Security tightened in Bangkok after small bombing

Police stepped up security in the Thai capital on Sunday after a small bomb exploded at a public telephone booth late Saturday night, slightly injuring a man.

Security was especially tight around the Chitralada Palace, residence of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, near the Ratchvitee Road where the bombing site is located.

The bomb exploded at about 9:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) Saturday. A 22- year-old man who was about to make a phone call at the time was wounded by broken glass of the booth.

Acting national police chief Seripisut Temiyavej, Metropolitan police chief Adisorn Nonsee, and Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayothin rushed to the scene shortly after the explosion.

News network The Nation Sunday quoted Adisorn as saying that police set up road checkpoints around the palace on around-the- clock basis, and police dogs were also deployed to check the areas and government offices around the palace.

Adisorn said police bomb experts found that the explosives used in the blast did not have high destructive power, which means the bomb was not aimed to cause high damages or loss of lives.

He said the bomb was detonated by a timing device. "We believe it was an attempt to create disturbance."

First Army Area Commander Prayuth Chanocha said the military could not yet analyze the motives behind the explosion as more information was needed.

He said soldiers in plainclothes and in uniform had been deployed to help police keep security around Bangkok. But the number of deployed soldiers would be doubled following the latest explosion.

Apirak said the explosion was like the bombing at the Major Ratchayothin shopping and entertainment complex in downtown Bangkok in early April, which caused no casualties.

Earlier, Bangkok downtown area and its suburb were hit by a series of bombings on the night of December 31, 2006 and the early hours of the New Year's Day, causing three deaths and some 40 injuries. The attacks remained unsolved up till today.

Source: Xinhua