parliament hand-picked by a junta that seized power in a 2014 coup is due to vote on a draft constitution next month. Critics say the draft is undemocratic and intended to help the army secure power and curb the influence of elected politicians.
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