One arrest warrant was for a woman named Wanna Suansant, 26, who rented a room in Bangkok’s Min Buri district, Police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said.
Wanna is the first suspect to be identified in the investigation into the August 17 bombing at Erawan Shrine as well as another blast the next day that caused no injuries.
The sketches of the two suspects –a male and a woman in a head scarf –were released in a
nationwide live telecast.
Min Buri is near the district where an unidentified foreigner was arrested on Saturday, allegedly in
possession of bomb-making paraphernalia including detonators and ball- bearings as well as dozens of fake passports.
The arrested man was carrying a fake Turkish <g data-gr-id="44">passport</g> but his identity remained unclear as Turkish
diplomats said they did not believe he was a Turk.
During the raid at Wanna’s room yesterday, police found urea-based fertiliser, a radio-controlled toy vehicle, components of which could be used to detonate a bomb remotely, bolts that could be used as shrapnel and decorative lights that could be used for ignition.
Items seized from the woman’s apartment room were shown on the televised police briefing. The second arrest warrant was for an unidentified man of unknown nationality.
Prawut cautioned owners of apartments frequented by foreigners to keep a close watch on them and report anyone of similar appearance or who was found behaving in a suspicious manner.
The two new arrest warrants raised to four the number of people now wanted for involvement in the bombing that killed 20 people and injured 131. The motive behind the attack is still not clear.
Authorities said police were monitoring about 1,000 mobile phone numbers and checking photographs used in around 200 seized passports to track down members of an unspecified group they believe orchestrated the attack.
The scale of explosive material discovered at the two locations appears to indicate that more bomb attacks were planned in the Thai capital, police said.
On Sunday, <g data-gr-id="42">Prawuth</g> said that that the interrogation was proceeding slowly. Prawut did not elaborate on what group that might be.
Police have been criticised for an erratic investigation that had, until this weekend, uncovered few clues about who was behind the blast. No group has claimed responsibility.
While scant progress was being made, speculation had focused on groups that could have the motive and capability to carry out the bombing.
These have included southern ethnic Malay insurgents, opponents of the military government, foreign militant groups and sympathisers of Uighur Muslims. Thailand forcibly repatriated more than 100 Uighurs to China last month, prompting international outrage.