Vest bungle clouds Thai bomb arrest

Thai police did not specify the suspect's nationality or name.

Thailand's junta is under scrutiny after mistakenly showing an unrelated picture of a suicide vest during a nationally televised broadcast announcing the arrest of a foreign man in connection with the deadly Bangkok shrine bombing.

Officials later said the vest was not among the items found at the suspect's flat and warned people not to share the shot online.

It is the latest blunder to hit an investigation that has received criticism over how quickly investigators searched and cleared up the blast site, as well as confusing and sometimes contradictory statements from senior officers and junta officials.

Police charged a foreign man after raiding an apartment in Bangkok's eastern outskirts. Investigators say the man was found with bomb-making equipment linked to the August 17 blast, which killed 20 people and wounded scores more.

All Thai television channels ran a broadcast on Saturday night which featured a spokesman from the Royal Thai Police and a spokesman for the National Council for Peace and Order - the official name for the junta.

As Colonel Winthai Suvaree spoke, images from the suspect's flat flashed up showing the man surrounded by officers, a close portrait of the man and items laid out on a rug. Police did not specify the suspect's nationality or name but a photo passport page of a 28-year-old man was shown.

Another picture was then broadcast showing a vest covered in bulging pockets connected by wires, held up by a hand wearing a blue surgical glove. Winthai did not talk about the pictures. The picture of the vest was widely shared on social media, but police took to Twitter to say the photo of the vest was not from the flat.

Colonel Banphot Phunphien, spokesman for Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command, said the man was a "Turkish national". The arrest fuelled suspicions that the Grey Wolves, an ultra-nationalist Turkish terrorist group, may have retaliated after Thailand recently deported a group of ethnic Turkic Uighurs to China in the face of protests. But police and the junta have played down any suggestion the attack was launched by international terrorists or specifically targeted Chinese tourists.

National police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said the suspect was part of a people-smuggling gang who helped illegal migrants obtain counterfeit documents, and the bombing was in response to a recent crackdown by Thai authorities. "They [the gang] are unsatisfied with police arresting illegal entrants. He [the suspect] had more than 200 fake passports [when arrested]. It's a network that fakes nationalities and sends them [illegal migrants] on to third countries."

- AFP, AP