DNA examination of the two foreigners tie them to a stash of explosives found in a Bangkok apartment block, but not to evidence collected at the Hindu Erawan Shrine where 20 people were killed on August 17, police said in a televised announcement.
The lack of a link complicated the high-profile case, with authorities no closer to establishing a motive for the attack carried out in one of Bangkok’s busiest commercial areas.
The military speculated the perpetrators could have been members of a human trafficking gang frustrated by a police crackdown.
Thailand rejected the possibility a militant group was involved.
Thai police said neither of the two men detained over the deadly Bangkok attack last month were believed to be the main bombing suspect — seen on CCTV wearing a yellow t-shirt and placing a rucksack under a bench at Erawan shrine moments before the blast.
But police spokesman Praqut Thawornsiri said they were “definitely involved in the bombing”.
They have been identified as two foreigners — Adem Karada@shivag and Yusufu Mieraili — but their nationalities remain unconfirmed.
Earlier today, the Erawan shrine, which was damaged during the bomb attack, was repaired and a religious ceremony was held.
After nearly two weeks without progress on the unprecedented bombing, authorities on Saturday arrested Karadag in a raid on a flat on the eastern outskirts of Bangkok, their first blast-related arrest.
Mieraili was detained three days later while trying to cross into Cambodia, according to Thai police.
Both men have now been charged with possessing “illegal bomb weapons”, Mr Prawut said, after Karadag was allegedly found in possession of bomb-making paraphernalia and Mieraili’s DNA was matched with that in another raided flat where police found bomb-making materials.
