Govt needs to learn from this terrorism case
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As long as nothing happens in the short term, the government can say that the case of the suspected Lebanese terrorist cell is well under control.
However, the government does not seem to be dealing with the case as far as providing clear information goes.
People have been left wondering if this threat is real, what will be done with the man if he isn’t a threat and why foreign embassies are still issuing warnings of terrorism threats in Thailand if the protagonist has been caught and a stockpile of explosives confiscated. Things seemed strange from the very beginning, but maybe that is the nature of how Thailand handles security. Thai authorities have been handling high-profile cases since the Hambali one in 2003.
Basically, security officials nab the suspects once they get tip-offs from concerned countries, usually the United States, and then quietly have them deported, by-passing the Thai legal procedure. All the public gets to learn is that the case is done and over with.
However, the latest case seems to have gone the other way. The issue was circulated in the intelligence community for days and later acknowledged by Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung and Defence Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapha. Police arrested a Lebanese man, identified as Atris Hussein, on Friday before the US Embassy issued a warning of a terrorist threat in Bangkok. There is nothing abnormal about an embassy issuing a warning, except this time it was issued at around the same time as the threat was discovered and contained.
Yuthasak expressed his dissatisfaction with the timing of the warning, saying it could create panic among local residents and foreign tourists in the country. Yet, the US warning still stood on Monday when police raided a building on Rama II Road and found more than 4 tonnes of urea fertiliser and 260 litres of ammonium nitrate – chemicals that can be used to make bombs.
The warning was still visible on the US Embassy’s website yesterday, as if the threat was still far from over. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, meanwhile, does not appear to have any idea of how to deal with the damage and was only heard saying that things were under control and that she had instructed the Foreign Ministry to provide clear information to foreign representatives and tourists.
National police chief Priewpan Damapong also quoted the suspect as saying that Hezbollah was not planning to attack Bangkok, but that it had hidden the materials for shipment to another destination. So far, Hussein has only been charged with possessing potentially lethal substances without permission, deputy national police chief Pansiri Papawat said.
The suspect is, however, being detained for further questioning in a move to root out other Hezbollah cells that might be operating out of Thailand. As for what will be done with the detainee: police believe that since he never had any intentions of blowing up Bangkok, he should not be charged with plotting an act of terrorism. Apparently, the charge of holding a lethal substance without permission is tough enough for him, and if no other country requests his extradition, he will serve his punishment in Thailand.
Perhaps, it is not such a good idea to hold a dangerous troublemaker in a country that does not have fraught relations with anyone else. This case might not be the last one, but the authorities should use it as a lesson and learn that matters like this should be dealt with quickly and quietly and that the public should be informed honestly.
