The taxi driver who gave the yellow-shirted suspect a ride before he planted the bomb at Erawan Shrine recalled that he was a foreigner.
The taxi driver, whose identity was withheld by police, came forward yesterday to say he picked up the bomb suspect two hours before the explosion and he looked like a farang.
“As far as I can recall, his appearance and demeanor looked like a farang,” the cabbie said.
[Editor’s note: The word farang is commonly used by Thais to refer to a foreigner with light skin, sometimes not specifically to an ethnicity.]
The driver said he picked up the man from Sala Daeng intersection in the Silom area between 3pm and 4pm on Aug 17, and took him to Hua Lamphong Railway Station where the man reportedly got a tuk-tuk to the Ratchaprasong area.
The cabbie said the man spoke a few words in Thai with a foreign accent, Khaosod English reported.
“When I picked him up, he acted normal. He didn’t say the words ‘Hua Lamphong’ clearly. It sounded like a farang speaking Thai,” said the driver.
“I assure you, he’s not Thai,” he said.
The cabbie recalled the man was carrying a backpack but it was not as big as the one spotted on the CCTV footage near the shrine. The cabbie also said the suspect did not have the plastic bag that was seen on CCTV.
Forensic police will now search the taxi for evidence such as DNA samples and fingerprints, Bangkok Biz News reported.
Photo: Nalinee Siriked
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