(Reuters) — Thai police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang on Monday (September 28) officially presented a cash reward of 3 million baht ($82,668) to officers involved in the Bangkok blast investigation.
He announced the cash reward a month ago.
“I would like to present the cash reward, which was donated through my businessman friends and some were from myself to Police General Chakthip Chaijinda, to be handed out to all authorities involved in the case, including military and police officials,” Somyot said.
Fourteen foreigners were among those killed in the attack, the worst incident of its kind in Thai history. It dealt a fresh blow to a tourism industry recovering from the impact of political protests last year.
Thai police reiterated that the attack was revenge for a crackdown on human trafficking.
While ruling out international militants, Somyot said there may also be a link between the blast and Thailand’s long-running political divisions through an individual hired to help the suspects in the attack.
“It was because authorities earlier cracked down on their human trafficking network, they were upset that it caused them to go out of business. Another motive is linked with an individual that has a link to politics. Therefore, we cannot leave out the fact that politics may also come into play,” Somyot said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and police have repeatedly said they did not believe militants were involved.
Authorities said on Friday (September 25) a man they arrested in August – referred to both as Bilal Mohammed and Adem Karadag – had confessed and was the yellow-shirted suspect seen in security footage placing a backpack at the shrine moments before the blast.
A second arrested man used a mobile phone to trigger the bomb, police have said.
Authorities had said previously it was unlikely either of the two were the bomber in what has been an inconsistent police investigation.
Somyot denied that police put undue pressure on the suspects.
“We did not force the suspects to confess. The confessions came as they had to surrender to the evidences that authorities managed to find, and they were not able to deny them. That’s why they confessed,” he said.
Thailand cracked down on the lucrative trade in humans in the region in May, parking an international humanitarian crisis as criminal gangs abandoned boatloads of migrants at sea rather than risk smuggling them through Thailand.
