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Former director of the Office of Police Forensic Science, Pol LtColonel Amporn Jarujinda said Chinese teargas canisters generate a powerful explosive after being fired and drop to the ground before releasing the tear gas cloud.

"This was why many protesters received severe injuries and died," he said. "Chinese teargas canisters are not the same as those used in developed countries such as the US."

The explosives expert said American made teargas canisters will not explode when hitting the ground but slowly release the gas into the air. The Chinese canisters used to disperse the crowd on October 7 were 60 cms long and weighed 0.2 kilogram.

Their speed of 60 metres per second delivers a powerful blow to a target like the human body. "It could amputate and burn any part of a victim's body when it exploded," he said.

Amporn said doctors had told him they found fragments of plastic that covered teargas canisters in wounds but not any metal fragments. "Therefore we could drop the point it was a bomb," he said. "Injuries might have been caused by teargas canisters."

Ampon's statement followed the report by the Thai Royal Police, which said 25yearold protester Angkana "Bo" Radabpanyawut, who was killed, may have carried a bomb while walking to the Royal Plaza with her mother and younger sister.

Amporn said if it was a bomb, forensic experts would have found fragments of metal in her body; but they did not. "I do not have any opinion about this issue but I think members of the public already have the answer to Angkana's death," he said.

"The chemical compound forensic experts found on her body is the key to this question," he added. "We have to wait for the investigation's result."

Meanwhile, he urged police not to fire rubber bullets directly into the crowd; rather shoot into the air at a long distance to avoid accidents. He said that after viewing pictures of victims shown by a Chulalongkorn University doctor following clashes between police and demonstrators at Makkhawan Rangsan Bridge in September, he was convinced rubber bullets could penetrate the human body.