New Year's Eve bombs kill 2 in Bangkok

VIDEO - Nine bombs exploded across Bangkok as the Thai capital celebrated the New Year, killing two people and driving thousands of revelers home as the city canceled its countdown festivities. The bombings late Sunday and early Monday capped a year of unrest in Thailand, including a military coup three months ago and an increasingly violent Muslim insurgency in the south. Six near-simultaneous explosions Sunday night killed two people and injured 26. Hours later, near the same shopping complex where thousands of people had planned to count down the New Year, three blasts minutes after midnight wounded eight people, including a foreigner who was rushed to the hospital after her legs were blown off, the iTV television station reported. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Scene of one of Bangkok bombings (Photo: AFP) National police chief Gen. Ajirawit Suphanaphesat said he did not believe insurgents were behind the attacks in Bangkok, a major international banking and technology hub for Asia. Bangkok Mayor Apirak Kosayothin ordered the cancellation of the two major public New Year's Eve countdown celebrations and other smaller ones. "Due to several bomb explosions in Bangkok and for the sake of peace and security, I would ask all of you to return to your homes now," Apirak told some 5,000 revelers at the downtown Central World Plaza shopping mall, hours before the second set of explosions went off in the area. The crowd dispersed quickly but calmly. Police and soldiers fanned out across Bangkok to guard entertainment venues and important sites. Roadblocks went up in some places. No reports of Israeli casualties Several embassies issued warnings on their Web sites to avoid Bangkok's city center. The British Embassy urged its citizens "not to travel into the city until further notice." According to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, there have been no reports so far of Israeli casualties, and the issue is being looked into. Nili, an Israeli who has been living in Bangkok for the last two years, told Ynet that "on the news they reported that the bombs were not strong and that they were hidden inside cans of tomato paste." Bomb attacks are rare in the Thai capital. Several small bombs exploded during the recent political turmoil but they were apparently set to create unrest rather than cause casualties. "No, I'm not scared. I'm from England. There are bomb scares all the time," said Keith Waters, who had hoped to celebrate the first New Year's with his Thai bride. In Bangkok, some fast food outlets closed early. Hotels stepped up security, searching cars on their premises, and some canceled their expensive New Year's Eve dinners. Major public celebrations were also canceled in the northern city of Chiang Mai. "I heard a loud explosion and I thought it was fireworks. I ran there and saw a bleeding woman at the bus stop," Somrak Manphothong, a receptionist at the Saxophone bar along a busy traffic circle near the Victory Monument, where one of the initial six bombs went off. "Another guy was lying on the floor, covered with blood, and his wife was shaking his body." 2 potential suspects At a vegetable market in the Klong Toey slum, where another bomb went off, a pool of blood and egg yolks covered the roadside next to an overturned motorcycle. But festivities continued in some areas of Bangkok, including the city's most famous red light district, Patpong Road, where hundreds of foreign tourists carried on celebrating. And at midnight, fireworks lit up the sky in both Bangkok and Chiang Mai, with many residents still gathered in the streets of both cities. Police officers near scene of bombing (Photo: AP) In September, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a bloodless coup by Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin. The military installed Surayud as the interim prime minister until elections in October 2007. But Thaksin still enjoys widespread support and a number of arson attacks in provincial areas have been blamed on his followers. "There are two potential suspects, Muslim insurgents and Thaksin's residual power. I tend to think it's residual power. I suspect the previous regime," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University. Bombings and shootings occur almost daily in Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, where an Islamic insurgency that flared in January 2004 has killed more than 1,900 people. Muslims make up the majority in overwhelmingly Buddhist Thailand's deep south, where they have long complained of discrimination. The insurgents have carried out numerous attacks in the south, but are not known to have launched any in Bangkok. Liron Milstein and Roee Nahmias contributed to the report

New Year's Eve bombs kill 2 in Bangkok

(VIDEO) Series of bomb blasts rock Thai capital on New Year's Eve, killing at least two people and injuring more than 30, police and health officials say; culprits and motive are unknown