Thailand blast: Arrested foreigner part of people-smuggling gang

A foreigner arrested in connection with Thailand’s worst attack here in a temple that killed 20 people was part of a human trafficking gang and may have carried out the bombing as a revenge for a crackdown on their activities, police said on Sunday.

Bangkok police have charged the man with illegal possession of weapons and officials say he was involved in the attack. However, they say he is not the man seen on CCTV footage leaving a bag at the Erawan Brahma Shrine before the explosion.

The bomb tore through the crowded shrine on August 17, killing 20 people and injuring more than 100, mostly tourists.

The man, who was described as a 28-year-old foreigner by police, was arrested in Nong Jok on the outskirts of Bangkok on Saturday.

National police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said officers believed the suspect was part of a gang that helped illegal migrants obtain counterfeit documents and the bomb attack was in response to the recent crackdown by Thai authorities.

“They (the gang) are unsatisfied with police arresting illegal entrants,” he was quoted as saying by local media. “It’s a network that <g data-gr-id="22">fakes</g> nationalities and sends them (illegal migrants) on to third countries,” he said.

Media reports on Saturday had said the suspect arrested was a Turkish national as a Turkish passport was found with his photo in the room.

However, police later said the passport was a fake. The Turkish Embassy also denied that the person was a citizen of Turkey, Prawut said.