AS YESTERDAY marked the first anniversary of the Erawan Shrine bombing, one victim claimed she had still not received proper compensation, while police said the deadly attack was now under court investigation and no new progress had been made.

Surveillance camera evidence showed a yellow-shirted suspect planting the device under a bench inside the shrine. The bomb later exploded, killing 20 people and injuring 163.

In an update of the legal case, Chuchart Kanphai, the lawyer for Uighur suspect Adem Karadag, said the case was still in the court investigation process and was scheduled to finish late next year at the earliest.

“The most recent update for the case is that the court will hear the first round of plaintiff witnesses’ accounts on August 23. The case will proceed for over a year until the court can rule on a verdict, and then we still have to wait,” Chuchart said.

Pol Maj-General Piyaphan Pingmuang, deputy spokesman for the Royal Thai Police, said that even though the police investigation on the bombing was finished, the cases were still ongoing.

“We are still trying to catch Wanna Suansan, the runaway bomb suspect, but for the progress on this task cannot be disclosed, while the court investigations into the other two bomb suspects, Adem Karadag and Yusufu Mieraili, are still progressing,” Piyaphan said.

“We are also still working closely together with international police in order to conclude this case.”

Meanwhile, blast victim Wishirata Duongmano, who said she was rendered disabled by her injuries in the attack and could not return to work, went to Royal Thai Police Headquarters yesterday to complain that she still had still not received proper help from authorities.

“I have suffered such serious injuries both physically and mentally that I can’t work and gain income anymore,” Wishirata said.

She said that since the incident, she had only received Bt103,000 for medical treatment costs from the Justice Ministry, Bt30,000 compensation from Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and small financial help from other agencies, which was not enough to sustain her daily life.

It was reported that the maximum compensation for deceased foreigners was Bt500,000 while their Thai counterparts received Bt200,000. For the injured, the government was supposed to cover medical expenses beyond the Social Security Scheme for Thai people while foreign victims would be compensated up to Bt300,000.

As she had visited the Erawan Shrine to pray last year, Wishirata was close to the where the bomb went off. She suffered serious injuries, was in intensive care for two weeks and has since lost hearing in her left ear, has a metal splint for her legs and will have to take prescribed sedatives for the rest of her life.

“Earlier, I twice asked the Prime Minister’s Office for help in getting proper compensation for victims of the bomb attack, but I did not receive any reply. I’ll have to have an operation soon and have no money left, so I want to seek help from authorities,” Wishirata said.

Deputy police spokesperson Pol Col Krissana Pattanacharoen, the appointed representative who received the plea, promised to coordinate with relevant agencies to get proper funds for Erawan victims.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said he had ordered Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam to look into the issue, but said regulations must be followed in granting compensation.

“I understand the hardship of the bomb victims and I want to give them large sums of money, but we have to follow the rules. There may be the Cabinet decision to solve this issue, but I promise that the government will take a good care of them,” Prayut said.