One day after a bombing that killed 20, Thailand has a singular focus: Find the man in the yellow shirt.
Earlier Tuesday, authorities released surveillance footage that showed a man in a yellow shirt who they believe is the person responsible for Monday night's bomb that killed at least 20 people and injured over 100 others who had gathered at Erawan Shrine in central Bangkok.
Prawut also released several photos of the man, with and without the backpack, on a social media platform. The images were apparently taken from closed-circuit video before the bombing. Video footage posted separately on Thai media appeared to show the same man sitting on a bench at the crowded site, before he took off the backpack and left it behind as he walked away.
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"The yellow shirt guy is not just the suspect. He is the bomber," Police Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri, a police spokesman, told the Associated Press.
As soon as the image of the alleged bomber was posted online, Internet users didn't take long to zero in on where one could find the shirt the suspect is wearing: an Indonesian clothing shop and corresponding website called Amaranthine Fashion.
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The sleuthing followed a call to action by Thais on Twitter and Facebook to share any video or photos taken Monday around the shrine at the time of the bombing to possibly help uncover clues in the bombing. It was a move reminiscent of similar online sleuthing following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
As in the Boston case, social media lit up with speculation about the man's identity and ethnicity, often contradicting one another.
@Breaking3zeroUS #Bangkok Yellow shirt guy looks like a European or Israeli backpacker. #ErawanShrine— Tab (@ITab29) August 18, 2015
The guy in the picture doesn't look Thai or Asian, more like a Westerner. http://t.co/wmCcd2XGzR— Marvin H. Chow (@mchow1973) August 18, 2015
Police tell AP: Man in yellow shirt is Bangkok bomber, pretty sure is INDIAN— Mark M Khan (@PakAirforce01) August 18, 2015
Others speculated about his choice of color -- was he a supporter of the King or the military junta -- or even the possibility of a disguise.
.@RT_com In Thailand's colour coded politics a yellow shirt means a supporter of the Monarchy/Junta.— Saka (@Sovereignaka) August 18, 2015
@MailOnline looks like the disguise includes a wig, false nose and glasses— Hugo Lord (@hugolord64) August 18, 2015
And, like in Boston, there's already been at least one case of mistaken identity -- an Australian actor says it wasn't him and turned himself into Bangkok police to prove it.
Talking with the police. I forgive everyone who spread those horrible rumours about me. I love this country and let's fight together. Let's find this bomber. I'm not a terrorist but I'm a ting tong actor :p A photo posted by Sunny Burns (@sunnyburns) on Aug 18, 2015 at 1:28am PDT
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha admitted that authorities were having their own difficulties identifying the individual on the video.
"Today we have seen the closed-circuit footage, we saw some suspects, but it wasn't clear," he said. "We have to find them first."