Perp caught in cam

Bangkok

Thai authorities said yesterday they were hunting a man shown on security footage strolling into a packed religious shrine wearing a bright yellow T-shirt and leaving a backpack before an explosion killed at least 20 people.

The attack occurred on Monday in one of the Thai capital's most popular tourism hubs, ripping through a crowd of worshippers at the Hindu shrine close to five-star hotels and upscale shopping malls.

At least 11 of the victims were foreigners, with Chinese, Hong Kong, Singaporean, Indonesian and Malaysian citizens among the 20 confirmed killed, police said.

More than 100 other people were injured in the blast that left body parts, shattered glass and incinerated motorcycles strewn across the crushed concrete of a busy intersection.

Junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha on yesterday branded the bombing the "worst ever attack" on Thailand, and said the hunt was on for the suspected bomber filmed on closed circuit television at the shrine.

Police released images showing the man, who appeared young, slightly built and wearing a yellow T-shirt and dark shorts, walking into the shrine with a backpack.

He sits down and places the backpack underneath a bench, then walks away from the shrine clutching a blue plastic bag while reading what appears to be a smartphone.

National police spokesman Prawut Thavorn said the man left the scene aboard a motorcycle taxi, which are common in Bangkok, and the blast occurred three minutes later.

"It is quite clear that he is the perpetrator in this case," Prawut told local television station Channel 3, adding police were also trying to track down the motorcycle taxi driver.

But Prawut and other security chiefs did not reveal if they had any motives for the attack.

Adding to the tensions, a small explosion occurred near a busy Bangkok train station on Tuesday afternoon, with the device landing in a canal and sending a large plume of water into the air. Police said nobody was injured.

- No obvious culprit -

Bangkok has endured a decade of deadly political violence amid a power struggle between the military -- backed by the middle class and elite -- and the poor led by populist politician Thaksin Shinawatra.

He is living in self-imposed exile after being deposed as premier in 2006. The junta has ruled the nation since May, 2014 after toppling the elected government of Thaksin's sister, Yingluck.

Bangkok's power struggle has generated repeated rounds of deadly street protests and bombings for nearly a decade.

But anti-junta groups have never conducted such a large attack, nor one that was apparently aimed at a tourist zone. And with no one claiming responsibility for Monday's strike, political and security experts said there was no obvious culprit.