Bangkok: Neo-fascists from a Turkish terrorist group called Grey Wolves have emerged as key suspects in the Bangkok bombing after the arrest of a man, believed to be Turkish, in the Thai capital with bomb-making material.

The group's death squads have stalked Turkey since the 1960s, murdering left-wing and liberal activists, university students and journalists and engaging in street battles and attacks.

Mehmet Ali Agca, who shot Pope John-Paul II in Rome in 1981, arrives a hotel after he was released from prison in Ankara, Turkey. Credit:AP

They gained international notoriety in 1981 when Mehmet Ali Agca, one of their collaborators, shot and nearly killed Pope John Paul II in St Peter's Square.