BANGKOK - Thailand's military-appointed government said on Monday supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra may have been involved in a series of bombs which killed 3 people in Bangkok on New Year's Eve. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said people who had lost power, including Thaksin supporters, might have been behind the eight bombs which also wounded 38 people, nine of them foreigners, and forced the cancellation of street parties.

A policeman stands guard after bomb blasts in Bangkok January 1, 2006. Two more bombs, including one near a major shopping mall, hit Bangkok on Sunday, wounding at least 10 people, 8 of them foreigners, a Health Ministry disaster centre official said. [Reuters]

"Briefs from various intelligence agencies, based on evidence available, show that they came from groups that have lost political powers," Surayud told a news conference.

"These were not just the previous government, but include all those which have lost power in the past. We could not at this stage pinpoint which particular group was involved."

The bloodless September 19 coup which ousted Thaksin ended a long political crisis and Surayud declined to specify what evidence there was of a political connection to the bombs.