Blast in Bangkok suburb kills 3, cause unknown

A blast at an apartment complex in a Bangkok suburb killed three people on Tuesday and wounded four, authorities said, deepening unease in the Thai capital after a string of bomb attacks believed to be politically motivated.                                           

"It was likely to have been a bomb but we don't know which kind and why it was there," said metropolitan police spokesperson Piya Utayo, declining to speculate on who was involved or whether the blast was linked to politics.                                            

The explosion occurred in a six-storey apartment building in Nonthaburi province north of Bangkok, knocking down walls and damaging the building, said police colonel Somchai Hatsakul.      
 

Nonthaburi is one of four Thai provinces under emergency rule after anti-government protests in Bangkok descended into political violence that killed 91 people and wounded nearly 2,000 over April in May.                                           

In recent weeks, Bangkok has been shaken by a string of mysterious bomb blasts, often involving grenades.                   

Most have not caused injuries but the explosions have added to simmering tension in Bangkok during a five-year political crisis that broadly pits the urban and rural poor against royalists, urban elites, bureaucrats and the military top brass.