Earlier, police investigating the Bangkok bomb blast released CCTV images of a suspect reportedly spotted placing a bag at the scene moments before the explosion that killed at least 22 people and injured more than 120 others, The Daily Mail reports.
Earlier, Thailand's junta chief says authorities were hunting a male "suspect" seen on CCTV footage near the scene of a bombing that claimed at least 20 lives in Bangkok and wounded scores more.
"Today there is a suspect who appeared on CCTV but it's not clear ... we are looking for this guy," Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha said, adding he was believed to be from an "anti-government group based in Thailand's northeast" - the heartland of the anti-coup Red Shirt movement.
Earlier, a woman who was seen placing a bag inside the shrine before the explosion was being investigated by police.
The New York Times reported that an officer at the scene, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the woman - who was overheard speaking Thai - was being treated as a possible suspect.
A pipe bomb was detonated at the popular Erawan Shrine, located near five-star hotels, shopping malls, a hospital and offices.
Eight tourists from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are among those killed in the attack.
"The bomb aimed at killing as many people as possible as the shrine is crowded at around 6 to 7pm," police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said.
The prime minister's office released a breakdown of nationalities caught up in the blast that showed two Chinese, two Hong Kongers, two Malaysians, one Singaporean, an Indonesian and five Thais were confirmed killed.
The other victims have yet to be identified. Of the wounded, Thais made up the largest number with 42 being treated, followed by 28 Chinese.
Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Oman, the Philippines and Singapore all had one or more nationals wounded, according to the list.
Since 2006 Bangkok has witnessed repeated rounds of deadly political violence, flanked by two coups.
Until Monday though, foreigners had rarely been caught up in the bloodshed. The most recent coup in 2014 toppled the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra after months of disruptive street protests.
Thailand is also fighting a decade-long insurgency in its southernmost Muslim-majority provinces that border Malaysia, which has seen more than 6400 people killed, mostly civilians.
Prayut's comments suggest the investigation is shifting towards anti-government groups loyal to the ousted Shinawatra family, rather than the southern Muslim militants.
The Red Shirts are a grassroots network of the rural and urban poor, particularly from the country's northeast, that support Yingluck and her ousted prime minister brother Thaksin Shinawatra.
Authorities have blamed them for a string of small explosions in Bangkok earlier this year, a charge their leadership has strongly denied.
They were also initially blamed by authorities for a car bomb on the resort island of Koh Samui earlier this year, but police were later forced to backtrack and subsequently blamed insurgents for that attack.
While hardcore Red Shirts have been known to launch attacks on security forces or government buildings, they have never before carried out a mass casualty bombing.
Thailand's Islamist insurgents are also not know to target foreigners and have also largely kept their violent attacks to the three Muslim-majority provinces in the country's south.
An NZME News Service reporter has today returned to the scene of last night's explosion and said it was bustling again.
Heavy traffic was moving in every direction and pedestrians were out and about walking the streets.
One lane of traffic was still blocked off and 10 policemen with helmets and vests were helping direct traffic and get pedestrians across the street.
The eerie quietness of the area last night was gone.
Despite the extra activity, local resident Nonthiphat Pakvipasthawat said the area was normally busier than it was today.
"Normally there's lots more traffic and chaos," he said. "The school down the road is closed today so maybe that's why there isn't so many people.
"I walk down this road every day to go the gym ... luckily I didn't go to the gym last night."
He heard about the bombings on the television news. "I didn't hear the explosions so when I saw the reporting, I didn't think it was real. It's heartbreaking."
No one has taken responsibility for the bomb blast, but a woman was reportedly seen placing a bag inside the Erawan Shrine.
A worker at the Starbucks just down the road from the bomb site said business had been a bit quieter than usual today.
"We normally get a lot of people coming in on their way to work," she said.
"We still got people this morning but it didn't seem like there was as many. The odd person has talked about it but I think most people have just been trying to get on with their day."
The New York Times reported that police were said to be treating the woman, who was overheard speaking in Thai, as a possible suspect after she allegedly left a bag in the Erawan shrine just minutes before it was decimated by a bomb at around 7pm local time last night.
So far the death toll stands at 22 and 123 people injured, a Thai police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri confirmed to AFP.
The Bangkok Post quoted police as saying that the bomb was left inside the shrine and an electronic circuit suspected to have been used in the attack later found 30 yards away.
Four foreigners are believed to be among those killed in the attack, which the Thai government claims was designed to damage the country's vital tourist industry.
Many victims were probably visiting the Erawan Shrine or several shopping centres in the area when the attack took place.
Security video showed a powerful flash as the bomb exploded and then chaos as those that were able to ran for their lives while others began tending to the wounded.
Thai officials have yet to blame any group for the attack and the country's army chief said the bombing did not match the tactics used by insurgents in Thailand's south.
Royal Thai Army chief and deputy defence minister General Udomdej Sitabutr said in a televised interview: "This does not match with incidents in southern Thailand. The type of bomb used is also not in keeping with the south."
The speculation came as Kiwis awaited news their loved ones in Bangkok are safe.
Prime Minister John Key said the bombing was "a very deplorable action" that New Zealand condemned.
"It is a fairly horrific situation as I understand it, to the best advice I have had there are no New Zealanders at this point that we can identify that have been caught up in the bomb blast.
"There are about 470 Kiwis that we can identify in Thailand at the moment and in Bangkok, so we are doing the best we can to contact them."
Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said there was currently no confirmed information on the nationalities of victims and casualties.
"The New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok remains in close contact with the relevant Thai authorities and local hospitals for reports of any New Zealanders who may have been affected by the incident," Mr McCully said, after landing in neighbouring Cambodia for a scheduled visit to mark the 40th anniversary of New Zealand's partnership with ASEAN.
Aucklander Tere Grace said she still waiting to hear from her 16-year-old son, Haamiora Parsons-Grace, who has been in Thailand for about two weeks, and arrived in Bangkok on Wednesday ahead of the international amateur muay Thai kickboxing championships.
According to the tournament's website, this year's Kiwi contingent to the tournament is the biggest ever sent -- with more than 35 athletes and 40 supporters.
Ms Grace said she had seen a post on the coach of the team's Facebook page saying all was well, though the blast had been close to their hotel.
She said she was trying to remain calm until she heard from her son.
"I heard about the blast at about six this morning, and I thought I was dreaming," she said.
Her son, a pupil at Avondale college, was in good hands on his travels through Thailand, with his coach and a number of parents also with him, she said.
Kiwi expat James Burford said everyone was affected by yesterday's events.
"Most people are still going into work today but there's a sadness in the air," he said.
"It's nice to be around your colleagues at this time."
Mr Burford, formerly of Christchurch, has been living in Bangkok for two years. He is currently an education lecturer at Bangkok's Thammasat University.
"People in Bangkok are very resilient. They're used to working through difficulties."
Mr Burford said most people felt like things were under control now.
"There was a lot of confusion in the beginning. Lots of different things were said on social media. Everyone was calling up their friends trying to fill in the blanks. The situation is complex, but the people are strong, they're managing to carry on."
Kiwi teacher Sam Silby, 28, has lived in Bangkok with her husband for two years - she said she was a few stops away from Erawan Shrine on the Skytrain line when the bomb went off.
"I struck with raw heartbreak and numbness for my beautiful city," she said.
In a blog post on the night of the blast, she said she had prayed fiercely for her city.
"What can I say when the city I love more than any other place on this Earth is in tragedy?
"As I sit in the dark, with just one lit candle beside me, and the deafening sound of silence beyond my window, amongst the threatening booms of an oncoming thunderstorm, I'm praying so fiercely for my city."
Ms Silby, who works at an international school in Thong Lor, Bangkok, said she frequently visited the Erawan Shrine area.
She said the city was filled with beautiful people, and was set never to be the same again after the tragedy.
Sydney expat Michael Pash said he had noticed a lot more security around the place."Every bag was checked on the BTS [Skytrain] this morning," he said.
"This is being taken very seriously. Most things are business as usual but 22 dead is horrific and the scene was apparently very graphic. It's not a light situation."
Mr Pash is managing director of ThinkTank Media creative app solutions. He has been living in Bangkok for two years and passes the bomb site to go to work every day.
"Heaps of people use the sky walk [above the bomb site]. The smoke coming up to them would have been horrific."
Mr Pash had heard that several schools were closed today but his son had still gone to school.
A message from the school headmaster said the National Council for Peace and Order had indicated that schools and businesses had no cause for further alarm so they would be carrying on as normal.
Mr Pash said there appeared to be slightly less traffic in the area today - perhaps an indication that a few people had stayed home.
An American man, who has lived in Bangkok for 15 years and did not wish to be named, didn't think it had significantly changed how people acted or moved around.
"If you've lived here long enough, you've seen it all," he said.
"I think it's the tourists that it's really worried. Tourism is a big industry here and it seems it was tourists that were directly targeted so it's not great for tourism."
Thee Aewedaroan, an insurance worker whose office is just down the street from the explosion site, said most people had been carrying on with their lives today.
"I have no worry, no fear," he said.
"It is said that [the situation] is under control. I believe that."
A lot of people had been talking about the explosions in his office today, Mr Aewedaroan said.
- AFP
