Thailand’s military-installed government on Monday pointed to supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister, as possible culprits behind a series of bombs that killed three people and injured 38, including nine foreign holidaymakers, in Bangkok on New Year’s eve.

General Surayud Chulanont, the Thai prime minister, said it was unlikely that Malay Muslim insurgents, who are waging a violent separatist struggle in Thailand’s southern-most provinces, were behind the eight co-ordinated blasts in the capital.