Bangkok

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Bangkok explosions leave two dead

A series of bomb or grenade explosions in the Thai capital has killed two people and injured about 30 others, including at least eight foreigners.

A first spate of six attacks occurred at sites across Bangkok as streets were filling up late afternoon local time ahead of New Year's Eve celebrations.
Just before midnight, at least two further blasts rocked the city centre.
The Thai authorities had cancelled all public celebrations for New Year's Eve after the first devices went off. <!-- E SF -->
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Police do not believe foreign groups or militants from the Muslim south are to blame, says the BBC's Jonathan Head.
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Our Bangkok correspondent says many Thais suspect the attacks were the work of opponents of the current military government, which forced Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from office in September.
The latest explosions occurred near the Central World Plaza, a shopping mall close to where the biggest New Year's event was to have been held.
The area had already been cleared. However the blasts caught several foreign tourists.
Two British men, three Hungarians, two Serbs and an American are receiving hospital treatment but none were thought to be in a serious condition, officials quoted by Reuters news agency said.
Of the earlier attacks, the largest was at about 1730 (1030 GMT) near a bus station next to one of Bangkok's busiest intersections, Victory Monument.
Police said this caused the biggest number of casualties, injuring at least 13 people and killing one.
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Reports suggest the device was planted beneath a seat at a bus stop or in a rubbish bin.
One witness who was standing nearby, 17-year-old Chalermsak Sanbee told Reuters news agency:
"There was a big bang and people started screaming and running. I saw people with blood all over their legs and faces."
According to a police spokesman, the other blasts occurred:

At 1720 on Sukhumvit Road in the south-east, causing no casualties
Simultaneous blasts at 1800: at a crossroads in the north injuring two people, and in Kae Lak district injuring no-one
At 1830 close to a Chinese temple in the Klong Toey district, killing one person and injuring six
A bomb went off in a rubbish bin near the Seacon Square shopping area, injuring no-oneNational police chief General Ajirawit Suphanaphesat said the authorities inspected other locations where suspicious packages were found.
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[FistFu68]

:evilgrin: HELL, I HOPE THEY LEFT SOME(THAI~STICK)LMAO,FOR THE BOOM-BOOM-ACTION!:D

[DWG]

Damn Fist, you sound awful familiar with that kind of action!:banana: :thumbup: :p

[Arcade]

:evilgrin: HELL, I HOPE THEY LEFT SOME(THAI~STICK)LMAO,FOR THE BOOM-BOOM-ACTION!:D
Ahhh. You see it like it is....

[Arcade]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Bangkok warned on more attacks


</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=416><!-- S BO --><!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42412000/jpg/_42412563_search203afp.jpg The Thai capital remains on high alert following the attacks


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA --><!-- S SF -->Thailand's army-installed prime minister has warned the public to brace themselves for similar attacks to the New Year's Eve bombings in Bangkok.
Surayud Chulanont made his warning in parliament, but did not give details of any specific threats.
His government has hinted it believes politicians ousted in September's military coup may have been behind the bombings that killed three people.
Suspicion has also fallen on disaffected soldiers and police. <!-- E SF -->
Defence Minister Boonrawd Somtas said it was "highly likely" the attacks were carried out by "men in uniform".
"It's 90% sure that it is politically motivated, and only a handful of groups of people have the potential to mount these attacks," he said.
Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and another former prime minister, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, have angrily denied any involvement in the blasts.
Mr Thaksin, in a handwritten letter sent from Beijing where he has been staying, suggested the attacks were similar to those mounted by insurgents in Thailand's south.
'New threat'
Bangkok remains on high alert following the eight blasts that hit the Thai capital, killing three and wounding at least 38 people.
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Security has been stepped up around transport hubs but the city is jittery - more than a thousand reports of suspicious packages and hoax warnings of bombs have been received by the authorities.
Surayud Chulanont, who was appointed interim prime minister after the 19 September coup, has vowed to catch the culprits.
But he told the National Legislative Council: ""The public should be prepared to deal with this new kind of threat to our lives in the future."
He also ruled out a link to the conflict in the south, telling parliament that though tests showed the bombs were similar to those used in the insurgency, "I can reassure you that they are not exactly the same." "That is why we have concluded that the bombings had nothing to do with the south, and rather that the ill-intentioned perpetrators are in Bangkok," he told parliament

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