Thailand: bombers "not foreign terrorists", yet bomber didn't speak Thai?
With still no claims as to responsibility for the Bangkok bombing, criticism is growing as to the Thai government's handling of the case and the inconsistencies as to its official views. &nbsp;Whilst an official government spokesman said that the involvement of foreign terrorist groups had been ruled out, it seems that the local motorcycle taxi-driver who drove the bomber to the Shrine said that the suspect spoke no Thai, showed the address of his destination in English and spoke into his mobile phone in "another language". International experts also point out the the type of bomb used required a high level of knowledge that has hitherto not been seen in Thailand, suggesting that the bomb-making expertise comes from an external group.
But police have asked the international police agency Interpol for assistance. A worker fixes a fence at the Erawan Shrine after Monday's deadly blast. Credit: Reuters Security analysts question why the military administration has been quick to suggest the bombing was related to domestic politics when investigators appear to have no strong leads on who was responsible. It is also premature for the government to rule out any theories, given the apparent lack of hard evidence, they say. People gather at the scene of Monday's deadly bomb attack. Credit: AP

"It seems like a conscious effort on the part of the government to present a certain narrative of what has happened," Matthew Wheeler, Bangkok-based security analyst at the International Crisis Group, said. Ambika Ahuja​, south-east Asia analyst at the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, told the Bangkok Post that "every hypothesis that has been presented has holes and inconsistencies that investigators and analysts are still unable to explain credibly". A Thai policeman patrols with a bomb-sniffing dog at a night market in Bangkok on Thursday. Credit: AP Despite Mr Prayuth hinting that groups opposed to his junta that seized power last year might have had a hand in the attack the timing of it was not right if their goal was to force an early election, Ms Ahuja said. "This attack, if anything, would push elections further away and distract from the electoral road map," she said.

Mr Prayuth, a former army commander, initially ruled out a revenge attack by Uighur Muslims angry at Thailand for deporting 109 Uighurs to China in July. But the next day he said it was one of three theories the authorities had so far. Investigators have pieced together the movements of a yellow-shirted man both before and after he planted the bomb, through an extensive network of security CCTV cameras in central Bangkok. They also have established, from a motorcycle taxi driver who drove the key suspect from the scene, that he spoke English as well as another non-Thai language and wrote that he wanted to go to the city's Lumpini Park on a piece of paper. When he got another motorcycle taxi to the scene he showed the driver a photograph of the shrine.

But the conflicting statements from different officials working for different agencies indicate investigators are struggling to find any strong lead on the identities of the bombers. The crime scene was not sealed off for several hours after the bombing and civilians were still picking up bomb parts in the area days later. Mr Prayuth said he could not attend a memorial service for the victims at the shrine on Friday because of growing fears for his life. "I am not afraid of dying but I am afraid others may die with me as my risk is increasing by the day," he said. Security analysts believe the bomb packed with TNT and ball bearings to inflict maximum casualties was built by an expert who has experience overseas, given no bomb of its type has been used in Thailand in recent years.

Theories about the perpetrators under investigation include elements linked to Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, a possible terror cell linked to south-east Asians who have returned from fighting in the Middle East and insurgents waging a bloody war in southern Thailand that has left more than 6000 people dead. No one has claimed responsibility. Meanwhile, police have cleared two suspects seen standing at the shrine in front of the man who planted the bomb. One was a Chinese tourist and the other a tour guide. Heartbreaking stories have emerged among the victims.

In Butterworth, Malaysia, six-year-old Lee Jian Han saw an image of his father on television and kept asking his grandparents about it. The grandparents were too distraught to answer. Lee Jian Han did not go with other members of his family on a shopping trip to the Thai capital because he had to attend kindergarten. But his father, four-year-old sister, and three other members of his family were killed by the blast. His 33-year-old mother, who is five months pregnant, and her father survived the blast.