https://www.scmp.com/rss/320390/feed A bomb exploded on August 17, 2015, outside Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, killing at least 21 people - including two Hongkongers - and injuring more than 120 others. The shrine is located near some of Bangkok’s most popular upscale shopping malls and was packed with worshippers and tourists at the time. Thailand’s defence minister said the bombing was aimed at foreigners to try to damage the country’s tourist industry. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The trial of two Chinese Uygurs accused of a deadly Bangkok shrine bombing was postponed for a second time on Thursday as the court again failed to find a suitable translator for the suspects. The August 2015 bombing left 20 dead in the centre of the city in an unprecedented attack on the junta-ruled nation. The two accused, Yusufu Mieraili and Bilal Mohammed, were scooped up by Thai police in the days after the bombing and have been held in military custody ever since. Both deny the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2019687/translator-trouble-deepens-delay-bangkok-bomb-trial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2019687/translator-trouble-deepens-delay-bangkok-bomb-trial?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Sep 2016 08:06:55 +0000 Two Chinese nationals will go on trial this week for their alleged roles in a deadly bombing at a Bangkok shrine one year ago, an attack whose motive remains clouded in mystery following a murky and at times surreal investigation. The trial, which starts on Tuesday, is being held at a military court in Bangkok and is expected to last more than a year. The bombing was the worst assault of its kind in Thailand’s recent history. But one year later more than a dozen key suspects named during the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2007058/bangkok-bomb-trial-looms-without-masterminds-dock?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2007058/bangkok-bomb-trial-looms-without-masterminds-dock?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Aug 2016 14:15:47 +0000 A translator for two Uygur men accused of a deadly Bangkok bombing was remanded in custody on Friday for drug possession, further complicating a murky trial that has failed to answer key questions about the unprecedented attack on Thailand. Sirojiddin Bakhodirov was arrested this week with small amounts of marijuana and crystal meth. On Friday, a Bangkok court extended the Uzbek national’s remand, according to police. But Bakhodirov, who is the only Uygur translator at the Bangkok bomb trial,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1964184/translator-bangkok-bombing-suspects-held-drug-charges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1964184/translator-bangkok-bombing-suspects-held-drug-charges?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Jun 2016 14:24:27 +0000 One of two ethnic Uygur Muslims from China accused of involvement in a deadly bombing at a Bangkok shrine last year broke down in front of cameras on Tuesday as he made his way into court. Twenty people were killed and more than 120 injured in the bombing on August 17 at the Erawan Shrine, thronged by visitors to the Thai capital. Five of those who died were from China and two from Hong Kong. Analysts, diplomats and even some officials suspected the attack was linked to sympathisers of the Uygur... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1946159/im-not-animal-shackled-thailand-bomb-suspect-calls-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1946159/im-not-animal-shackled-thailand-bomb-suspect-calls-out?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 May 2016 06:50:05 +0000 Thai police cannot find 15 suspects in connection with a bomb at a shrine in Bangkok last year that killed 20 people, an officer said on Wednesday, as two ethnic Uygur Muslims from China accused of involvement appeared in a military court. No group claimed responsibility for the August 17 blast at the Erawan Shrine, a central tourist spot popular with visitors from China and elsewhere in Asia. Five of the dead were from China and two from Hong Kong. More than 120 people were wounded. Analysts,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1937378/we-dont-know-where-they-are-thai-police-say-they-are-unable?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1937378/we-dont-know-where-they-are-thai-police-say-they-are-unable?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Apr 2016 09:26:24 +0000 Thailand has dropped charges against Hong Kong photojournalist Anthony Kwan Hok-chun, his Bangkok-based lawyer said. “The public prosecutor of Thailand submitted a motion to the court to drop the case and the [judge] ordered the case to be dropped and withdrawn from court,” Kwan’s human rights lawyer Pawinee Chumsri told the South China Morning Post. READ MORE: Hong Kong news photographer held in Bangkok for trying to carry bulletproof vest onto flight The photojournalist for Hong Kong news... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1922469/thai-court-drops-case-against-hong-kong-photojournalist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1922469/thai-court-drops-case-against-hong-kong-photojournalist?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Mar 2016 10:02:29 +0000 The perpetrators of last year’s deadly explosion at a Bangkok shrine originally chose a pier packed with Chinese tourists as their primary target and had amassed enough chemicals to make 10 equally powerful bombs, the chief of Thailand’s police bomb squad said. A bomb planted at the Erawan Shrine on August 17 killed 20 people and turned a popular tourist site into a scene of carnage. Another device, which was left at a crowded pier on Bangkok’s Chao Phraya river but failed to explode, might have... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1917102/bangkok-shrine-bombers-tried-blow-pier-packed-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1917102/bangkok-shrine-bombers-tried-blow-pier-packed-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Feb 2016 01:34:02 +0000 Two Chinese ethnic Uygur men on Tuesday appeared at a Thai military court and denied all charges against them for involvement in a bombing that killed 20 people, including six Chinese nationals, in Bangkok last year. Most of those killed in the August 17 explosion at the Erawan shrine near a busy Bangkok intersection were foreigners. More than 120 were wounded by the blast at the shrine, a popular attraction for both tourists and Thais alike. “I am an innocent Muslim,” Yusufu Mieraili, one of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1913472/chinese-uygur-suspects-deny-bangkok-bomb-charges-court?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1913472/chinese-uygur-suspects-deny-bangkok-bomb-charges-court?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Feb 2016 07:53:59 +0000 A Chinese ethnic Uygur man arrested in Thailand over a bombing that killed 20 people in Bangkok last year denied on Monday charges of murder or involvement in the attack, retracting an earlier confession his lawyer said he was tortured into making. Adem Karadag, also known as Bilal Mohammed, is due to appear at a military court on Tuesday, along with a second suspect, Yusufu Mieraili, to formally hear the charges. Police said both men had confessed to having a role in the August 17 explosion.... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1913271/chinese-uygur-claims-he-was-tortured-confessing-role?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1913271/chinese-uygur-claims-he-was-tortured-confessing-role?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Feb 2016 06:58:33 +0000 Thai police said on Thursday that suspects wanted in connection with a bomb that ripped through a Bangkok shrine, killing 20 people, have been arrested abroad and that Thailand was in the process of requesting their extradition. More than 120 people were wounded in the August blast, the worst peacetime bombing in Thailand’s history. So far, arrest warrants have been issued for 17 people in connection with the attack. Police have said many are thought to have fled abroad. “We have caught more... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1886445/thai-police-say-arrests-made-abroad-connection-bangkok-bomb?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1886445/thai-police-say-arrests-made-abroad-connection-bangkok-bomb?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Dec 2015 08:21:27 +0000 Thai authorities have made clear that the case into the bombing of the Erawan Shrine in central Bangkok last August that killed 20 tourists, two of them from Hong Kong, is closed. Two Uygur men from Xinjiang (新疆) appeared in a military court this week charged with 10 counts including murder, police have given themselves the US$84,000 reward money and investigators have declared that their work is done. Yet 14 suspects are still free and a host of questions remain unanswered. To end the inquiry... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1884378/thai-authorities-have-let-down-victims-bangkok-bombing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1884378/thai-authorities-have-let-down-victims-bangkok-bombing?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Nov 2015 16:02:41 +0000 A military court in Thailand on Tuesday indicted two men police say carried out a deadly August bombing at a central Bangkok shrine that left 20 people dead, including six Chinese visitors. The August 17 blast at the popular Erawan Shrine was one of the most serious acts of violence in Bangkok in decades. Authorities have declined to call it an act of terrorism out of apparent fear that it would hurt the country's huge tourism industry. The two suspects, identified as Bilal Mohammad and Mieraili... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1882548/thailand-indicts-2-uygur-men-deadly-bangkok-shrine-bombing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1882548/thailand-indicts-2-uygur-men-deadly-bangkok-shrine-bombing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Nov 2015 05:30:15 +0000 A Hong Kong photographer detained for carrying a bullet proof jacket and helmet in Thailand will face trial after pleading not guilty to a weapons possession charge on Monday. The case has sparked outcry from media freedom groups who say journalists should not be punished for carrying body armour and protective gear in and out of dangerous zones. Anthony Kwan Hok-chun, who works for the Hong Kong-based Initium media group, was held on August 23 after trying to depart Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1866558/hong-kong-photographer-face-thai-trial-carrying-flak-jacket?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1866558/hong-kong-photographer-face-thai-trial-carrying-flak-jacket?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Oct 2015 06:45:45 +0000 The son of ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra has handed police a reward of nearly US$200,000 for their investigation into the deadly Bangkok blast, after authorities declared the first suspect arrested was the bomber. The unprecedented August attack at a shrine in a bustling shopping district killed 20 people, landing a fresh blow to the nation’s image as a holiday paradise after last year’s military coup and months of street protests which preceded it. Anong the dead Among the 20 dead were... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1863996/thaksins-son-gives-thai-police-us200000-reward-bangkok?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1863996/thaksins-son-gives-thai-police-us200000-reward-bangkok?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Oct 2015 10:56:14 +0000 Thai police on Saturday said a foreigner held in custody over last month’s deadly Bangkok attack was the same yellow-shirted man seen on CCTV placing a rucksack at the shrine moments before the blast. Authorities have earlier said it was unlikely that either of the two men detained over the August 17 blast, which left 20 dead, were the bomber in what has been an often confusing and contradictory police investigation. On Saturday national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said the probe now... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1861576/thai-police-say-detained-man-bangkok-bomber-seen-cctv?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1861576/thai-police-say-detained-man-bangkok-bomber-seen-cctv?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Sep 2015 03:30:00 +0000 Eight people, including four believed to be ethnic Uygurs, have been detained in Malaysia for questioning in connection with last month’s bombing of a shrine in Bangkok that killed 20 people, a senior official said on Wednesday. National deputy police chief Noor Rashid Ibrahim said they were detained in the past week in Kuala Lumpur as well as in northeastern Kelantan state. Four of the eight were Malaysians involved in human trafficking, while another four were believed to be Uygur men who... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1860729/malaysia-detains-8-suspects-including-4-uygurs-over-bangkok?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1860729/malaysia-detains-8-suspects-including-4-uygurs-over-bangkok?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Sep 2015 07:45:45 +0000 Thailand’s national police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang on Tuesday said he could not confirm reports claiming that Malaysian authorities had arrested a key suspect in the deadly bomb attack in Bangkok. Reports have claimed Malaysia has detained a man, believed to be the bomber, who was captured on CCTV in a yellow T-shirt near the site of the explosion at the city’s Erawan shrine on August 17. However, Somyot said he had not been informed of such a development. “When news occurs, we have to examine... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1860556/thai-police-chief-unable-confirm-reports-bangkok-bombers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1860556/thai-police-chief-unable-confirm-reports-bangkok-bombers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Sep 2015 14:13:38 +0000 The Hong Kong government on Tuesday downgraded the red travel warning to Thailand to an amber alert, as the threat of terrorism dissipated six weeks after the deadly Erawan shrine bombing in Bangkok. The Security Bureau issued the red outbound travel alert for Thailand – which advised travellers to “avoid non-essential travel” – because of “significant threat” a day after a bomb attack targeted one of the city's busiest tourist attractions, on August 17. Two Hong Kong residents were killed and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1860462/hong-kong-downgrades-outbound-travel-warning-thailand-wake?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1860462/hong-kong-downgrades-outbound-travel-warning-thailand-wake?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Sep 2015 11:45:30 +0000 Thai police on Thursday obtained an arrest warrant for a Pakistani man in connection with last month’s deadly bombing in Bangkok that the authorities blame on a people-smuggling gang that moves ethnic Uygurs out of China. Police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said the warrant for Abdul Tawab cites charges of conspiracy to possess unauthorised explosives and conspiracy to possess unauthorised war materials. The warrant was based partly on testimony that he had frequented an apartment where police... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/1859233/thai-police-issue-arrest-warrant-pakistani-over-bangkok-blast?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/1859233/thai-police-issue-arrest-warrant-pakistani-over-bangkok-blast?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Sep 2015 15:00:30 +0000 Hong Kong photojournalist Anthony Kwan Hok-chun must wait at least two more weeks to find out if Thai police will pursue charges against him after he was stopped at a Bangkok airport carrying body armour. A Thai court this morning granted Kwan permission to leave Thailand until the next hearing on September 29. Kwan was stopped at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport after he was found carrying a bulletproof vest in his hand luggage. A licence is required to own a bulletproof vest, except when it is... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1859007/hong-kong-photographer-free-leave-thailand-police-weigh?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1859007/hong-kong-photographer-free-leave-thailand-police-weigh?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Sep 2015 04:45:45 +0000 Thailand’s police chief on Tuesday linked the Bangkok bomb to China’s Uygur minority, the first time he has referenced the ethnic group after weeks of skirting around their possible involvement in the attack. The August 17 bombing killed 20 people, tincluding seven from mainland China and Hong Kong, raising the possibility of a link to militants or supporters of the Uygurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic group who say they face heavy persecution in mainland China. A month earlier Thailand had forcibly... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1858391/thai-police-chief-links-chinas-uygur-minority-bangkok-bombing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1858391/thai-police-chief-links-chinas-uygur-minority-bangkok-bombing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Sep 2015 09:30:00 +0000 Thailand’s police chief on Tuesday linked the Bangkok bomb to China’s Uygur minority, the first time he has referenced the ethnic group after weeks of skirting around their possible involvement in the attack. The August 17 bombing killed 20 people, among them seven from Hong Kong and mainland China, raising the possibility of a link to militants or supporters of the Uygurs, an ethnic group who say they face heavy persecution in China. A month earlier Thailand had forcibly deported more than 100... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1858394/thai-police-chief-links-chinas-uyghur-minority-bangkok-bomb?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1858394/thai-police-chief-links-chinas-uyghur-minority-bangkok-bomb?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Sep 2015 09:15:30 +0000 The police investigation into the Bangkok shrine blast increasingly points towards a game-changing attack on Chinese tourists by Uygur militants or sympathisers, analysts say - but Thailand and Beijing are loath to admit it. Nearly a month after the August 17 attack, Thailand has two foreigners in custody and a dozen arrest warrants issued, and insists the network responsible for the explosion is in their crosshairs. But investigators have yet to provide a compelling motive for the carnage in... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1858100/beijing-bullying-thai-police-bangkok-blast-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1858100/beijing-bullying-thai-police-bangkok-blast-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Sep 2015 18:45:15 +0000 A key suspect in the plotting of last month's deadly bombing in Bangkok was last tracked via multiple flights to Turkey, Thai police said yesterday, as Malaysia announced it had made three 8arrests related to the attack that killed 20 people. Two Malaysians and a Pakistani national were arrested and were assisting with the investigation, Malaysia's police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said yesterday. "We believe the suspects can help in the investigation," he said. "Our arrest was made to assist the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1857965/malaysia-arrests-three-suspects-connection-bangkok-blast?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1857965/malaysia-arrests-three-suspects-connection-bangkok-blast?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Sep 2015 05:15:00 +0000 Thai police on Saturday said an arrest warrant had been issued for an ethnic “Uygur” man over last month’s deadly Bangkok blast, for the first time identifying a suspect as a member of the Chinese minority group. The announcement follows weeks of speculation over the motive and perpetrators of the unclaimed attack which killed 20 people, the majority ethnic Chinese visitors, at a religious shrine in the capital’s bustling downtown district on August 17. Analysts had increasingly pointed towards... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1857619/thai-police-seek-ethnic-uygur-man-over-bangkok-bomb-erawan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1857619/thai-police-seek-ethnic-uygur-man-over-bangkok-bomb-erawan?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Sep 2015 13:45:45 +0000 The suspected mastermind of last month's deadly bomb attack in Thailand travelled to Beijing via Bangladesh on a Chinese passport in late August, Bangladeshi police said on Friday. No group has claimed responsibility for the August 17 attack at a Hindu shrine in Bangkok, which killed 20 people, including seven from mainland China and Hong Kong. The suspect, Abdusataer Abudureheman, also known as Izan, fled on the eve of the blast to Bangladesh and spent two weeks there, Bangladeshi police said.... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1857182/bangkok-bombing-suspect-flew-beijing-bangladesh-two-weeks-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1857182/bangkok-bombing-suspect-flew-beijing-bangladesh-two-weeks-after?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Sep 2015 02:30:30 +0000 A key suspect in last month’s deadly Bangkok blast paid a $600 bribe to illegally enter Thailand, police said Thursday, highlighting widespread corruption at the kingdom’s borders. Adem Karadag, one of two foreigners arrested in connection with the August 17 attack, was detained at a flat in eastern Bangkok late last month. Police say he was found in possession of bomb-making paraphernalia and dozens of fake Turkish passports. Karadag’s role has not been explained by police, but say they now... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1856940/one-bangkok-bomb-suspects-bribed-his-way-thailand-police?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1856940/one-bangkok-bomb-suspects-bribed-his-way-thailand-police?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Sep 2015 07:31:02 +0000 Thai police said on Wednesday that a key suspect has admitted to meeting the alleged Bangkok shrine bomber outside a train station and handing him a heavy backpack containing a bomb just before the blast occurred the night of August 17. Police announced the development as they escorted the suspect, identified as Yusufu Mierili, to the scene of the alleged handover and also to the Erawan Shrine, where the blast killed 20 people, for a public re-enactment of his role and movements before and after... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1856615/thai-police-say-suspect-handed-backpack-bangkok-bomber-they?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1856615/thai-police-say-suspect-handed-backpack-bangkok-bomber-they?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Sep 2015 04:45:45 +0000 Watch: Police say second man arrested is Chinese national from Xinjiang One of the two men arrested over last month's deadly Bangkok bombing has admitted to a charge of possessing explosives, police said on Monday, in the first confession over the unprecedented attack on Thailand. Police say the suspect, Yusufu Mieraili, was arrested last week near the border with Cambodia. "We have informed him of the charge. He acknowledged and confessed to the charge," national police spokesman Prawut... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1856094/suspect-caught-holding-chinese-passport-admits-explosives?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1856094/suspect-caught-holding-chinese-passport-admits-explosives?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Sep 2015 14:15:15 +0000 Hong Kong photojournalist Anthony Kwan Hok-chun is free to leave Thailand after a judge returned his passport, but he must return to Bangkok to face charge after he was stopped at a Bangkok airport allegedly carrying a bulletproof vest in his hand luggage. A police probe into the case against the 29-year-old reporter is still active. The charge against Kwan carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail. He was arrested at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport for carrying controlled items under Thai... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1855933/hong-kong-photojournalist-detained-thailand-allegedly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1855933/hong-kong-photojournalist-detained-thailand-allegedly?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Sep 2015 04:30:00 +0000 Thai authorities unveiled the restored centerpiece of the Erawan Shrine, in the latest bid to boost confidence among Bangkok’s tourism and business communities almost three weeks after a deadly bombing that left 20 dead. In the past week, police have arrested two people and identified seven more believed to be part of a network that carried out the August 17 blast, which also injured more than 120 people. They have intentionally avoided calling it an act of terrorism for fear of hurting... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1855234/thais-unveil-restored-statue-bomb-site-boost-morale?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1855234/thais-unveil-restored-statue-bomb-site-boost-morale?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Sep 2015 06:45:15 +0000 Thailand's junta has for the first time named two foreign suspects and arrested a third man linked to the deadly Bangkok Erawan Shrine bombing that killed 20 people, reports said today. The foreign suspects were identified as Adem Karadag and Yusufu Mieraili. The identification of the former had been complicated by the existence of fake passports at the scene of a police raid. According to Thai media reports, Mieraili is a 25-year-old Chinese national from Xinjiang - a vast region in China's far... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1854956/two-foreign-suspects-bangkok-shrine-blast-identified-junta?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1854956/two-foreign-suspects-bangkok-shrine-blast-identified-junta?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Sep 2015 06:30:15 +0000 Police hunting those responsible for Thailand’s deadliest bombing arrested a second foreign suspect on Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said. Thailand’s prime minister described him as the main person in the bombing but did not directly say he is the person suspected of actually planting the bomb at a shrine in central Bangkok two weeks ago that killed 20 people. Television footage of the suspect showed a thin man in a baseball cap, sunglasses and with a short moustache. “We have... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1854426/thailand-arrests-main-suspect-deadly-bangkok-bombing-wanted?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1854426/thailand-arrests-main-suspect-deadly-bangkok-bombing-wanted?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Sep 2015 08:45:45 +0000 Thailand’s police chief announced today he was handing his own officers a reward of some US$84,000 for apprehending a man who has been charged in connection with this month’s deadly Bangkok bomb blast. Police General Somyot Poompanmoung held up three million baht in cash in tightly stacked notes which he said would be distributed amongst his men following the arrest of a foreign man on Saturday. “One million baht comes from me, the other two million baht came from my businessmen friends who do... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1854134/thai-police-give-themselves-us84000-reward-meant-public?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1854134/thai-police-give-themselves-us84000-reward-meant-public?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 31 Aug 2015 08:15:00 +0000 Thai police probing a deadly bombing two weeks ago issued arrest warrants on Monday for two new suspects after a raid on a suburban apartment block uncovered possible bomb-making materials. Police were hunting for a 26-year-old Thai female and a foreign man after a weekend search on a property in the Min Buri district uncovered fertiliser, digital watches and an explosives detonator, police spokesman Prawuth Thavornsiri said in a televised announcement. “These are bomb-making materials,” Prawuth... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1854045/thai-police-issue-arrest-warrants-new-suspects-after-raid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1854045/thai-police-issue-arrest-warrants-new-suspects-after-raid?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 31 Aug 2015 05:30:00 +0000 The evidence seized by police investigating Thailand’s deadliest bombing included an apparently damning trove of explosives, fertiliser, and piles of fake passports, but the shabby-looking foreigner they arrested on Saturday remains a mystery. There has been no word of his nationality, affiliation or whether the evidence seized in a shabby Bangkok apartment block amounts to a smoking gun for the attack on a crowded downtown shrine that killed 20 people two weeks ago. WATCH: Thai police arrest... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1853857/bangkok-bombing-suspect-never-said-word-police-say-picture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1853857/bangkok-bombing-suspect-never-said-word-police-say-picture?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Aug 2015 12:00:45 +0000 Thailand’s junta came under scrutiny Sunday after an unrelated picture of a suicide vest was broadcast during a nationally televised address announcing the arrest of a foreign man in connection with last week’s deadly Bangkok shrine bombing. Officials later said the vest was not among the items found at the suspect’s flat, warning people not to share the shot online whilst a junta spokesman Sunday accused broadcast media of inserting the erroneous picture. The police investigation in the bomb... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1853818/thai-junta-broadcast-unrelated-suicide-vest-picture-when?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1853818/thai-junta-broadcast-unrelated-suicide-vest-picture-when?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Aug 2015 08:22:18 +0000 Thailand’s army chief said the man arrested in connection with the deadly Bangkok bomb blast was not cooperating, as police announced he was part of a people-smuggling gang. The unnamed foreigner, who is being held in military custody at an undisclosed location, was seized during a Saturday morning raid on a flat on the eastern outskirts of Bangkok. Thai security forces raided an apartment in Nong Jok and discovered detonators, ball bearings and a metal pipe that was likely intended to hold a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1853676/thai-police-arrest-foreign-man-likely-involved-bangkok-bombing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1853676/thai-police-arrest-foreign-man-likely-involved-bangkok-bombing?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Aug 2015 09:45:30 +0000 Thai police on Friday said three Uygur Muslims, among dozens detained in the kingdom for illegal entry last year, had been questioned over the deadly Bangkok bombing. Eleven days on from the bombing at Erawan shrine, which killed 20 people and wounded scores more, authorities are hunting for a prime suspect who police describe as a foreign man. No arrests have been made, despite the circulation of grainy CCTV footage of the lead suspect. Security analysts have speculated that China’s ethnic... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1853474/thai-police-question-3-uygurs-over-bangkok-bombing-hunt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1853474/thai-police-question-3-uygurs-over-bangkok-bombing-hunt?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Aug 2015 10:53:32 +0000 Thai police on Thursday said they were looking at arrivals of Turkish nationals in the days before a Bangkok bomb attack that killed 20 people, but said they had not ruled out any group or possibility. Police and some security analysts have raised the possibility of a connection to the Uygurs - a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority from the far west of China. They complain of persecution by Beijing. China’s treatment of the Uygurs is an important issue for many Turks, who see themselves as sharing a... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1853025/uygur-connection-thai-police-look-arrivals-turkish?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1853025/uygur-connection-thai-police-look-arrivals-turkish?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Aug 2015 08:00:45 +0000 A week after Bangkok’s deadliest terror attack in living memory might not seem the best of times to be marketing a US$1 billion ultra-luxury residential and hotel project on the bank of the city’s Chao Phraya River, but Ben Taechaubol is in defiant mood. “As a nation, I don’t think we should let such incidences drive things. If we all started to think this way, then they’ve won,” the chief executive officer of Country Group Development PCL said yesterday in Hong Kong, where the company is... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1852949/bangkok-bomb-wont-deter-wealthy-chinese-affinity-thailand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1852949/bangkok-bomb-wont-deter-wealthy-chinese-affinity-thailand?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Aug 2015 01:45:15 +0000 Jasmine Chu Sum-yu, the youngest Hong Kong victim of last week’s deadly bombing in Bangkok, is recovering in a local hospital after returning home from the Thai capital early this morning. The nine year old and her father were brought to Princess Margaret Hospital shortly before 3am after a flight from Bangkok, where their holiday in one of the most popular tourist destinations for Hongkongers turned into a nightmare. Her father Chu King-fun, 61, said : “I'm relieved now as I’m back home. Now,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1852930/jasmine-chu-youngest-hong-kong-victim-bangkok-bombing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1852930/jasmine-chu-youngest-hong-kong-victim-bangkok-bombing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Aug 2015 20:30:45 +0000 A nine-year-old Hong Kong girl injured in Bangkok blast who is flying back to Hong Kong this evening will be admitted to the Princess Margaret Hospital, Kwai Chung, for further treatment, her father said. Jasmine Chu Sum-yu underwent a seven-hour overnight operation in Thailand to remove a large piece of bomb shrapnel from her thigh last week. Her father, Chu King-fun, said Jasmine would arrive on a flight from Bangkok at around 10pm. She will be sent directly to the hospital in an ambulance. A... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1852778/bangkok-blast-will-not-put-hong-kong-and-chinese-investors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1852778/bangkok-blast-will-not-put-hong-kong-and-chinese-investors?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Aug 2015 09:30:45 +0000 Cancellations of Bangkok package tours from Hong Kong have been extended to trips ending on September 10, following the government’s raising of a travel alert for the Thai capital in the wake of a bombing outside a popular tourist hot spot. Most of Hong Kong’s travel agents operating Bangkok tours had agreed to let customers cancel bookings with travel dates between September 1 and 10, the Travel Industry Council, the body representing package tour holidays, said. On August 17, a backpack bomb... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1852356/hongkongers-allowed-cancel-bangkok-trips-dated-sept-10?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1852356/hongkongers-allowed-cancel-bangkok-trips-dated-sept-10?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Aug 2015 04:15:30 +0000 Thailand’s police chief has revealed the investigation into last week’s bomb blast has been hampered by broken security cameras in central Bangkok along the main suspect’s getaway route. National police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said that police were trying to “put pieces of the puzzle together” but had to use their imagination to fill holes where street side security cameras were broken and unable to record his movements. One week after last Monday’s bombing at the capital’s revered Erawan... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1852103/bangkok-blast-probe-hindered-broken-security-cameras-along?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1852103/bangkok-blast-probe-hindered-broken-security-cameras-along?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Aug 2015 07:15:45 +0000 A Hong Kong photojournalist who was arrested at a Bangkok airport on Sunday for allegedly carrying a bulletproof vest in his hand luggage could face five years in jail, as journalists urged Thai authorities to drop the case. Anthony Kwan Hok-chun, 29, who was released on bail, is accused of breaching the 1987 Arms Control Act, which carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.  Bulletproof vests are controlled items under Thai law and a licence is required to own them, except for military or... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1852101/hong-kong-photographer-bailed-trial-trying-carry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1852101/hong-kong-photographer-bailed-trial-trying-carry?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Aug 2015 07:00:00 +0000 A Hong Kong news photographer has been detained at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport for trying to carry a bulletproof vest onto a flight leaving the Thai capital. Anthony Kwan Hok-chun, a photographer for the newly launched Initium Media news outlet since May, was detained by airport police on Sunday afternoon and faces trial on Monday. Kwan was preparing to board Thai Airways Flight 602 to Hong Kong and had the vest in his hand baggage. READ MORE: Son of former Thai PM doubles reward offered for... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1851989/hong-kong-news-photographer-held-bangkok-trying-carry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1851989/hong-kong-news-photographer-held-bangkok-trying-carry?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Aug 2015 15:00:15 +0000 Despite new surveillance video that may offer a possible clue to the bombing in central Bangkok that killed 20 people, Thai police said Sunday the perpetrators may have already fled the country. Surveillance video leaked to Thai media shows a man in a blue shirt placing a bag on a riverside walkway, then kicking it into the water on Monday night shortly after the explosion several kilometers away at the downtown Erawan shrine. About 18 hours later, at 1 p.m. Tuesday, an explosion took place at... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1851821/police-fear-bangkok-bombing-suspect-may-have-fled-country?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1851821/police-fear-bangkok-bombing-suspect-may-have-fled-country?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Aug 2015 04:28:16 +0000 Thai police on Saturday said they were investigating new security camera footage showing a man dropping a package into a canal as the hunt for those behind Monday’s deadly Bangkok bomb blast entered its fifth day without arrests. CCTV video widely circulated by local media Saturday showed a man in a blue T-shirt kicking the package off a footbridge in the same spot where a device exploded on Tuesday without injuries. That second blast intensified anxiety in an already rattled city, following... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1851672/thai-police-investigating-new-cctv-footage-showing-man?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1851672/thai-police-investigating-new-cctv-footage-showing-man?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Aug 2015 07:38:31 +0000 The son of ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra has more than doubled the reward offered by police for the capture of those behind this week’s deadly Bangkok bomb blast by putting up nearly US$200,000. Monday’s attack on a religious shrine in a bustling Bangkok shopping district killed 20 people, mostly ethnic Chinese tourists from across Asia, leaving police scrambling to find the assailants and sending shock waves through the nation’s vital tourism sector. Police are convinced the attack was... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1851667/son-former-thai-pm-doubles-reward-offered-bangkok-bomber?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1851667/son-former-thai-pm-doubles-reward-offered-bangkok-bomber?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Aug 2015 04:30:15 +0000