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Bangkok: Thai police now say the perpetrators of last month's deadly bombing in central Bangkok are international human-traffickers linked to militant Uighurs, a Muslim minority in western China.
They say the perpetrators struck out to avenge Thailand's deportation of 109 Uighurs to China in July and its efforts to dismantle their underground network.
"They got angry," said national police chief Somyot Poompanmuang, in his most explicit comments on the motive behind the blast at a shrine on August 17 that killed 20 people and injured more than 120.
"Put simply, we destroyed their business," he said.
Many of the deported men had been separated from their wives and children, who had earlier been allowed to travel to Turkey. Photographs showed hooded and cuffed deportees on a plane with Chinese guards.
For almost a month Thai authorities attempted to play down the possibility of the attack being in retaliation for the deportation of the Uighurs, which infuriated the Uighur movement and was condemned by human rights groups, who said the deportees would face harsh treatment by Chinese authorities.
Thai authorities worry that confirmation of the first known Uighur terrorist attack outside China would severely damage Thailand's tourism industry, which accounts for 10 per cent of the country's economy.
Millions of Chinese tourists visit Thailand each year.
Police says the human-trafficking network had been involved in smuggling Uighurs from China to Turkey through Thailand, a well used transit point for international traffickers.
Thai officials have insisted the deportation of the Uighurs was done at the request of China in accordance with laws.
"Thailand did not only send Uighurs to China but also to Turkey, based on nationality verification," General Somyot said.
After General Somyot made the comments, Thailand's military ruler Prayuth Chan-ocha still urged caution in linking the attack to Uighurs.
"At this stage, there is no link. I don't think so. It could be a normal crime and by human traffickers," he said.
Mr Prayuth questioned why nobody had claimed responsibility for the attack, the most deadly in recent Thai history.
Thai investigators have gathered a huge amount of evidence after several breakthroughs in the case. Warrants have been issued for 12 people while two suspects are under arrest at a military base.
One is a Turkish man found in an apartment on Bangkok's outskirts that contained bomb-making material and stacks of fake Turkish passports.
Uighurs have close ties to Turkey, where many nationalists regard them as part of a broad family of ethnic Turks spread across Eurasia.
General Somyot said the "same gang" behind the bombing was involved in an attack on the Thai consulate in Istanbul hours after the deportations.
An estimated 20,000 Uighurs live in Turkey.
Analysts say there are still many unanswered questions about the attack following weeks of often confusing and conflicting statements by Thai officials.
