The Erawan shrine which was hit by a bomb blast on 17 August has reopened its doors to the public barely two days after the explosion killed at least 20 people and injured more than 100.

The Erawan Shrine, a Hindu temple is also popular with Thai Buddhists and a major landmark for tourists.

The BBC said the shrine reopened at 8.00am local time, with a handful of people arriving with flowers and lighting incense in front of the slightly damaged statute of the Hindu god Brahma, the god of creation.

The broadcaster said there appeared to be low security in place, with members of the public allowed to walk into the holy site without any checks being conducted.

The last human remains were only cleared from the site earlier on Wednesday, it added.

AFP said Thai monks led prayers in the morning for the reopening of the shrine, with a relative of the dead Malaysians laying bundles of clothes at the shrine to represent the lost loved ones.

The news agency said the surrounding area has largely been restored with twisted iron railings the only immediate sign of the carnage. BBC noted the "fresh concrete still wet in the morning sun as worshippers entered a short distance away."

Tommy Goh, 56, a Thai-Malaysian from Penang told AFP that a delayed taxi from his hotel spared him from being at the shrine at the time of the blast.

"Every year I come down to this shrine, we were meant to be here around 6.50-7pm but the taxi didn't arrive from the hotel ... so we went somewhere else. Ten minutes later and it could have been so different," he said.

23 nations issue Thailand travel advisories

Separately, the Bangkok Post said a total of 23 countries have issued travel advisories to Thailand following the Erawan shrine bombing. Most of the advisories told its citizens to be cautious rather than avoiding travel to Thailand.

The Thai Foreign Ministry said 12 countries - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the US - issued "Level 2" advisories, urging travellers to take extra care during trips.

Nine countries issued Level 3 warnings which carry a higher level of caution. They include Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand, Russia and the UK.

While the Netherlands only instructed its citizens to be on the alert, which was a Level 1 advisory, Hong Kong was the only country to advise its people to avoid non-essential travel to Thailand, a red alert or Level 4 warning.

More about the Bangkok blast