BANGKOK, June 16 — A small “ping pong” bomb hidden in a plastic bag exploded in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, today wounding one person, police said, after a spate of small bombs in the capital raised speculation about opposition to military rule.

The blast came a day after authorities said they had arrested a suspect in connection with an explosion last month at a military-run hospital in Bangkok that wounded more than 20 people.

“It was in a plastic bag hidden in a bush and city cleaning staff went to pick it out and opened it, that was when it exploded,” said Kajornpong Jitpakpoom, the commander of police in the city’s Thonglor district, told Reuters.

The wounded person was a street cleaner.

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“It doesn’t appear to be a deliberate attack. It could be related to students who sometimes use small bombs like this and hide them,” Kajornpong said.

The devices are known as “ping pong” bombs as they are about the same size as a table tennis ball.

Police bomb squad officers were at the scene, the team’s chief said, adding it was too early to provide details.

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Several small blasts have gone off in Bangkok over recent months. No group has claimed responsibility but the explosions have fuelled speculation that opponents of military rule are making a show of their defiance.

The military seized power from an elected government in May 2014, saying it had to step in to end months of at times bloody anti-government protests.

The military has promised to hold an election next year, but critics say it is intent on using a new constitution to maintain control over civilian governments.

‘Hates soldiers’

Earlier today, the military government suggested opposition to its rule was the reason for the bomb attack at the military-owned hospital last month, on the third anniversary of the 2014 coup.

“He hates soldiers,” Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters, referring to a suspect arrested this week in connection with the blast.

Prawit said the suspect had carried out bomb attacks in Bangkok three or four times since 2007.

The 62-yeaer-old suspect, a former electrical engineer, is being interrogated at the 11th Army Circle base in Bangkok, a facility the military uses as a temporary prison.

Reuters was unable to contact the suspect and police said they were unable to comment on whether he had been granted a lawyer.

The military has the power to detain civilians at military camps without charge and rights activists say some face unfair trials in military courts, which the junta has designated for cases involving national security.

In August last year, explosions in several tourists towns on the same day killed four people and wounded dozens. No group claimed responsibility for the attacks which some in the military government blamed on groups opposed to the junta.

Separatist insurgents in Muslim-majority provinces in the south also set off bombs, but rarely outside their region.

The hospital bombing followed a small blast that wounded two people on May 15 outside Bangkok’s National Theatre and an explosion on May 5 in Bangkok’s historic quarter.

Junta chief Prayut Chan-o-cha has said more attacks and unrest could delay the general election, tentatively set for late 2018.

Thailand has been roiled for more than a decade by a struggle between populist political forces supported by poorer voters, and the old military-led establishment, largely backed by better-off voters based in Bangkok. — Reuters