Thai police on Saturday said an arrest warrant had been issued for a “Chinese” man over last month’s deadly Bangkok blast, backtracking after they earlier identified the suspect as a member of the country’s Uighur minority.
National police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said the suspect was a Uighur according to his passport, as authorities released a photo of the mustached and short-haired suspect, with a caption that identified him as Abudusataer Abudureheman, or “Ishan,” of “Uighur” ethnicity and “Chinese” nationality.
However, shortly afterward police sent reporters another photo of the suspect — this time removing mention of his ethnicity and requesting that media “drop the word Uighur.”
PHOTO: EPA
Later on Saturday, Prawut said he wanted to “correct” his earlier comment, without explaining why or denying whether the man was of Uighur ethnicity, saying only the suspect was Chinese.
“I cannot confirm his whereabouts,” the spokesman added.
Confusing and sometimes contradictory official statements have characterized updates into the investigation of the attack which killed 20 people, the majority ethnic Chinese visitors, at a religious shrine in the capital’s bustling downtown district on Aug. 17.
Analysts have increasingly pointed towards militants from China’s mostly Muslim Uighur minority — or their supporters — in revenge for Thailand’s forced deportation of 109 Uighur refugees to an uncertain future in China in July. Until Saturday, Thai police had avoided attempts to directly connect the blast with the kingdom’s major ally China or the Uighurs.
Thai authorities are already holding in custody two foreign men, whose nationalities remain unconfirmed, over the attack.
Ishan, who police say is 27 years old, is among another 11 suspects wanted by police.
Prawut said Ishan, who left Thailand a day before the blast and is wanted on the charge of “jointly possessing illegal military supplies,” belonged to the criminal network that police believe is responsible — but he was “not the mastermind” of the attack. That appeared to be yet another contradiction to a statement, also released on Saturday, by Thai immigration police that said: “According to security agencies, Ishan is the one who plotted, ordered and funded the attack.” That statement also referred to Ishan being of Uighur ethnicity.
It was not immediately clear why the police retracted the Uighur claim, but Thailand’s junta has been keen to avoid awkward diplomatic questions — in particular from China, whom is has relied on more strongly as an ally since last year’s coup.
Uighurs have long accused Beijing of religious and cultural repression, with scores believed to have fled China’s northwestern Xinjiang region — home to around 10 million of the group — in recent years, often heading to Turkey via Southeast Asia.
Thailand’s recent deportation of Uighurs had sparked violent protests in Turkey, where nationalist hardliners see the minority as part of a global Turkic-speaking family.
The warrant issued on Saturday is the 12th over the unprecedented attack on the Thai capital, which targeted a Hindu shrine particularly popular with Chinese tourists who believe prayers there bring good fortune. Mystery still surrounds the motives of the group accused of being behind the attack and Thai authorities have been careful not to suggest that Chinese visitors were targeted.
One of the detained suspects, Yusufu Mieraili, was arrested last month with a Chinese passport registering his birthplace as Xinjiang, but police did not confirm his ethnicity or nationality nor that of the other detained suspect, Adem Karadag, who was arrested at a Bangkok apartment in possession of bomb-making materials and scores of fake Turkish passports.
Mieraili has confessed to handing over a backpack containing the 4kg bomb to another unnamed man who was later caught on CCTV wearing a yellow T-shirt and placing the bag at the busy shrine moments before the blast.
On Thursday, Bangladesh police confirmed a suspect from the bombing network had arrived in Dhaka from Bangkok on Aug. 16 before flying out to Beijing two weeks later.
However, local Thai media reports have said the suspect flew on to Turkey rather than China.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
Two people died and 19 others were injured after a Mexican Navy training ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said yesterday. The ship snapped all three of its masts as it collided with the New York City landmark late on Saturday, while onlookers enjoying the balmy spring evening watched in horror. “At this time, of the 277 on board, 19 sustained injuries, 2 of which remain in critical condition, and 2 more have sadly passed away from their injuries,” Adams posted on X. Footage shared online showed the Mexican Navy ship Cuauhtemoc, its sails furled
RSS