Police are investigating whether about 20 Turkish nationals, who entered Thailand a fortnight before the blasts at Erawan shrine and Sathon pier, played any role in the incident, Bangkok Post reports.
They along with the Immigration Bureau are studying the personal data and backgrounds of these Turkish visitors and comparing their photos in immigration records with the police drawing of the suspect, and images captured on the CCTV camera installed at the shrine.
They believe that the suspected bomber, who looks central Asian, might be a Turkish national connected to Turkish extremist groups.
Early July, some 200 Turkish demonstrators — said to be instigated by a pro-terror group the Grey Wolves — had attacked the Thai consulate in Istanbul in protest against the deportation of more than 100 Uighur Muslims to China.
However, the government had under played reports that hinted at Uighur angle to the blasts.
Police got an important lead Tuesday when they questioned a taxi driver who took the suspected Erawan Shrine bomber from near Charn Isara Building to the Hua Lamphong railway station between 4 pm and 5 pm .
The driver from Nakhon Nayok drove a green-yellow taxi, which was seen on security cameras near the railway station delivering the suspect in yellow T-shirt.
The driver, whose name cannot be given for safety reasons, said the man in his 30s looked like a foreigner, wore a wrist band, glasses with a back frame, armbands, shorts and a pair of canvas shoes with black and red stripes.
The driver said the man probably wore the wrist band to cover his tattoos.
As they neared the station, the passenger told him to “stop”, using the Thai word “jod”.
Meanwhile, sleuths checking the mobile phone usage of people before and after the shrine bombing have zeroed in on three international numbers.
They are trying to find who owned the numbers and whether any of them belong to the one with the suspected bomber caught on the shrine’s CCTV camera. The man was seen trying to make a call to someone before he walked out of the temple.