BANGKOK: Thailand's police chief Friday insisted his officers are making "a lot of progress" in the hunt for the Bangkok shrine bomber despite the lack of arrests and mystery over the motive of the attackers.
Monday's blast killed 20 people, mostly Asian visitors, leaving police scrambling to find the assailants and sending shockwaves through the nation's vital tourism sector.
Speaking after a memorial for the dead at the scene of the unprecedented attack on Thailand, national police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said the bomb was an attempt to stoke fear and uncertainty in the capital.
"The aim is to discredit the government and create a climate of fear to deter tourists," he told reporters.
"There's a lot of progress (in the case), but I can't disclose everything," he added.
Somyot also played down his earlier comments that the attack on a Hindu shrine in a tourist zone of the capital was carefully planned by a network of 10 people.
Instead he said the main suspect -- captured on CCTV placing a backpack under a bench at the Erawan shrine minutes before the explosion -- must have had "accomplices supporting the attack".
After days of confusing and sometimes contradictory statements from senior police and junta officials, Somyot also said he would restrict how often his subordinates speak to the press.
"I have instructed police not to answer questions from the media," he said.
Both the police and junta have at various times ruled out the possibility that a global terror network carried out Monday's bombing, but have later appeared to backtrack on the comments.
Thailand has endured a decade of political unrest, but many analysts say that the choice of target and ferocity of the attack makes it highly unlikely any Thai groups with a history of violence were involved.
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