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Published on September 6, 2007

Somjit Thiparphorn, 48, had her bail request denied and is now in detention following possession of explosives and firearms charges pressed against her.

Acting on a court warrant issued on Monday, officers apprehended her at a temple in Soong Nern district where she was attending a meditation course.

Somjit, an unmarried woman and a money lender, admitted that fellow businessman Thanakorn Neelmont, who was killed "accidentally" by the blast, according to police, had also moonlighted as an assassin, but denied having paid him to carry out a task, or knowing the reasons behind the explosion.

Deputy provincial police chief Pol Colonel Phongdej Phrommijitr said police were gathering more evidence to implicate other assailants, including at least one person with bomb-making knowledge.

Citing witness accounts, he said Somjit and Thanakorn hired a mobile phone repair shop in Pak Thong Chai district to modify a handset to enable it to detonate a bomb.

He said a 9-mm pistol and ammunition found in the wrecked SUV were the same type police seized from her house in Muang district.

The Nation