Uighurs emerge as suspect of Bangkok terror

The possibility is widely raised that foreigners such as Uighurs could be behind the deadly bombing in the heart of the Thai capital. Judging that the terror attack was not committed by a single person, investigators are exerting efforts to find accomplices.

The daily Bangkok Post of Thailand reported on Wednesday, “The investigation authority judges chances are that the bombing was a retaliatory attack by Uighurs, the minority Muslim ethic group in China, and is focusing its probe accordingly.”

Given that the suspect shown in surveillance camera footages appears to be a man from the Middle East, police believe chances are high the attack was launched by Uighurs.

Last month, the Thai government arrested hundreds of Uighurs who entered Thailand to move to Turkey to avoid China’s oppression, and forcefully repatriated 109 of them to China. Since then, a group of Uighurs have stormed into the Thai consul general in Istanbul, and staged a protest rally.

Since the forceful repatriation of Uighurs to China, the Chinese embassy in Thailand requested Bangkok to step up security for fear of terror attacks, and reportedly acquired on Tuesday last week intelligence suggesting that a terror attack targeting Chinese tourists would occur.

The Erawan Shrine where the blast occurred is an area frequented by Chinese tourists. In the attack, five Chinese people including those from Hong Kong died. The Chinese government requested the Thai government to conduct thorough investigation into fatalities of its citizens, and bring those responsible to justice.

“The bombing attack was not committed by just one person. It was committed by a group,” Thai police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said on Wednesday. As a result, police are focusing their investigation on discovering accomplices who colluded with the suspect by analyzing surveillance camera footages from nearby areas.

jameshuh@donga.com