Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told Reuters that "the perpetrators intended to destroy the economy and tourism, because the incident occured in the heart of the tourism district".
The attack according to police chief, Somyot Poompanmuang was unprecedented in Thailand.
Somyot said it was a pipe bomb that was placed inside the Erawan shrine, a major attraction for visitors from East Asia including China.
Two Chinese and one from Phillipines were among the dead. 81 people were wounded and local media said they were mainly from China and Taiwan.
The bomb left a two-meter-wide (6-foot) crater.
Marko Cunningham, a New Zealand paramedic said,
"There were bodies everywhere. Some were shredded. There were legs where heads were supposed to be. It was horrific".
Initial suspicion might fall on Muslim separatists in the South but Thailand has for a decade sometimes seen violent struggle for power between political factions in Bangkok.
REUTERS
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