Thai authorities arrested a foreign man Saturday they said had been holed up in a suburban apartment with bomb-making equipment and stacks of passports, the first possible breakthrough in the deadly bombing at a Bangkok shrine nearly two weeks ago.
All television channels broadcast a televised announcement Saturday evening on the suspect’s arrest, which came 12 days after the bombing that authorities have called the deadliest attack in Thailand’s modern history.
Police and soldiers raided the apartment in a non-descript concrete building on the outskirts of eastern Bangkok and found bomb-making materials that matched those used in the Aug. 17 blast at the Erawan Shrine in central Bangkok, police said.
The blast which killed 20 people and injured more than 120 was followed a day later by another explosion at a public ferry pier, which caused no injuries but exacerbated concerns about safety in the Thai capital, which draws millions of tourists.
Our preliminary investigation shows that he is related to both bombings
— Prawuth Thavornsiri, National police spokesperson
Prawuth showed photographs of the suspect on television— a young man with short brown hair and a light beard and moustache. Police identified him only as a 28-year-old foreigner, without releasing a name.
Photographs were also shown of what police seized, including detonators, ball bearings and a metal pipe that police believe was intended to hold a bomb.
“The bomb materials are the same, similar or the same type” as those used in both bombings, police chief Somyot Poompanmoung told reporters, adding that the suspect had travelled in and out of Thailand since January 2014.
Police also found “a number of passports from one country,” Prawuth said. He did not name the country but photographs shown during the broadcast showed stacks of passports that were similar to those from Turkey.
Earlier, Prawuth said that authorities had not yet determined his nationality and dismissed Thai news reports saying he is Turkish. Images of a Turkish passport with the apparent suspect’s picture were posted on social media.
“The passport you see is fake,” said Prawuth, referring to the online photos. “We don’t know if he is Turkish or not.”
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