An explosion today at a protest site in Thailand's capital injured at least six people, as political tensions wracking the country showed no sign of easing.
The violence came the same day that angry farmers driving hundreds of tractors called off a threatened protest at Thailand's main airport, granting a reprieve to the embattled prime minister and to travellers fearing a repeat of a 2008 blockade of the facility.
The farmers cancelled the protest at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport after striking a last-minute deal with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who agreed to make long-delayed payments on last year's rice crops to them by next week. They vowed, however, to stage the protest next week if the payments are not made.
The farmers' protest is one of many headaches for Yingluck, who appears increasingly powerless against a wider anti-government movement pressing for her resignation.
Protesters have camped out with virtual impunity for weeks at major intersections of Bangkok and near the Government House compound. Yingluck has been forced to work out of a variety of alternate offices since December.
The nighttime explosion occurred near one of the protesters' several rally sites in Bangkok, near some parked cars. Erawan emergency medical services confirmed that six people had been injured in an explosion and had been taken to nearby hospitals. There was no immediate word on their condition. Thai media speculated that the blast was caused by a grenade thrown from a nearby overpass.
Violence surrounding the protests has increased in recent weeks, with five people, including a policeman, killed in a battle on Tuesday when authorities tried to clear a protest site. Fifteen people have died and hundreds have been hurt in the recent political violence.
The anti-government demonstrators, who have been protesting for three months, draw most of their support from the urban middle and upper classes and residents from the south who are loyal to the opposition Democrat Party.
They want Yingluck's elected government to make way for an interim, appointed government to implement what they say are necessary reforms to fight corruption and remove Yingluck's family's influence from politics.
