An Iranian man has blown off his own legs and wounded at least four other people in grenade attacks in Bangkok, according to the police. It remains unclear what the man's targets were, but the blasts come just a day after two bomb attacks aimed at Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia.
Israel on Monday blamed Iran for the bombings in India and Georgia, a claim denounced in Tehran as "sheer lies".
Thai security forces found more explosives in the suspect's rented house in the capital, said Police General Pansiri Prapawat.
Police said the explosions happened on Soi Sukhumvit 71, a street running off a busy road that bisects the capital.
A photo posted on Twitter showed a wounded man lying on a pavement outside a school, his legs apparently blown off by an explosion. The pavement was strewn with broken glass.
Several Thai television stations reported that the man had been carrying explosives. They said an identification card found in a nearby satchel indicated he may have been of Iranian descent.
The Thai-Asean News network said police had identified the man as Sayed Murabi, an Iranian thought to have set off a bomb at his own house and then hailed a taxi.
When the driver refused to pick him up, Murabi reportedly threw a grenade at the car. Police then pursued him before he tried to throw another grenade at them, but failed and blew off his own legs.
The first explosion took place at about 2.20pm local time (7.20am GMT) at a house in the Ekamai area in central Bangkok, which three Iranians reportedly rented.
Police fear there may be more bombs in the area and have closed the street to traffic.
Doctors at Chulalongkorn hospital confirmed a man had been admitted as a patient but did not disclose his name or nationality.
Doctors said the patient's right leg had been blown off above the knee, and his left leg was so badly damaged it had had to be amputated above the knee.
Local media reported the police as saying one of the bomber's legs had been blown into a nearby school.
Reports also said security was being boosted at the hospital, with police unsure whether or not to classify the man as a terrorist.
In Jerusalem, the Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said there was not yet any sign that any targets in Bangkok were Israeli or Jewish.
Israeli police have increased the state of alert in the country, with the emphasis on public places, foreign embassies and offices, as well as Ben-Gurion international airport.
