You and your Thai Wife of 20 years.

[Lite Beer]

BANGKOK BLAST
Warrant issued for bomb 'mastermind'
THE SUNDAY NATION

BANGKOK: -- Police reject reports he had flown to China; Also deny rumours that bomber and another man were nabbed near Malaysia border

AN arrest warrant was issued yesterday for a foreign man allegedly involved in last month's Erawan Shrine bombing.

Bangkok's Min Buri Court accepted a police request to issue an arrest warrant for Abudustar Abdulrahman, or Izan, suspected of being the mastermind of the Erawan Shrine bombing, who fled Thailand one day ahead of the bombing, according to an informed source.

The source said the warrant was for a charge of conspiring to have military equipment in possession without permission. Witnesses said he had stayed at the Nong Chok apartment where the two captured suspects - Adem Karadag and Mieraili Yusufu - had resided.

Meanwhile, the police yesterday dismissed media reports that two key suspects in the bombing case - the man in a yellow shirt who planted the bomb at Erawan Shrine and a man in a blue shirt who detonated another bomb at Sathorn Pier - had been arrested in Malaysia.

Royal Thai Police spokesman General Prawut Thavornsiri also clarified yesterday that deputy national police chief General Jakthip Chaijinda had not travelled to Malaysia to take custody of two suspects from Malaysian authorities, as reported by some media.

According to the spokesman, police have sought cooperation from different countries to help find the two suspects.

He also rejected media reports that "Izan" had flown to China. "We found that those reports are untrue."

Suspects to move to Army base

Tomorrow, Karadag and Mieraili will be moved to the 11th Military Circle compound, which is now used as a special detention facility, Corrections Department director-general Wittaya Suriyawong said yesterday.

Wittaya also affirmed it was necessary for the Bangkok Remand Prison chief to appoint military officers as special prison guards at this special detention facility, so as to provide them the authority under the Corrections Act.

Initially the facility, where Karadag and Mieraili would be held separately, would require 20-30 soldiers to guard them, he said.

The Bangkok Remand Prison would also send one or two guards on a daily basis to advise the military officers about detention administration and visitor arrangements, he said. Throughout the time the duo was detained at Min Buri Prison, they had no visitors.

Two bomb blasts rocked Bangkok last month. One on August 17 targeted the Erawan Shrine, killing 20 people and injuring over 100 others. The other blast took place near Sathorn Pier the next day but did not cause any casualties.

In a related development, police investigators and military officers conducted a search of an apartment in Suan Luang district on Friday night that was rented by a 40-year-old Pakistani man, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

The man, identified as Abdul Thawub, had twice transferred money to a bank account belonging to a Turkish man who is the husband of Thai woman Wanna Suanson. The couple is wanted by police in connection with the blasts.

The Pakistani man was not in the room at the time of search. The building manager told police the man had left his room on September 5 and had not returned since.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Warrant-issued-for-bomb-mastermind-30268687.html

-- The Nation 2015-09-13

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Thailand seeks arrest of Uighur man in Bangkok bombing

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai authorities on Saturday issued an arrest warrant for a 12th suspect in connection with last month's bombing at a Bangkok landmark that killed 20 people, identifying him as a 27-year-old ethnic Uighur from China.

Police identified the suspect from the name that is in his passport, Abudusataer Abudureheman , but said he also uses the name "Ishan."

Although Saturday's police handout on the suspect identified him as Uighur, police later asked the media not to use the term. It is the first time a suspect has officially been identified that way.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has suggested those behind the Aug. 17 bombing may have been from a gang involved in smuggling Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gurs) from the Chinese region of Xinjiang, while others speculate they may be separatists or Islamist extremists angry that Thailand repatriated more than 100 Uighurs to China in July.

Uighurs complain of oppression by the Chinese government, and some advocate turning Xinjiang into a separate Uighur state.

Police spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri said the charge against the latest suspect is illegal possession of military hardware, based upon finding that he was present in an apartment where such materials were discovered in a police raid.

Police and other Thai authorities have acknowledged that most of the suspects are believed to be foreigners — from China and Turkey, which hosts a large number of Uighurs — but have so far declined to identify the bombing as an act of international terrorism, out of apparent fear that it will hurt the country's huge tourism industry.

Thai officials said Friday that they think Ishan may have fled to China, and have asked the authorities there to trace him. But officials from Bangladesh said that while he went there shortly before the blast, he then left Bangladesh on Aug. 30 and was supposed to transit in Delhi on his way to China but never got to his final destination.

Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the bombing at the popular Erawan Shrine, one with a fake Turkish passport and the other with a Chinese passport that, as in Ishan's case, describes him as coming from Xinjiang with a name that would typically belong to a Uighur.

Thai officials say that two suspects, including the man they believe may have actually planted the bomb, may have fled across Thailand's southern border to Malaysia.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-09-13

[zaphod reborn]

Still not admitting that the bombings were an act of terrorism, or that ISIL was operating an Uighur militant smuggling operation in Thailand.

http://www.todayszaman.com/anasayfa_china-claims-uighurs-being-sold-in-turkey-as-cannon-fodder-for-isil_393465.html

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/china-says-uighurs-being-sold-as-isils-cannon-fodder-in-turkey.aspx?pageID=238&nid=85298&NewsCatID=359

http://diplomacy.bgnnews.com/china-claims-turkish-envoys-giving-identity-papers-to-uighurs-to-join-isil-haberi/7603

[Jon Wetherall]

Still not admitting that the bombings were an act of terrorism, or that ISIL was operating an Uighur militant smuggling operation in Thailand.

http://www.todayszaman.com/anasayfa_china-claims-uighurs-being-sold-in-turkey-as-cannon-fodder-for-isil_393465.html

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/china-says-uighurs-being-sold-as-isils-cannon-fodder-in-turkey.aspx?pageID=238&nid=85298&NewsCatID=359

http://diplomacy.bgnnews.com/china-claims-turkish-envoys-giving-identity-papers-to-uighurs-to-join-isil-haberi/7603

They can't afford to if they want to keep pretending Thailand is safe for tourists. Always an eye to the buck...

[Shermanator]

Took 'em almost one month, only... Wow, that's quick!!!!

What about admitting that it was islamic terrorism now, or will (and why is that so) the sugarcoating continue????

Why am I so "unimpressed"?

Edited September 13, 2015 by Shermanator

[Srikcir]

"the latest suspect is illegal possession of military hardware, based upon finding that he was present in an apartment where such materials were discovered"

The Junta needs to stop sending civilians to its army bases for interrogation as they too will gain illegal possession of military hardware by their mere presence!