A red-shirt supporter who posted a message on his Facebook warning about a violent incident in Bangkok just days before the Erawan Shrine bombing, has told police he had nothing to do with the attack and obtained the information from the Facebook page of a political group.
Pongpob Boonsaree, a 36-year-old state enterprise worker, was interrogated by officers at the Technology Crime Suppression Division on Wednesday evening over a message he posted on his Facebook account last Thursday, Aug 13, at 9.54pm.
Mr Pongpob, who used the name Vitchavej Pornpromraksa on Facebook, wrote in the controversial message: “Urgent, urgent, urgent on 14 -18, be very careful in Bangkok. This is all I can say. This news is 86%. That’s all I can say. Repeat again.”
A powerful explosion went off at the Erawan shrine at Rachaprasong intersection in Bangkok on the evening of Monday, Aug 17, killing 20 people and injuring 125.
About one hour after the attack that shocked the nation, Mr Pongpob wrote another message saying “Told you to be careful. How’s that? Believe me now? It has happened. Go check if our people got hit.”
The Chachoengsao native claimed he copied the warning message from the Facebook page of a political group and only pasted it on his Facebook to warn people, although he did not know whether it would happen. He strongly denied he had any hand in the Erawan shrine blast, adding he was at his office at the time of the attack.
He declined to give details about the group but would cooperate with police in investigating the content published on the page from where he duplicated the warning message.
Police also want to talk with these two unidentified people (photo below)
A still image from closed-circuit television (CCTV) and released by police on Wednesday shows what they say are two people who appear suspiciously close to the wanted man in the yellow T-shirt.
The low-quality image shows two males, dressed in red (C) and dressed in white (3rd R), standing in front of the wanted man in the yellow shirt, just as he is removing his backpack minutes before the bomb blast.
The two are described by police as persons of interest.
Assistant national police chief Prawut Thawornsiri said police had not pressed charges against Mr Pongpob. A further investigation was ongoing to find the original poster of the message and police were conducting a thorough search of Mr Pongpob’s house in Chachoengsao.
Mr Pongpob said the group, which has around 70,000 members, had previously posted messages predicting political and general incidents, including in the lower South, and 80%-90% of them came true.
Prime suspect: The "man in the yellow T-shirt is at the centre of the bombing attack investigation.
Mr Pongpob admitted he was a United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) supporter and had taken part in the red-shirt political rallies, but claimed he did not resist the current military government.
He said he reported to police to assert his innocence and because he feared being slandered by his opponents. His Facebook account had been active since 2010 but he could not log in to it anymore as it had been reported as abusive by other users following the Aug 13 warning.
He said political differences were extremely volatile on social media and he called on authorities not to target only red-shirt internet users.
