Thais seize explosives at residence
2 sought in shrine bombing; man still held from earlier raid
BANGKOK — Thai police on Monday expanded their investigation into a deadly Bangkok shrine bombing, seizing explosives from a suburban apartment building and warning that the group they are pursuing had been preparing “quite a lot of bombs.”
Thai police issued arrest warrants Monday for two more suspects, a Thai woman and a foreign man of unknown nationality.
In a televised announcement, police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri displayed a photograph of the woman’s Thai identification card and a sketch of the man. He later said police were asking for additional arrest warrants.
The woman was identified as Wanna Suansan, also known by the name Mai Saloh.
Police said they posted the warrant for Wanna’s arrest after they raided an apartment late Sunday and found gunpowder and urea fertilizer, among other items.
“We found evidence that indicated the preparation to produce quite a lot of bombs,” said Gen. Somyot Poompanmoung, Thailand’s national chief of police. “We are concerned.”
Prawut said Wanna has a house registration in the southern Thai province of Phang Nga. Police raided the house but did not find her.
Police Maj. Gen Chalit Keawyarat said Wanna’s relatives told authorities that she had been away for more than three months, and they believed she was in Turkey because her husband is Turkish.
“The relatives are trying to contact her so that she could prove her innocence to the police. The relatives believe she is not involved,” Chalit said.
Ibrahim Komkham, the chief of the village where Wanna’s family lives, said Wanna was willing to return to Thailand to prove her innocence.
He spoke to her on the phone and quoted her as saying she would “surrender anywhere, anytime.”
The arrest warrants for Wanna Suansun and the unnamed man say they are wanted on a charge of conspiracy to possess unauthorized war material, a reference to the gunpowder.
The man, whose face is shown in a police sketch with short brown hair and a light beard and mustache, is believed to have lived in the apartment rented by the woman, Prawut said.
The developments came after police arrested a man in an apartment in Bangkok’s outskirts on Saturday and seized bomb- making equipment that included detonators, ball bearings and a metal pipe that could serve as a bomb casing.
The man arrested Saturday had a fake Turkish passport, authorities said. Police have declined to disclose his nationality.
Police officials said information gained from the man had helped them find the apartment that was raided Sunday night.
Authorities have declined to answer questions about whether the suspect is believed to be Turkish, declaring that the Turkish Embassy said he isn’t.
A Turkish Foreign Ministry official said reports that Wanna may be in Turkey and other allegations about a Turkish connection were “speculation” and that the ministry would not comment on speculation.
The official said he had no information about the woman and could not confirm that her husband is Turkish.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules that bar officials from speaking to journalists without prior authorization.
Also on Monday, Thai police awarded themselves an $ 84,000 reward that had been offered for tips leading to the arrest of bombing suspects.
Somyot said he was giving the reward to the police force to motivate his officers and to show that Thailand’s police are good at their work.
“This money should be given to officials who did their job,” he said at a news conference as aides took out stacks of the money. It wasn’t immediately clear how the money would be distributed to police officers.