Security boost at Bangkok embassy
By Ian Black in
www.heraldsun.com.au Bangkok
01dec05
SECURITY at Australia's embassy in Bangkok, along with other foreign
missions, has been beefed up after terrorist threats in Thailand.
Bangkok police have set up checkpoints in 256 spots in the Thai capital
and have posted undercover and uniformed officers to guard buildings
such as foreign embassies and government offices.
Vehicles entering the grounds of the buildings will also be searched
for items such as arms and explosives.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Major General Wiroj Jantharangsi said
all the areas on heightened alert had been identified as being "at
risk" since November 1.
City police were also working closely with the Thai Crime Suppression
Division, National Intelligence Agency and other related bodies,
General Wiroj said.
Undercover and uniformed police were patrolling tourist areas popular
with Australian and New Zealand visitors including Sukhumvit, Nana and
Khao San Road.
Police had asked the owners of guesthouses, rental houses, condominiums
and apartments to be on the lookout for suspicious people, General
Wiroj said.
Earlier this week, Thai military intelligence sources revealed that
Khao San Road, a Bangkok backpackers' haven, had long been identified
as a hot target for potential terrorist attack.
The unidentified sources said allied intelligence services, believed to
include ASIO, MI6 and the CIA, had recently warned that Khao San Road
could be targeted "at any time".
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