Paragon and other retail outlets in the Siam Square/Siam Center area were closed, roads were blocked and shoppers and diners were evacuated from the area.
Pol Lt Gen Prawut Thawornsiri, a police spokesman, said the bombs were hidden behind a transformer at BMA Express Service, between the Siam BTS station and the luxury mall.
"Two homemade bombs exploded on a walkway between Siam BTS (skytrain) and Siam Paragon mall. They were hidden behind electric controls," said Pol Lt Gen Prawut.
The two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were set on timers to explode at about 8pm, a peak time for shopping, entertainment and dining out in the Siam Square area. Despite this, Pol Lt Gen Prawut said the bombs "were not intended to kill".
No motive for the attacks was given. Authorities at first told the media the bombing was the explosion of a power transformer of a Paragon billboard. They dropped that story and admitted the blasts were caused by bombs after several hours of investigation.
Thailand is officially under martial law, but police handled crowd control, and acted as spokesmen for the media. Spokesmen asked the public not to panic, despite the mishandling of the early hours of the investigation.
Army Col Winthai Suwaree, spokesman for both the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and for the army, said the military was involved in the police investigation but provided no details. He said the motive for the bombing was unknown.
Earlier Sunday, an adviser to the NCPO denied reports the military regime was considering a proposal to end martial law. Criticism of martial law peaked again last week after a senior US official, Daniel Russel, said Washington was opposed to the use of martial law.
Pol Lt Gen Prawut claimed the motive of the attack was likely to create panic rather than take lives. He did not provide any details of the IEDs, but denied early reports that the bombs contained nails.
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