Security agencies check IS ties but deny evidence of funding
PRIME MINISTER General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday instructed national security agencies to investigate a report from the Australian Federal Police about Thai nationals reportedly being involved with the so-called Islamic State (IS) by following the group’s Facebook pages and websites.
Thailand’s security agencies will investigate this issue as a precaution as IS-led attacks had affected thousands of people in different countries, the prime minister said.
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan said he had already ordered the Special Branch Police Bureau and the Immigration Police Bureau to check information suggesting that Thai nationals were following IS on social media, although there had not been any indication of funding for the militant group coming from the Kingdom.
Prawit’s comment came in response to an earlier news report yesterday that deputy police chief Pol General Srivara Ransibrahamakul had said Thai nationals were providing funds to IS and that he had instructed six police divisions to seek more information on the issue.
After the Bangkok Regional Cooperation Team’s annual meeting yesterday, Srivara said the Australian Federal Police’s terrorism situation assessment reported that an unidentified number of Thai nationals had visited IS Facebook pages and websites nearly 100,000 times over the past year.
Some of these people reportedly shared the militant ideology and had travelled to Syria or provided financial support, Srivara said, adding that authorities were checking user names and had obtained initial information about their identities and whereabouts.
Since the suspects could be divided into six groups based on the degree of their involvement with the IS organisation, related agencies such as the Central Investigation Bureau, the Provincial Police Region 9, the Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre and the Special Branch Police Bureau would proceed with investigations accordingly, he said.
Sirivara said there was not any information about whether the suspects were linked to the unrest in the deep South, adding that the IS link did not mean that attacks were being planned.
He said the report only suggested that people were interested in news about IS and its ideology, while the Australian police had only advised their Thai counterparts to be on the alert.