Thai man wanted for Bangkok blasts still in Thailand–police

AP FILE PHOTO

Police believe that the man wanted for several explosions in Bangkok over the last few years is still in Thailand, but deny reports that the suspect is being protected by an influential figure in Kanchanaburi province.

“He must be in hiding somewhere in the country,” police spokesman Lt-General Prawut Thavorsiri said Monday in reference to Yongyut Pobkaew, who is also known as Aod Payungwong.

Yongyut is not just implicated for the August bombings in Bangkok, but also for the two other blasts that hit the capital in 2014 and 2010.

Prawut said police were trying to track Yongyut down, adding that though police don’t know exactly where this suspect might be hiding, he can say for sure that Yongyut is not being protected by any influential figure in the border province of Kanchanaburi as suggested by some news reports.

“These claims are groundless,” he said.

The August 17 bomb explosion at the Erawan Shrine killed 20 people and injured more than 100 others, and another blast took place near the Sathorn Pier the following day, but did not cause any casualties.

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