Thailand | Searches after terror plot alert yield nothing in Bangkok

Police searches yesterday yielded no evidence or suspects that would corroborate an intelligence report of possible car bomb attacks in Bangkok and its outskirts, a spokesman said.
Police stepped up security in the capital on Monday after Bangkok Metropolitan deputy police chief Pol. Gen. Srivara Ransibrahmanakul held a meeting with the Australian ambassador and an Australian counterterrorism official, which resulted in information pointing to possible attack on airports, parking spaces and department stores in Bangkok and its suburbs from Oct. 25 to 30.
Deputy police spokesman Col. Krisana Pattanacharoen said searches were conducted at three possible attack spots in Bangkok early yesterday but nothing was found.
“We searched all reported spots but we found nothing related to the possible bomb attack,” said Krisana. “We made some small arrests during the search, but they were drug-related cases, unrelated to the bomb.”
Srivara had told reporters Monday that reports of attack plots are not unusual around the world.
“I have already instructed police in all areas to increase screening and searching of suspicious vehicles, which is in line with the anti-terrorism plans,” Srivara said.
He added that authorities have been ordered to closely watch many groups of people in the Thailand’s south as October marks several anniversaries relating to an ongoing insurgency. More than 6,000 people have been killed in the southern provinces where Muslim separatists have been demanding autonomy for over a decade. AP