An explosive device was tossed toward anti-government protesters who were marching near Chulalongkorn University injuring 36 people and heightening tensions before the scheduled Feb. 2 elections, Reuters reported.
Bangkok was quiet for a couple of days since demonstrators blocked major intersections and public offices on Monday, but Friday's blast erased any idea that Thai protesters would lose steam and has placed opposing sides pointing fingers at who's to blame, Reuters reported.
Responsibility has not been claimed for the explosion and opposition leader Suthep Thaugsuban, who was present at the area where the explosions went off, said the government and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra were responsible, according to Reuters.
"The explosion was the government's doing," Suthep announced later on at a rally, according to Reuters."We are not afraid and we will fight on."
The Thai government, who has avoided any type of confrontation, denied Thaugsuban accusation and said the movement pre-planned the explosion with intent on placing the blame on the government, Reuters reported.
"The movement is desperate," deputy spokesman for the Puea Thai Party Anusorn Iamsa-ard said, according to Reuters. "Its attempt to shut down this city has not been successful so it is trying different tactics, including staging attacks and blaming them on the government."
Protesters comprised of Bangkok's middle class and royalist establishments have been trying to remove Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, as well as her exiled brother and former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, from power, Reuters reported.
The brother and sister have been previously accused of corruption, and have used rural votes to win every election since 2001, according to Reuters.
In an attempt to calm protesters, Yingluck offered a re-election which is set to take place on Feb. 2 and the Puea Thai Party is almost certain to win again, Reuters reported.
Thaugsuban announced the protesters would boycott the elections and demand Yingluck step down and be replaced by an unelected "people's council" who would better support the needs of Thais, according to Reuters.
"Today's incident will accelerate chances of a significant clash between the protesters and groups they perceive to be their enemies, the police or forces loyal to the government, in order to provoke some sort of military reaction and speed up chances of a military intervention," Boonyakiat Karavekphan, an analyst at Ramkamhaeng University in Bangkok, told Reuters.
