--- description: The recent bombing of Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine was likely intended to be the first of a spate of similar terrorist attacks, say Thai police title: Bangkok Bombers Planned More Attacks, Thai Authorities Say image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e8c081eaab4276d/698861a1cd1bba4b746fcf59/rtx1q5yj.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Thailand](/tag/thailand/) ## Thailand Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Thai Police Believe the Bangkok Bombers Planned Further Attacks  by [Charlie Campbell](/author/charlie-campbell/)  ## Charlie Campbell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large Aug 31, 2015 7:29 AM CUT  Thai Royal Police officials remove evidence from the site where a suspect of the recent Erawan Shrine blast was arrested in Bangkok on Aug. 29, 2015 Thai Royal Police officials remove evidence from the site where a suspect of the recent Erawan Shrine blast was arrested in Bangkok on Aug. 29, 2015Chaiwat Subprasom—Reuters  by [Charlie Campbell](/author/charlie-campbell/)  ## Charlie Campbell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large Aug 31, 2015 7:29 AM CUT The recent bombing of Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine was likely intended to be the first of a spate of similar terrorist attacks, say Thai police, who are now seeking a Thai woman thought to be connected to a foreign suspect arrested over the weekend. [According](http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1394441512 "undefined") to the English-language website of popular Thai newspaper _Khaosod_, the woman has been identified as Wanna Suansan, 26. At least 20 people died and more than 120 were injured on Aug. 17 when an explosion ripped through the popular Hindu shrine that is a huge draw for Asian tourists visiting the Thai capital, especially ethnic Chinese. Half the dead were foreigners. On Sunday, authorities found what appeared to be [bombmaking equipment](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/674016/bomb-ingredients-found-in-apartment "undefined") — including urea-based fertilizer (which can be mixed with nitric acid to make a potent explosive), digital clocks and flash powder — at an apartment in east Bangkok after a raid in a neighboring district on Saturday turned up a haul of similar paraphernalia. A foreign man of unknown nationality was arrested during the earlier raid and remains in custody. “There were large quantities of bombmaking materials including 10 detonator cords” seized on the first raid, said assistant police chief Prawut Thavornsiri, according to the Bangkok _Post_. The detained suspect was apparently in possession of a fake Turkish passport, though investigators are not sure as to his true nationality, and the Turkish embassy has [denied](http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-embassy-refutes-reports-bangkok-bomb-suspect-is-turkish-citizen.aspx?PageID=238&NID=87698&NewsCatID=356 "undefined") he is a citizen. “He gave a certain amount of cooperation, saying where he traveled from,” explained Prawut. “But we don’t believe everything he said. So far he has made no confession.” Nobody has claimed responsibility for the Erawan Shrine blast. The key evidence remains CCTV footage of a slender man with yellow T-shirt, dark-rimmed glasses and shaggy hair who is seen dropping a bag at the shrine minutes before the explosion and hastily departing. Police do not believe the suspect in detention is the same man. Besides a drastic and bloody escalation of [long-standing political tensions](http://world.time.com/2013/11/07/thailands-color-war-why-red-hates-yellow/ "undefined") between Red Shirts and Yellow Shirts, or a bid by southern Thailand’s Malay-Muslim militants to bring their insurgency to the capital, it is being suggested that a group sympathetic to the Muslim Uighurs of far northwestern China may be responsible. Many Uighurs complain of marginalization and repression in their homeland at the hands of Beijing. A total of 109 Uighurs were forcibly repatriated from Thailand to China last month — and were seen [arriving](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/628532/deported-uighurs-in-good-conditions-in-china "undefined") in shackles and hoods. Many Turks feel a common bond with the Turkic-speaking Uighurs and their treatment at the hands of the Thais prompted furious protests in Istanbul, including an attack on the Thai consulate there. Anthony Davis, a Southeast Asia specialist at security analysts IHS-Jane’s, told a meeting at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand last week that ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves from Turkey were likely responsible for the Erawan Shrine bombing. “We’re probably looking at a hybrid involving an ideologically or politically driven element based abroad — maybe Turkish nationals, Uighur exiles or Uighur exiles with Turkish nationality — and a Bangkok-based criminal component acting as facilitator,” he tells TIME. “What they have in common is the same ethnicity and the same shared hatreds.” Davis says the “traditional cozy accommodations” between some corrupt Thai officials and transnational gangs operating in Thailand — often regarded as just “common criminals” — may now come under scrutiny. “These mutually profitable arrangements may now be seen as representing a direct threat to national security,” he says. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4016705/thailand-bangkok-bombing-erawan-shrine-china-uigur-turkey-explosives/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4016705/thailand-bangkok-bombing-erawan-shrine-china-uigur-turkey-explosives/"},"headline":"Thai Police Believe the Bangkok Bombers Planned Further Attacks","datePublished":"2015-08-31T07:29:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:33:56.427Z","description":"Weekend raids have led to one arrest and the seizure of bombmaking equipment","url":"https://time.com/4016705/thailand-bangkok-bombing-erawan-shrine-china-uigur-turkey-explosives/","keywords":["Thailand","Bangkok","China","Turkey","Bombing","Arrests","raid"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e8c081eaab4276d/698861a1cd1bba4b746fcf59/rtx1q5yj.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlie Campbell","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e8c081eaab4276d/698861a1cd1bba4b746fcf59/rtx1q5yj.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Thai Royal Police officials remove evidence from the site where a suspect of the recent Bangkok blast was arrested, in Bangkok","caption":"Thai Royal Police officials remove evidence from the site where a suspect of the recent Bangkok blast was arrested, in Bangkok","creditText":"Chaiwat Subprasom—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/thailand/","name":"Thailand"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4016705/thailand-bangkok-bombing-erawan-shrine-china-uigur-turkey-explosives/","name":"Thai Police Believe the Bangkok Bombers Planned Further Attacks"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Thai Police Arrest Bangkok Bombing Suspect","description":"Officials say the man arrested matches their description of the bomber and was found with possible bomb materials in his apartment.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/qoF9HgMl/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-29T13:59:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qoF9HgMl.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4016705/thailand-bangkok-bombing-erawan-shrine-china-uigur-turkey-explosives/","duration":"PT38S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4016705/thailand-bangkok-bombing-erawan-shrine-china-uigur-turkey-explosives/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```