Police appeal for bombing witnesses
(TNA) - Police investigating Saturday night's Bangkok are confident the bomber was trying to create a disturbance in Thailand, senior police officer said on Monday.
Assistant national police chief Jongrak Jutanont said police had searched a residence of the Lamsam family, founder of Kasikorn Bank, and other prominent public figures who lived near the scene of the incident and found no clues leading to the bombing that had wounded a young man.
Pol Lt-Gen Jongrak said police also believed that the bomb victim - identified as Prapat Muangsongchan - is not the person planting the bomb because he lives in the lane where it was placed near a public telephone booth. The explosion shattered glass and damaged the phone booth.
Now, police believe the culprit's only motive was to create disturbance in the capital, the police general said.
Police have urged passers-by between 8 pm and 8.30 pm Saturday to contact them it they witnessed any suspicious activity during that time.
Pol Lt-Gen Jongrak said Sunday that the bomb was simply made and was set to detonate in less than 30 minutes.
Several new security measures were to be initiated after the incident including setting up 84 new checkpoints in risk-prone areas in the capital nightly.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will install more streetlighting in dark or underlit areas in the capital. Moreover, the municipality is considering removing public telephone booths in areas where they are considered unnecessary to prevent ill-intentioned persons from planting bombs.
The city authorities also plan to install 1,700 additional closed-circuit surveillance cameras in risk areas and more lighting will be installed in public phone booths.