The bomb was hidden in a trash bin at a bus stop on Ratchadumri Road, an area occupied by thousands of 'red shirt' anti-government protesters for several weeks until an army crackdown on May 19.
A bomb exploded in Bangkok today, wounding at least eight people, as the city voted in a by-election that could signal whether recent unrest has changed Thailand's political landscape.
The bomb was hidden in a trash bin at a bus stop in the heart of the commercial district on Ratchadumri Road, an area occupied by thousands of "red shirt" anti-government protesters for several weeks until an army crackdown on May 19.
A witness said eight people were wounded.
The by-election for a Bangkok seat in parliament could indicate whether unrest that killed at least 89 people in April and May will hurt prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's ruling party in national elections next year.
"The race is very important for both parties because the result, as well as the margin won, will be seen as a symbolic statement in a tense and divided political landscape," said Karn Yuenyong, director of the independent Siam Intelligence Unit.
The seat was expected to be won by the ruling Democrats whose fractious six-party coalition has a 75-seat majority in the 480-seat parliament.
But the margin could offer a critical measure of support for the anti-government "red shirt" protest movement in Bangkok after their festive, flag-waving rallies in March descended into gun battles and riots in April and May that frightened off tourists and hurt Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.
Unofficial results of the vote in Bangkok's Constituency 6 are expected before 8pm (1300 GMT).
The opposition candidate, businessman Korkaew Pikulthong of the Puea Thai Party, has been in jail since May for allegedly encouraging violence, a charge he denies. He has put his chances of winning at 50-50 while campaigning from prison, saying he has public sympathy for being held without bail.
He faces formidable odds but a victory would be a powerful blow to Abhisit and "symbolically show there is real opposition, even in Bangkok, to the government's recent action", said Karn.
Korkaew's party, closely allied with self-exiled and graft-convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is facing Democrat Panich Wikisreth, a former deputy Bangkok mayor allied with royalist "yellow shirts" who led a successful 2006 campaign to oust Thaksin by military coup.
Korkaew says the government has helped his rival by maintaining a state of emergency in Bangkok since April 7, allowing authorities to detain opponents without charge, censor the press, ban gatherings and freeze bank accounts.
A candidate for a Thaksin-allied party lost the seat in 2007 to the Democrats by just a few thousand votes. It became vacant again when the incumbent died.
No single party has historically dominated the district of about 536,000 people. Thaksin's now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party has won the seat in the past.
The vote is the first in Bangkok since troops forcibly dispersed thousands of protesters in a May 19 operation that sparked deadly rioting. Nearly 40 buildings were set ablaze, including the stock exchange and Thailand's top shopping mall.
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