Moscow warns that ISIS in Thailand to attack Russian targets

[Artisi]

The security checking has more or less stopped in bkk anyway so this would be the perfect time for a massacre from a terrorist perspective ....

Strategicly, they could and would cripple the country if they did the same in 8 new tourist locations.... At the same time

Thailand is just not equipped to deal with a tragedy of that scale and they are too stubborn to ask for help from countries with real expertise

Hopefully the Russians and interpol will get these guys before they blow up any innocent tourists because there is very little chance of the rtp catching them by themselves Imo

Interpol, who /what do you think they are, some sort of James Bond operatives - now the Ruskies are a different story altogether...

[Artisi]

unfortunately, with suicide bombers ANY place is a soft spot basically. if it happens in pattaya or phuket it will cause major damage to thailand but don't underestimate russian intelligence who are present in those places too.

The first 8 must be already identified, if they know their arrival dates and travel itinerary...

I would have guessed they were under surveillance to see who they're working with that's already here....

The strange thing is this "secret info" being released BEFORE all these terrorists are locked down??

Whatever they might have been plotting, they now have the time to change it... That's the Thai way to catch a suspect, tell him he has to turn himself in

Ask them to please come to the police station if not too busy and it's not inconvenient.....

[blowin]

At least in LOS they ISIS won't be sneaking in under the cover of migrants like main land Europe.

[chiang mai]

At this moment in time the Thai economy is nearing reliance on its tourist industry, the fear in years past is that southern insurgents would expand their activities to Phuket or further North, thus impacting that industry.

It would only take one or two well placed high profile events in places such as Pattaya or Phuket and tourist numbers would likely drop off the cliff, that, apart from loss of life, is a key concern from all of this because recovery would take an awful long time. And before anyone starts to say that tourism was just fine when the red shirts were on the streets, this is whole different ballgame.

[Artisi]

At least in LOS they ISIS won't be sneaking in under the cover of migrants like main land Europe.

Correct- just come in as welcomed tourists - but that's ok as it bolsters the tourist numbers and TAT are more than happy.

[LostTourist]

Thailand is the perfect launching pad for Isis and others, heaps of poorly educated and angry muslims in the south to recruit.

Weak and impotent police and the in-ablity to make arrests and enforce laws.

Perfect place to launder monies through all of the cash reliant businesses and the islamic bank is a perfect vehicle to do it through

I'm suprised that there hasn't been any major attacks so far.

Edited December 4, 2015 by LostTourist

[stickylies]

At least in LOS they ISIS won't be sneaking in under the cover of migrants like main land Europe.

True, here's it's (crypto-)sex-tourists sneaking in under the cover of teachers (or retirees)

[Prbkk]

They "slipped into the country", ie walked up to an immigration counter with fake passports? Visas? After the incident with the Pattaya sourced stolen passports used on MH370 ( unrelated to the crash), are they not checking the Interpol database?

[MaxLee]

Mai pen rai, a few victims less won't effect Thailand's tourism

[Seastallion]

intelligence from the FSB sent to Thailand’s National Security Council that members of the Islamic State entered the kingdom between Oct. 15 and Oct. 31.

It specifically indicates that four traveled to Pattaya, two to Phuket and two to Bangkok and two to unknown destinations.

So the Russians know all of this, yet were unable to inform on them to the Thai Govt/immigration, how did they know they wen't to Pattaya,Phuket and BKK, but still unable to inform the authorities, only able to inform after the fact.

Sounds a bit off to me.

Sounds a bit off to me too. Plausible, but off.

The information given is from a Thai "leaked" document, from a Thai source that went to all media companies (so someone really wants this info out there). It purports to talk about info from Russian security. Apparently, Russian intelligence must be very active on the ground in Thailand to have tracked these people to their destinations. Yet, they don't know anybody's name? They don't know where in BKK the ones in BKK are? And the maths is wrong....10 arrivals: 2 BKK, 2 Phuket, 2 Pattaya, and 2 unkown. I guess the other 2 are also in an unknown place.

[MaxLee]

Let the mass cancellations begin

[orientalsf]

The sky is falling, the sky is falling!!!!

Edited December 4, 2015 by orientalsf

[Toknarok]

Despite the fact that the authorities insisting that the shrine bombing was not a terrorist attack anyone with half a brain knows that it was. Just one more attack in this Country and Thailand could possibly kiss it's tourism industry goodbye. It took 2 attacks in Tunisia to completely kill the tourist industry there, and just one plane bombing in Egypt to seriously affect tourism in it's most popular beach resort.

[ezzra]

That's all what Thailand needed really, IS targeting Thailand's Russians or other foreigners living

or touring, that will not contribute to image that the country is trying to sell to the world so hard,

but than again, the same can be said in any other country in the world, and big thanks to the leaders

of the world that allowed that to fester and go t to a point that their threats are actually taken very

seriously now and can ruin a country confidence and economy.....

[heybuz]

swampy would be an ideal target

[digibum]

Let's say you have just 8 guys And they are all willing to do another erawan shine size bomb

If they bonb locations in every tourist hub in the country how many people are going to cross Thailand off their list? I'd say most....

Its not strictly about the number of casualties , terrorism is effective when people are scared of what might or could happen, not only what actually happens

A country that relies on its tourism industry will be harmed to some degree even by these news headlines whether there are anymore attacks or not....

Let's hope they can make examples of these 8 guys ASAP before they can do anymore damage

Well, first off, I doubt you would have 8 incidents. More likely 4 with them acting in pairs.

Second, there's the logistical challenges of doing this in a country where you don't speak the language. They would have to get plugged into a sympathetic network already in Thailand. It's not like they can walk into a local market and purchase 500 kgs of fertilizer only speaking Arabic and not set off some red flags.

But most importantly, let's be realistic about the damage.

While the Bali bombings in 2002 resulted in over 50% of the tourism market disappearing, by 2004 more tourists visited Bali than had ever previously.

Bali was against bombed in 2005 and again tourism plummeted but today Bali has about 3x the number of tourist arrivals as they did in 2004.

Did Bali recover? Obviously.

I wasn't trying to make the point that a massive attack would't hurt tourism at all, but it really needs to be put in context. It will hurt tourism in the short-term but people's memories fade quickly.

And, yes, of course, let's hope that they can get these guys before they have a chance to do anything!

[NongKhaiKid]

They "slipped into the country", ie walked up to an immigration counter with fake passports? Visas? After the incident with the Pattaya sourced stolen passports used on MH370 ( unrelated to the crash), are they not checking the Interpol database?

I seem to remember Malaysia giving a weak excuse as to why they never used the Interpol passport database.

I think it was something to do with response time which was refuted by Interpol but am happy to be corrected.

[manonthemon]

Riding a motorbike to work, crossing the street, swimming during monsoon, touching anything powered by electricity, pissing off a gun loving Thai person, hanging out with the wrong girl....the list goes on. We risk our lives everyday here, I don't think terrorists can make it that much more dangerous.

Let's not give them what the want - our fear.

Edited December 4, 2015 by manonthemon

[Friendly Stranger]

This is the thing, why would it even be mentioned? I know, it's supposed to be leaked, but it's probably just to scare.

IMO, theres other targets, especially those that are part of the coalition that would be higher priority.

I remember a Somali group said they would hit the west Edmonton mall. They're still waiting.

It's a new world out there.

[digibum]

Thailand is the perfect launching pad for Isis and others, heaps of poorly educated and angry muslims in the south to recruit.

Weak and impotent police and the in-ablity to make arrests and enforce laws.

Perfect place to launder monies through all of the cash reliant businesses and the islamic bank is a perfect vehicle to do it through

I'm suprised that there hasn't been any major attacks so far.

Define "perfect"?

I'm just thinking that Malaysia is a Muslim country, Indonesia is a Muslim country, the Philippines has a pre-existing Muslim terrorism network, so it seems Thailand is far from "perfect".

Also, I'm not sure how ISIS and Thai and Malaysian Muslims would mix. Both are Sunni, as is ISIS, but ISIS doesn't take too kindly to Sunnis that practice Sufism and have been hunting them down, arresting them, and killing them in Syria. Since Thai and Malaysian Muslims regularly practice Sufism, I'm not sure Thai Muslims would be able to ignore that.

[xavierr]

ISIS is not growing naturally, it is being allowed to grow. Limitless handouts of petrodollars, free daily advertising in the media, what more could they want?

[schondie]

Well The government can organise a sting.

Free sex to all Syrians. The Syrians is question will be the only ones who can't remove their belts without giving away the game.

I'm more than willing to donate ten goats to this cause

[prakhonchai nick]

Cancelled plans to go and eat with the kids in SIZZLER tonight.

[ronwparker]

• Scary but unlikely except maybe in major tourist spots for farang.

[impulse]

Cancelled plans to go and eat with the kids in SIZZLER tonight.

Then they've won already.

[DrTuner]

No changes for me, the worst terrorists in tourist zones are the tourists, I'll continue avoiding the traps.

[digibum]

Riding a motorbike to work, crossing the street, swimming during monsoon, touching anything powered by electricity, pissing off a gun loving Thai person, hanging out with the wrong girl....the list goes on. We risk our lives everyday here, I don't think terrorists can make it that much more dangerous.

Let's not give them what the want - our fear.

Exactly! Couldn't agree more.

I'm always amazed at the number of people who drink, smoke, etc, who feel that terrorism or street crime is going to be the end of them. Calm down there, Rambo. You're far more likely to get hit by a taxicab than you are to go down in a blaze of glory.

[Morakot]

I would like to see armed soldiers now at obvious areas of potential attack all over town. Including beaches.

Sure we all want to see that...

[digibum]

• Scary but unlikely except maybe in major tourist spots for farang.

Hey wait, I'm a farang! Run for your liiiiiiiives.

[wombat]

Here in Pattaya, pretty much the entire city is a soft target.

soi16 walking street.....safest place in Thailand.

.

Edited December 4, 2015 by wombat