Hours after supporters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra promised to take on protesters shutting down parts of Bangkok, a bomb detonated near a demonstration site in a busy shopping district Sunday, killing two people and wounding at least 22.

Reuters explains of the conflict erupting in Thailand:

Both sides have blamed the other for instigating violence. Armed provocateurs have a history of trying to stir tension in politically polarized Thailand and both protesters and the police have also blamed violence on shadowy third parties.

… Anti-government protesters have blocked main Bangkok intersections for weeks with tents, tires and sandbags, seeking to unseat Yingluck and halt the influence of her billionaire brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, an ousted former premier regarded by many as the real power behind the government.

… The protests are the latest chapter in a political conflict that has gripped Thailand for eight years and broadly pits Bangkok’s middle class and elite, and followers in the south, against rural backers of Yingluck and her brother.

Read more here.

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

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