UN Warns Staff of attacks in Bangkok

[Fidel]

Just saw this on thaivisa.com's forum:

 

BANGKOK - The United Nations has warned its staff in Thailand to be careful following threats by a separatist group to stage attacks in Bangkok in revenge for the deaths of 85 Muslim protesters in the south last week.

 

 

The UN said in an e-mail to more than 1,000 staff in Thailand, which Reuters obtained on Wednesday, the threat ?cannot be dismissed or be taken lightly?.

 

?It is entirely possible that an attack is being planned against a soft target in Bangkok,? said the two-page note from chief security officer Russel Radford.

 

?It is important that staff exercise caution when moving about the city and be aware of what is happening around them.?

 

Security in Bangkok malls and public transport was ?designed to combat petty crime and would not be that effective in preventing an attack?, he said.

 

Seven protesters were killed during clashes with security forces at a police station in the southern province of Narathiwat last week and 78 suffocated or were crushed in army trucks after they were detained.

 

Following the deadly incident, the Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO), a separatist group largely dormant since the 1980s, said on its Web site at www.pulo.org that insurgents would now take their fight to Bangkok.

 

The deaths unleashed Muslim outrage and grisly reprisals in the past week, including the decapitation of a Buddhist village leader in the restive Muslim-majority region where more than 450 people have been killed since violence erupted in January.

 

Violence continued on Wednesday when militants shot and wounded a Buddhist garbage collector. Two colleagues escaped unhurt, police said.

 

MUSLIM REPRISALS

 

In an attempt to ease Muslim outrage and reprisals, a government-appointed panel to investigate the deaths promised its probe would be free and open.

 

?We will do our best to conduct our probe independently and transparently,? Pichet Soontornpipit, head of the nine-member panel appointed by the government, told Reuters.

 

?We understand that this incident is not only being followed closely by Thais; foreigners are also paying close attention,? said Pichet, a former parliament ombudsman.

 

The investigation team comprises six retired state officials and three Muslim scholars.

 

Pichet said the panel would talk to all parties involved in the protest which sought the release of six village militiamen accused of handing over government-supplied weapons to militants.

 

It would focus on how protesters died during the 150-km (90-mile) journey into army detention, he said.

 

?When we know what caused the deaths, we will find out and rule on who should be responsible,? he said.

 

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told investors in Singapore on Tuesday; ?This is something that should never have happened.?

 

?Nor was it the government?s intention to shoot its own foot by creating an incident that would cause such great trouble for itself,? Thaksin said from Bangkok via a video conference.

 

On Wednesday, he told reporters the government was trying to restore peace and stop attacks on civilians in the region, but it needed support from all sides, including Muslim clerics.

 

?We have to do our best to stop cruelty against innocent people,? Thaksin told reporters. ?Therefore I would like to ask the media not to attack authorities for their previous mistakes. Give them some sympathy. They are human beings who have made mistakes.?

 

Thaksin also called on Islamic leaders to help mend ties between authorities and Muslim communities in the region.

 

?Now we have to pinpoint individual clerics and seriously ask for their cooperation if they think they still love this country and think they are Thai,? he said.

 

See this site

[Fidel]

Anyone gonna cancel their trips? I've seen warnings from the militants to stay out of the South as the safety of foreigners can't be guarranteed. Is it just a matter of time before BKK/Samui/Pattaya/Chiang Mai is attacked?

[rickfarang]

Yes. We will not be visiting Phuket after all, when my brother visits soon. Pattaya, though not as pretty, is looking more and more attractive by comparison to both Phuket and Bangkok thesedays.

 

 

 

 

RickF

[Guest]

Looks like the security will be back up at the Marriott.

Haveing men look into the pruses of the Darlings.

 

I was just there and will return. God Bless George Bush!

[SiamIAm]

I will got to Samui regardless. I will kill ANYONE who get in the way of me and paridse!

[MaiLuk]

Do what i do; stay in a cheap hotel and you'll never see anyone surveilling the place. Its boring but you can sleep soundly .

 

The big hotels like the Hilton seem to be the preferred target of these gentleman. Farang nightlife venues? Don't know. They are pissed off at the thais right now. In the south they burn schools, they don't attack tourists. Time will tell.

[thalenoi]

any one canceling their trip?

 

I hope so, frees up lots of seats for my soon to come return to LOS

[MaiLuk]

Anyone who would cancel their sanuk to increase their safety deserves neither

 

::

[rickfarang]

"Anyone who would cancel their sanuk to increase their safety deserves neither"

 

The (above) is irrational.

 

It would depend on how credible the threat, wouldn't it?

 

Perhaps it would be prudent to take note of the warnings reportedly posted on a banned web site to avoid police stations and large congregations of people, including bars and public transportaion centers.

 

That would cut into the sanuk quite a bit. You would have to wrestle with the odds of the threat being carried out at the same place and same time as you were there. That is if the threat were to be carried out.

 

Serious stuff, in any case.

[Damen]

Not only am I not cancelling my trip, I'll be making my first venture to the Phuket this year.

 

There is always something; Iraq War, Drug War, Sars, Bird Flu, Early Closings, Terrorism, etc to stop you from going if you need an excuse.