Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rejected sceptics' theory that yesterday's explosion near the coalition Bhum Jai Thai Party's headquarters was intended as a government excuse to retain the state of emergency.
He said that in fact the incident was a proof to the authorities' warning that certain groups of people were trying to instigate violence, which made a state of emergency necessary in the first place.
"We hope no violent incident happens during the byelection. Violence is not part of democracy; it indicates that the perpetrators have some objective other than calling for democracy," the prime minister said.
A Government House source said yesterday that the state of emergency in Bangkok and some other provinces is likely to be renewed for another 60 days when it expires on July 7.
The government's Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) yesterday instructed the securityrelated agencies to improve their intelligence gathering following the explosion, its spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd said.
Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who chaired yesterday's CRES meeting, stressed with the participants that more efforts were needed to improve the intelligence work so that such a violent incident would not happen again, particularly at a time when the state of emergency is in place, according to the spokesman.
He said the CRES has found active moves by leaders of the antigovernment red shirt movement in the Northeast.
"There were meetings of local red shirt leaders and politicians from a political party even when the state of emergency is still in place. There are attempts to create some situation," said the spokesman.
He added that yesterday's explosion could cause widespread concern among the public that it could take place even at a time the emergency decree is in place.
A cookinggas cylinder, believed to be filled with petrol and reinforced with TNT, exploded late yesterday morning near Bhum Jai Thai's headquarters in Soi Phaholyothin 43, Bang Khen district. A fruit vendor confessed that he was hired to park a pushcart carrying the 15kilogram gas cylinder in front of the party's HQ.
Authorities believe the explosion was politically motivated. The bomb, causing panic among party members, also prompted authorities to have Government House checked by sniffer dogs, but nothing was detected.
Observers, meanwhile, pointed out the explosion could result from political enmity involving Bhum Jai Thai and could be used by the authorities as an excuse to renew the state of emergency.
The fruit vendor was injured when the explosion suddenly took place at 10.45am while he was in an alley nearby. The blast damaged a car nearby, a food stall and also shattered the windows of a commercial building.
The 27yearold fruit vendor Anek Singkhunthod, who was admitted to Bhumibol Hospital, told police that he did not know there was a bomb inside the cart. He explained he had travelled from Chon Buri's Laem Chabang district with a friend on a pickup truck to sell fruits and was dropped off with the cart near the scene. The driver of the pickup truck called him to ask if the cart was still there, and the bomb exploded just after he hung up.
Metropolitan Police Division 2 chief Pol MajGeneral Saroj Phromcharoen said Anek would not reveal who had hired him and how much he was paid. He said all Anek would say is that he was told to park the cart in front of the head office, but that he'd moved the cart to a neighbouring soi because it was raining. Saroj said the bomb was clearly targeted at the party, and suspected that this attack is politically motivated.
Saroj said initial inspection suggested that the cylinder might have been filled with petrol and reinforced with TNT explosives to create a remotecontrolled homemade bomb with a destruction radius of 20 metres. Police is checking security camera footage to see if they can identify the accomplices.
An informed source said that normally party executives like Newin Chidchob and Anuthin Chanweerakul arrive at around 10am before convening the party's weekly meeting in the afternoon.
However, the party cancelled its meeting yesterday, though party board members Tossaphol Sangkhasap, Samphan Lertnuwat and Theerachai Saenkaew were at the office at the time. Tossaphol said he thought the noise came from the nearby power transformer, but was told what had happened when he came down to investigate. Judging from the severity of the explosion and the smell of petrol, he said it was unlikely that the explosion was an accident. Still, he said, the party would wait for police investigation results soon.
A source at the party, meanwhile, insisted that there was political motive behind the explosion, adding that it was either meant to cause chaos prior to the cremation of slain Army specialist MajGeneral Khattiya Sawasdipol later in the day or to just threaten party members.
Khattiya, also known as "Seh Daeng", was the chief strategist of the red shirts. His cremation yesterday evening at the Somanas Temple drew thousands of people, most of them his red shirt admirers.
Later yesterday, Bhum Jai Thai spokesman Supachai Jaisamut dismissed doubts that the party might have staged this attack, adding that the party wanted to serve the country in peace without public and media attention. He also insisted that the party had no enemies or personal conflicts that could have led to the incident.
Security at Government House was beefed up yesterday morning, and sniffer dogs deployed to check for explosions in the compound. No bombs were detected.