Thailand’s police chief yesterday said the investigation into last week’s bomb blast has been hampered by broken security cameras in central Bangkok along the main suspect’s getaway route.
Police are trying to “put pieces of the puzzle together,” but have had to use their imagination to fill holes where street side security cameras were broken and unable to record his movements, national police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said.
One week after the bombing at the Erawan Shrine, which left 20 people dead and scores injured, police appeared no closer to tracking down suspects or determining a motive for the attack.
Police yesterday said that a worker digging at a construction site found a grenade buried in the ground and a police explosives squad was sent to defuse it.
The grenade appeared to have been buried for a while and authorities “do not think it has anything to do with bombing,” police Lieutenant Sakon Rungkiatpaisarn said.
Police have released an artist sketch of the prime suspect from last week’s blast, who is seen in security camera footage from the open-air shrine leaving a backpack at a bench and walking away.
However, the images are blurry and after the suspect leaves the scene, the security cameras were broken at key spots along his suspected path, Somyot “Sometimes there are 20 cameras on the street, but only five work,” Somyot said, openly frustrated as he spoke to reporters. “We have to waste time putting the dots together.”
“Have you seen CSI?” Somyot asked reporters.
“We don’t have that,” he said, referring to high-tech equipment that can render blurry footage clear.
In other developments, a US photographer working in Hong Kong may face five years in jail after he was detained for carrying a bullet-proof vest and helmet while covering the aftermath of the Erawan bombing.
Anthony Kwan Hok-chun, who works for the Initium media group, is held after trying to depart Suvarnabhumi Airport on Sunday.
“We took this case, he will be charged with the normal process,” said Police Colonel Santi Wannarak, a senior officer at the airport, adding that Kwan could face a military trial.
“Having a bullet-proof vest in possession without permission is subject to five years in jail and/or fine of no more than 50,000 baht [US$1,400],” said Kwan’s lawyer, Sirikarn Charoensiri.
Basic personal protection equipment commonly used by media around the world such as gas masks, ballistic vests and helmets are classified as weapons under Thailand’s Arms Control Act and must be licensed.
Attempts by media groups over the years to seek permission from authorities to carry such items have fallen on deaf ears despite the country’s long history of deadly street protests. Until now, the ban on civilians and journalists carrying unlicensed equipment has largely been ignored.
Additional reporting by AFP
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS