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Traffickers blamed for Bangkok bombing
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THAI Authorities are now certain that last month’s deadly bombing at a Bangkok shrine was related to the trafficking of Uygurs from China to Turkey, Thailand’s national police chief said yesterday.
Somyot Poompanmoung’s comments marked the first time authorities have publicly linked the August 17 bombing to the smuggling of Uygurs, after weeks of hinting at it and saying only that authorities believe the attack was carried out by human traffickers angered by a crackdown.
In the past week, several Turkish and Chinese links to the bombing appeared to strengthen the theory that the attack was to avenge Thailand’s repatriation of 109 Uygurs to China in July. The deportations stirred anger in Turkey, home to a large Uygur community, where the Thai Consulate in Istanbul was attacked by protesters.
However, Somyot ruled out the bombing as revenge for the repatriations.
“It’s about a human trafficking network that has been destroyed,” he said. “Deporting those 109 people, the Thai government did in accordance with international law. We also sent them to Turkey, not just China.
“The bombing at Rajaprasong resulted from the fact that Thai authorities destroyed or disrupted their human trafficking network and they couldn’t continue their business.”
Rajaprasong is the area of Bangkok where the bombing at the busy Erawan Shrine occurred. The blast killed 20 people, including seven Chinese tourists, and left more than 120 injured.
Thai authorities have avoided calling the bombing an act of terrorism, fearing this would harm Thailand’s image as a tourist destination. For the same reason, authorities said they wanted to avoid singling out motives linked to specific countries or religious groups.
Somyot said the bombing and the attack of the consulate in Istanbul “came from the same cause,” apparently referring to the trafficking network. “We destroyed their business, which caused anger,” he said.
On Monday, police said a key suspect in the bombing had used a Chinese passport to flee to Turkey.
The suspect, identified as Abudureheman Abudusataer, left Thailand on August 16 for Bangladesh, said national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri. He said information gathered by Thai police and Bangladeshi officials showed that the man left Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka on August 30 and traveled to Istanbul as his final destination via New Delhi and Abu Dhabi.
Thai police previously said the man may have directed the bombing.
“He departed Dhaka on August 30 for Delhi by Jet Airways,” Prawut said. “From Delhi, he continued his travel to Abu Dhabi, and from Abu Dhabi he traveled on August 31 to Istanbul. This is his final destination. It’s clear.”
A senior Turkish government official, however, denied that the man had escaped to the country.
Two other key bombing suspects have been arrested and are in custody, charged with possession of illegal explosives. One of them was captured from an apartment on the outskirts of Bangkok where police also discovered bomb-making material — and was in possession of a fake Turkish passport, police said.
The other was caught near the border between Thailand and Cambodia, and carrying a Chinese passport. Police said his fingerprints were found on a container with explosive material confiscated from the apartment.
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