Australia Steps Up Security At 'High-Risk' Bangkok Airport

[lomatopo]

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AUSTRALIA has dispatched two transport security experts to Thailand to make Bangkok airport safer from terrorist attacks on Australians.

Bangkok is a high-risk "last port of call airport" gateway to Australia, according to aviation officials.

Six Australia-bound passenger flights by Qantas/British Airways, Thai Airways and other airlines pass through Bangkok each day, and the new permanent postings to Bangkok's Australian embassy will ensure screening of passengers, baggage and cargo.

Emirates airline, now on a watch list since the discovery of parcel-bombs late last month on two cargo planes in Dubai and Britain, also flies from Dubai via Bangkok to Sydney three times a week.

Investigations by Australian experts identified Bangkok as a weak link in the Asia-Pacific anti-terrorism security chain. Particular risks were raised about the possibility of "shoe bombers" boarding flights to Australia via Bangkok, a senior Australian government official said.

Questions about security arose in May when a man believed to be carrying explosive materials in his shoes almost boarded a Thai Airways flight in Pakistan.

Although Pakistani officials later said the man had been wearing therapeutic shoes, the incident placed question marks over passenger screening techniques.

The Bangkok placement has been matched with departmental officers undertaking similar tasks out of the Australian embassy in Abu Dhabi. The new officers will also have responsibility for overseeing maritime security.

Australia already has transport officers based in embassies in The Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong and the US.

"In terms of process, procedure and equipment, they (Thai security procedures) may well be up to world's best practice," said Michael Carmody, the former head of aviation security at the Federal Airports Corporation. "However, it is in practice that things tend to come unstuck because, invariably, these airports employ folks on very low wages with minimal skills expected to work on 10-hour shifts for five bucks an hour -- and that's where it all comes unstuck."

Airport security expert Roger Henning of Homeland Security Asia-Pacific warned that despite the upgraded supervision, Bangkok, a crucial freight hub for Australia, was now a prime target for terrorists targeting air cargo.

"By announcing all freight will be screened on arrival aboard Qatar, Emirates and Etihad flights, the terrorists now know to ship via Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Manila, or Taipei on other carriers," he said.

Bangkok-based Australian diplomats are also considered at high risk from terrorist attacks and are to be moved to a new secure site.

During the April/May bloody Red Shirts demonstrations in Bangkok, the embassy was closed for a few days as rioters fought soldiers in front of the chancery.