Multiple blasts hit Thai capital as it hosts top US diplomat, key security meet

The Friday morning blasts come as Bangkok is hosting a regional security meeting with the participation of top diplomats from a number of countries, including US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

At least three people were slightly injured as the result of the explosions, which followed the evacuation of the Royal Thai Police headquarters Thursday night, after a man was observed planting a suspicious package.

Although the suspect was apprehended, his identity has not been revealed and no one has claimed responsibility for the blasts on Friday.

The bombings took place just before a keynote speech by America’s top diplomat Pompeo, in which he praised Thailand for rejoining the “democratic fold” after five years of outright junta rule.

Thailand’s government urged the media to avoid speculation on the motive for the bombings.

“On the bombing this morning, I would like to condemn those causing the situation which destroys peace and damages the country’s image,” Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said.

Police said two street cleaners had been hurt by what appeared to be a homemade bomb at a government complex hosting several ministries in the city’s northern district of Suan Luang.

Eyewitnesses said a security guard had also been wounded near the 77-story King Power Mahanakhon building. The area was partly cordoned off as police searched the area.

None of the blasts on Friday were in the immediate area of the meeting’s venue.

ASEAN members are: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.

The development came a day after Pompeo accused China of being engaged in “coercion” of its Southeast Asian neighbors in disputes over the South China Sea and censured Beijing’s construction of a dam on the Mekong River.

Pompeo made the remarks after meeting his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang, in Bangkok where the two diplomats met for the first time this year amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Wang on Wednesday insisted that China opposes interference by countries outside the region.

The resource-rich South China Sea has long been a source of tension between Beijing and Washington, which regularly dispatches its warships and warplanes to the waters as part of what it describes as “freedom of navigation” patrols.

The US has been taking sides with several of China’s neighboring countries on contentious issues and sovereignty claims over the strategic waters.