Govt assurances on Hezbollah threat are anything but

A Lebanese man with alleged links to the Hezbollah militant group was arrested late last week as security and intelligence officers followed up on a tip from the Israeli government that the Lebanon-based group may be planning a terrorist attack against Israeli and American citizens in Thailand.

Initially, two men were brought in for questioning. It was not clear how one managed to evade custody, and reportedly flee the country.

Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung assured the public that everything is under control, trying hard to play down the situation and offering conflicting statements.

The issue had been floating around in intelligence circles for some days. But when the American Embassy on Friday issued a warning to its citizens to keep a low profile because of possible terrorist attacks, Thai officials scrambled among themselves to make all sorts of statements to reassure the public that everything is under control.

For all we know, everything may be under control. But the manner in which the message was delivered and the conflicting accounts offered by Chalerm and Defence Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapha make the Thai authorities look unprofessional and unconvincing.

Yutthasak said the suspects may have been plotting car-bomb attacks against important locations such as the Israeli Embassy, synagogues, tour companies and restaurants visited by Israelis.

If the Thais are going public with anything, they need to be reading from the same sheet of music.

It is very unfortunate that in Thailand we have a long history of politicians telling us half-truths and lies, especially when it comes to security matters.

And so when they tell us to be calm because everything is under control, we have good reason not to trust them.

“I want to confirm and I am confident that we have the situation under control. And I can guarantee ... no terrorist attacks will be allowed to take place. If they have disagreement, [they should] go fight somewhere else,” Chalerm said.

One wondered if it would have been better if Chalerm and co had kept their mouths shut and saved Thailand and themselves some political capital. It seems the more they speak, the less credible they become.

Sending out confusing messages can only harm the country's reputation and create a crisis of confidence. And in moments such as this, the public needs to be convinced that what the government says is trustworthy. We know that the government cannot wave a magic wand and wish the whole thing away. But if they are going to tell us that everything is under control, they are going to have do more than just give us their word.

Many of us recall the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and how the then administration of Thaksin Shinawatra took a very selfish attitude by telling the world that there were no terrorist cells operating in Thailand. It was as if they had a crystal ball to see every single move the terrorists were making. And all the while, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore were chasing after these terrorists. Their citizens were alerted to the possibility and asked to help the authorities by serving as their eyes and ears.

But in Thailand, we were so caught up with the concern of losing tourist dollars, the authorities thought it was possible to keep the public out of the loop.

Then, in August 2003, a key al-Qaeda operative, Riduan Isamuddin, an Indonesian known as Hambali, was suddenly arrested in Ayutthaya. It was revealed later that the Bali bombers, members of the regional terrorist outfit Jemaah Islamiyah, had been visiting Thailand to plan their 2002 attack in Indonesia.

On Friday, Chalerm pretty much took the same old line, saying everything was fine without offering any justification for his statement. Perhaps he was using the same crystal ball the Thaksin administration was using in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.