by Shen Min, Ling Shuo

    BANGKOK, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of thousands of tourists and residents in Bangkok Sunday evening were bracing for New Year's Eve festivities to welcome the year 2007, when a series of bomb attacks rocked the country's capital, killing two persons and injuring 40 others.

    The bombs and hand grenades went off almost simultaneously at busy business districts across Bangkok city.

    East of the Victory Monument, a landmark in central Bangkok, where a most powerful bomb exploded at a bus station around 6:30 p.m. local time (1100 GMT) glass scraps scattered and bloodstains dotted the site.

    Police and army soldiers have cordoned off the surrounding area.Ambulances, fire engines, and military vehicles were standing by. A squad of armed army soldiers lined up beside the site, while bomb experts and police investigators were searching for evidence.

    "Shortly after 6 o'clock in the evening, I was busy with my business at my booth when I heard a roaring sound erupt behind me,which left my booth shaking," recalled a soft drink vendor Ngong whose booth was only 10 meters behind the bombing site.

    "When I rushed out, I saw many people hide their heads in arms and some lied on the ground," the vendor said.

    Ngong's booth didn't suffer any damage as it is located behind the waiting booth of the bus station which was hit.

    He said there were about 30 passengers waiting for buses when the explosion took place, which led to people running in panic. "I saw one man lying there unconscious, blood streaming over the ground."

    The bombing killed one and injured some 20 others.

    A policeman named Prasat told Xinhua that judging from the bomb's scraps and the power the bomb generated, it was unlikely that it had been a handmade bomb. "We are not sure what kind of bomb it was or where it came from, but we could confirm that the criminal have put a bag holding the bomb at the back pole of the waiting booth, and denoted it nearby."

    The second bomb went off at a traffic police post injuring 17 people.

    Another bomb hit at a police box on the busy Sukhumvit Road, with no one injured. A police traffic post near a major intersection in Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok was also hit by a bomb but no casualties were reported.

    A bomb in the compound of the Tesco Lotus superstore at Prachachuen, while another was planted in a waste bin at Seacon Square Shopping Mall, in eastern suburban Bangkok, but a bomb-disposal squad defused the device before it exploded.

    There was no immediate report on the bombers' identities or possible motive, but Thai government Spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp told a press conference that the incidents were apparently the work of ill-intentioned people who wished to create disturbances in the country. He also urged the public to remain calm and alert police immediately for any irregularities.

    All New Year celebrations, including various countdown events planned at some shopping centers were canceled upon the municipal authorities' order.

    Major department stores in downtown Bangkok, including Siam Paragon, Emporium, Central shopping centers shut down by 8 p.m. local time Sunday night. They usually stay open until midnight on New Year's Eve.

    Warning notices called on passengers to keep alert and inform people immediately at sight of any suspicious packages, without any touch of them.

    It was not immediately clear whether the bombs had anything to do with the military coup of September 19 that ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, or with continuing insurgency violence in the Muslim-predominant southern border region which has claimed more than 1,900 people lives since January 2004.

    Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont was quoted by local media as asking people wishing to join New Year parties to avoid crowded areas.

    The prime Minister ordered on Sunday night all security officers, including police and soldiers, to reinforce in many places in Bangkok. He also ordered crime scene inspectors to collect all evidences from the attack scenes in order to know who are behind the attacks.

    Meanwhile, Public Health Permanent Secretary Prat Boonwongwiroj said the ministry would shoulder all medical expenses of the victims of the bomb attacks in the capital.