Pink I.D Card & Yellow Book

[george]

SOUTHERN VIOLENCE: Security beefed up on Phuket, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Prachuab Khiri Khan, Surat Thani, Krabi, Phang Nga and Satun.

High alert after warning of possible terrorist attack

PHUKET:-- Security has been tightened throughout Phuket, one of the Kingdom's top tourist destinations, after a security agency warned of a possible terrorist attack on the resort island, Phuket Governor Udomsak Assawarangkoon said yesterday.

Udomsak ordered all security agencies to be on high alert, especially for the next five days.

The National Security Council warning called for increased security at major gathering places for tourists, especially Patong Beach, Kata Beach, Karon Beach and the town centre.

Yesterday Udomsak had a meeting with security agencies in Phuket to discuss the warning, which identified the island as one of nine terrorist targets in the Kingdom. The other targets are Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Prachuab Khiri Khan, Surat Thani, Krabi, Phang Nga and Satun.

Incessant violence in the predominantly Muslim southernmost provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala has caused a decline in numbers of tourists to Phuket, although the violence has not spilled over to the island.

In a separate development, religious leaders and local officials led about 2,500 villagers from Narathiwat's Waeng district in an anti-terrorism rally yesterday.

District chief Apirak Saksanit said the ongoing violence had greatly disrupted villagers' daily lives and reduced their income. Villagers are afraid of tapping rubber trees in the morning and have left the area to sell their agricultural products, Apirak said.

Villagers have been cooperating with authorities by giving them information leading to the arrests of "ill-intentioned" people, he added.

The almost daily killings in the region continued yesterday. Military Police Sergeant Arom Srisuk, 50, was shot while driving a pickup on Highway 42 in Pattani's Nong Chik district and later died in hospital, police said.

Meanwhile, the National Buddhism Office (NBO) is seeking a Bt258-million budget for its five-year plan to promote the religion in the deep South

The plan will provide increased security for monks, boast their morale and give them educational opportunities, a Government House source said yesterday.

"The plan will also promote communication between temples and local communities to achieve mutual understanding," the source added.

The source said a Cabinet screening committee, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, had already endorsed the plan.

In a related development, NBO Director Udom Charoen has sought police and military cooperation in providing security in the run-up to and immediate aftermath of the Buddhist celebration on Wednesday of Visakha Puja Day.

The request for extra protection, which will remain in place for five days after the celebration, followed intelligence reports that Muslim insurgents had been plotting attacks on Visakha Puja Day.

Narathiwat Buddhism Office director Somboon Boonkhet said he had instructed all temples in the province to complete religious rituals for Visakha Puja Day before 6pm.

"It will be better for security preparations if we finish the rituals early," he said.

--The Nation 2004-05-29

[sonthaya]

I'll still be going to Phuket in September, no terrorist is going to stop me from having a good time, you only live once

[Phil Conners]

It seems they think they can stop drug and porn by prohibitation so why not just make Islam illegal in the Kingdom?