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 There has been no claim of responsibility for the Monday evening
attack on a famous shrine crowded with tourists, which the
government has said was designed to wreck the economy. Authorities
have not blamed any group for carrying out Thailand's worst bombing.
"Security agencies have cooperated with agencies from allied
countries and have come to the preliminary conclusion that the
incident is unlikely to be linked to international terrorism," said
Colonel Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for Thailand's ruling junta,
known as the National Council for Peace and Order.
The Erawan shrine is particularly popular with tourists from China
and other East Asian countries, and 14 foreigners were among the
dead, including seven from mainland China and Hong Kong, but Winthai
said Chinese tourists were not believed to have been the target.
He did not elaborate or say who might have been responsible.
 China is an important ally and trade partner for Thailand and the
biggest source of foreign tourists.
Police said on Wednesday a young man who was caught on grainy
security camera footage planting the backpack bomb was believed to
be European or Middle Eastern.
On Thursday, authorities said the man in a yellow shirt and shorts,
with thick, dark hair and a wispy beard and glasses might actually
have been Thai and disguised to look foreign.
The apparent elimination of foreign militant involvement will feed
speculation that either Muslim separatists waging a low-intensity
insurgency in southern Thailand, or domestic political activists,
were involved.
Police said at least 10 people were suspected of involvement and
despite the focus of suspicion apparently shifting to a domestic
plot, they appealed to Interpol for help in finding the man in the
video.
National police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said the investigation
showed the attack was planned at least a month in advance by a "big
network".
"This includes those who looked out on the streets, prepared the
bomb and those at the site and ... those who knew the escape route.
I believe there must have been at least 10 people involved," Somyot
told reporters.
Referring to speculation about the origin of the man in the video,
he said: "The criminal could be someone from inside the country but
was disguised to make himself appear a foreigner."
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'REGION IN DANGER'
Checks at airports and other exit points found that no one matching
the description of the main suspect had left the country since the
attack, a police spokesman said.
Somyot did not say who he believed the plotters were, or elaborate
on the investigation, but said no possibilities were being ruled
out.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the attack signaled a threat
to the region. "This event has never happened in Thailand, it is
dangerous for ASEAN," he told reporters, referring to the
Association of South East Asian Nations.
He did not elaborate on the threat but also said the man in the
video was in disguise. "It was as though he knew a camera was going
to be there," he said.
The blast comes at a sensitive time for Thailand, which has been
riven for a decade by a sometimes-violent struggle for power between
political factions in Bangkok.
A parliament hand-picked by a junta that seized power in a 2014 coup
is due to vote on a draft constitution next month.
Critics say the draft is undemocratic and intended to help the army
secure power and curb the influence of elected politicians. The
government has promised to restore democracy next year.
The government is also dealing with flagging growth and on Thursday
appointed a new finance minister and a deputy premier to oversee the
economy.
The Erawan shrine, which is dedicated to a Hindu deity but is
popular with Buddhists in Thailand, has since reopened, with
visitors leaving messages of condolence, flowers and candles.
(Additional reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak and Panarat
Thepgumpana; Editing by Robert Birsel, Dean Yates and Ian Geoghegan)
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