LEAD: Bomb explodes in front of house of Thai king's chief adviser

BANGKOK, March 9 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING)

A homemade bomb exploded Thursday in front of the residence of former Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanond in Bangkok, injuring a British tourist and causing minor damage, local media reported.

The blast occurred at around 2 p.m. at an unmanned police guardpost at the entrance to the compound of Prem's house. Shrapnel from the blast slightly injured the 28-year-old British passerby and damaged parked cars, the reports said.

The Canadian Embassy said an earlier report of one of its nationals also being wounded was a mistake by a hospital.

Prem, who as privy counselor is the chief adviser to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was reportedly in his residence in the city's Bang Lamphu district when the blast happened.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is under public pressure to resign for alleged corruption and abuse of power, told reporters the bomb ''was the work of people with bad intentions who want to create more and more trouble amid the political crisis.''

Defense Minister Gen. Thammarak Israngura, who visited the scene, said Prem wondered why somebody wanted to bomb his residence, The Nation newspaper reported on its website.

''It is likely that the culprits want to increase tension in the country and chose Gen. Prem's residence because the incident will surely be publicized,'' Thammarak was quoted as saying.

Prem, an 85-year-old retired general who served as prime minister from 1980 to 1988, is still influential in Thai politics.

Last month, he irked Thaksin supporters with a speech about the king's guidelines on good governance that appeared to slight the premier, the Bangkok Post reported on its website.

Thaksin has been under intense pressure to resign since the Jan. 23 sale of his family's 49 percent stake in its Shin Corp., Thailand's largest telecommunications conglomerate, to an investment arm of the Singapore government. The deal sparked accusations that the prime minister has improperly sold off an important national asset to a foreign firm without even paying tax on the sale.

Thaksin has called a snap election for April 2, but the country's main opposition parties have vowed to boycott it.

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