Thai police distribute video of Bangkok New Year's bombing suspect

Thai police distributed video footage Monday of an unidentified man suspected of involvement in the New Year's Eve bombings in Bangkok that killed three people.

Photo: Thai police distribute video of Bangkok New Year's bombing suspect

The footage will be televised and a reward of 1 million baht (US$30,000; EUR23,000) offered to anyone with information that would lead to an arrest, police spokesman Police Maj. Gen. Ronarong Yangyuen said

Eight bombs exploded in and around the Thai capital on New Year's Eve, wounding about 40 people including nine tourists as well as causing three fatalities. The motive for the attacks remains unknown.

The video footage taken by a closed-circuit surveillance camera shows a man in a blue T-shirt, long dark trousers and an off-white cap, dropping an object behind a police booth before walking away with his head lowered. His face cannot be seen.

Acting police chief Police Gen. Seriphisut Temiyawej said last week the suspect was allegedly involved in planting a small bomb at the Saphan Kwai intersection, which wounded a few passers-by and slightly damaged the police booth.

Police do not know the man's name or other details about him.

On Friday, the Criminal Court in Bangkok approved the issuance of an arrest warrant for the suspect.

The suspect faces at least five charges, including committing an act of terrorism, possession of explosives and attempted murder, reports AP.

There has been sharp debate over who may have been responsible for the blasts.

Some said the bombing was the work of Islamic separatists, who have been waging a bloody insurgency in southern Thailand.

On Sunday, a string of at least 29 bombings and shootings in the country's Muslim-dominated southernmost provinces killed at least seven people and wounded dozens more.

Other theories linked the New Year's bombings to the power shift that took place when elected prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was deposed in a bloodless coup last September. He had been accused of corruption and abuse of power.

Elements in the new government, and the military that installed it, have said they believe that former supporters of Thaksin were responsible, with the goal of causing instability.

Another theory, however, suggests that the attacks were part of a power struggle among Thaksin's successors.