CRI听力:PM Responds to Thailand Blasts

Officials have not blamed any group for the bombing at the Erawan shrine on Monday night, which the government called a bid to destroy the economy. No one has claimed responsibility.

Thailand's Prime Minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Tuesday that he believes this attack was targeted at Thailand's economy, which is highly dependent on tourists.

"This is the worst incident that has ever happened. In the past, there have been some blasts and minor explosions. But this time, they aimed to take the lives of innocent people. So what they want is to destroy our tourism and our economy for whatever reason."

The Prime Minister also said they believe they have images of the suspects on CCTV footage.

Currently, teams of officials armed with dogs used for sniffing substances are combing the once popular tourist area. Significant investment has gone into this part of Bangkok which houses top hotels, shopping centers, offices and a hospital.

Grant Wieczorek, a 29-year-old American who is a tourist in the area had this to say about the blasts.

"Being a first time tourist it is, I'm not sure I would have come if this happened before I book my ticket, especially since, but now that I'm here there is no reason for me to not go on living even though it's something that you just have to deal with."

Matthew Wheeler, South East Asia analyst for International Crisis Group, says the bombing in Bangkok is a "new kind of attack" for Thailand.

"It is certainly not like politically motivated attacks we've seen in the past which have generally been designed to grab attention but not cause casualties. It's certainly not like attacks carried out by Malay militant Muslims fighting in southern Thailand who've generally restricted their attacks to the southernmost provinces so it's a new kind of attack for Bangkok and it's something that will likely have major ramifications for security in Thailand."

The Thai foreign ministry has said in a statement that emergency services and first aid responders are on the scene and those injured have been given full medical attention.

The ministry says it is too early to determine the possible motives or perpetrators of the blast.

For CRI, I'm Xie Cheng.