Sanam Luang bomb

From Khaosod English

BANGKOK — A police source said Tuesday a timer device commonly used in pipe bombs was found at the site of last night’s explosion that wounded two people in Bangkok’s historic quarter.

The development undercut the shifting claims made by police brass that the incident, which took place at a particularly sensitive spot opposite a royal landmark where funerary rites for His Majesty the Late King Bhumibol are being prepare, was not a bomb attack.

A source within police bomb squad, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the timer was missed in the first sweep of the crime scene and only spotted later “five or six meters away.” The part is similar to those found in previous small explosive devices and is used to delay its detonation by some minutes, the source said.

Two people suffered slight injuries from the explosion, which was heard at about 8:40pm in front of the National Theatre opposite Sanam Luang. A bomb squad was soon called to inspect the site. Sanit later said no gunpowder was found.

After offering several different version of events, police went silent on the incident today but said they would investigate it.

It was a drastic shift in tone for Sanit, who last night visited the scene of the incident, which had been initially reported as a small explosion. Upon arriving, he insisted the explosion was not an explosion after all, but a “loud bang” caused by a plastic pipe breaking under pressure.

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/2017/05/16/police-offer-shifting-explanations-monday-night-explosion/