by Shen Min, Ling Shuo

    BANGKOK, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- At least two more bomb blasts hit downtown Bangkok seconds after midnight Sunday as the year 2007 arrived, following six blasts rocked the capital of Thailand early Sunday night that disrupted New Year celebrations.

    Eight people, including six foreigners, were injured in the latest explosions, Thai iTV station reported. Among the injured foreigners are nationals of the United States, Britain, Serbia and Ireland, it said.

    The two bombs went off almost at the same time near the World Trade Center and Gaysorn Plaza, one of the most visited shopping areas by foreign tourists in Bangkok seconds after the new year started.

    One bomb was planted in a public telephone booth, while the other at roadside near a restaurant, iTV quoted police as saying.

    A third bomb was detected on Khao Sarn Road near the Grand Palace, the popular tourist site in central Bangkok.

    Police said they were not sure for now whether more bombs were planted elsewhere as they continued search for suspected objects across Bangkok and surrounding areas.

    The latest bombings followed six coordinated bombings in busy business districts in the capital early Sunday night that killed two people and injured some 40 others, forcing the authorities to cancel all the festivities.

    It is not immediately clear whether the bombings were related to political movements against the military-led Council for National Security (CNS), which ousted former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra in the Sept. 19 coup, and the CNS-installed interim government, or the insurgent violence in Thailand's southernmost region that has killed over 1,900 people in the past three years.

    Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has warned earlier in December that southern insurgents planned to launch more attacks around the New Year holidays.