Bangkok blast: Second explosion in Bangkok, no injuries reported, say police

“Australians should continue to go to Thailand because the objective of the sorts of people who let off bombs in crowded cities is to scare us from being ourselves and we should never be intimidated by that”, Mr Abbott said.

He said: “Whoever planted this bomb is cruel and aimed to kill”.

More concerned with victims and the wider affects on Thailand than his escape – “The Thai people are beautiful people and we send all our love out to them in this time of great pain” – Barnes concludes his message with a wider message for everyone else.

The remote controlled device – constructed from five kilos of TNT – was hidden within the compound of the Erawan Shrine, which lies at the heart of Bangkok’s main commercial area, according to Thai police Chief General Somyot Pumpanmuang.

Prayuth vowed to “hurry and find the bombers”.

Early Tuesday morning, Somyot was among those surveying the damage as police and soldiers guarded the area, still littered with shattered glass and other debris.

News of the cabinet change comes a day after a bomb exploded in central Bangkok killing 22 people, including eight foreigners.

“This is the worst incident that has ever happened in Thailand”, he said.

AFP reports that more than 6,500 people have been killed in the region since 2004.

Paul Chambers, director of research at the Institute of South East Asian Affairs in Thailand, said groups with links to military factions also had to be considered as potential suspects.

Monday’s attack drew quick expressions of grief from around the world.

The explosion took place at the Rajprasong intersection, which was the center of many contentious political demonstrations in recent years.

The explosion at about 7 pm (8 pm Malaysian time) occurred at the Ratchaprasong intersection, near the famous Erawan Shrine and Bangkok’s colorful and high-street shopping. Although Thailand is predominantly Buddhist, it has enormous Hindu influence on its religious practices and language.

Bangkok has been relatively peaceful since a military coup ousted a civilian government in May last year after several months of sometimes violent political protests against the previous government.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told the nation in his first televised address since the blast that the government will expedite “all investigative efforts to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice”, but said nothing specific about suspects or the status of the investigation.

“We didn’t think anything like this could happen in Bangkok”, said Holger Siegle, a German who said he and his newlywed wife had chosen Thailand because it seemed safe.

Last week, Thaksin posted a message on YouTube urging his followers to reject the draft constitution because he said it was undemocratic.