Bangkok bomb shrine reopens as police hunt suspect

BANGKOK: Thai monks led prayers Wednesday at a ceremony to reopen a Bangkok shrine hit by a deadly bombing, as police hunted a man seen calmly planting a backpack before the explosion that killed 20 people.

The blast struck on Monday evening as worshippers and tourists crowded into the Erawan shrine in the Thai capital´s commercial heart, but with no claim of responsibility the motive and identity of the culprit remain a mystery.

The unprecedented attack left at least 11 foreigners dead, with visitors from Britain, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, and a family from Malaysia among the victims.

Another 68 people remain in critical condition after a blast that shredded bodies and incinerated motorcycles at one of the city´s busiest intersections, sending a shockwave through the country´s pivotal tourist industry.

Police said a second explosion at a Bangkok pier on Tuesday that caused no injuries was linked, deepening fears for residents as police conceded they do not know who was responsible.

Investigators believe the main suspect did not act alone, and have offered a one million baht ($28,000) reward for information that leads to his arrest.

Widely circulated video of the suspect, apparently young and slightly built, and sporting glasses and shaggy dark hair, has prompted social media chatter that he could be a foreigner.

In a televised address Wednesday, Thai junta spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree said security has been tightened in tourist areas "especially where there are many Chinese tourists, to regain their trust and confidence".

The Erawan shrine -- a popular tourist attraction that typifies the kingdom´s unusual blend of Hindu and Buddhist traditions -- and its surroundings have already been largely restored and the pools of congealed blood scrubbed away.

Twisted iron railings were the only immediate sign of the blast point, which police believe was caused by a bomb made up of three kilogrammes of high explosives.

Buddhist monks chanted as they led the morning ceremony that drew together devotees, including tourists, who knelt and held joss sticks.

A relative of the dead Malaysians had laid bundles of clothes at the shrine to represent the lost loved ones, witnesses said.

One devotee had more reason than most to give thanks.

Tommy Goh, 56, a Thai-Malaysian from Penang, said only a delayed taxi from his hotel spared him from being at the shrine around the time of the blast.

"Every year I come down to this shrine, we were meant to be here around 6.50-7pm but the taxi didn´t arrive from the hotel... so we went somewhere else," he told AFP.

"Ten minutes later and it could have been so different."