No more leniency towards criminal organisations

Over a decade ago in early 2000, cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were building a one-man submarine in Phuket. It was the kind of submarine used in suicide missions against Sri Lanka’s largest city, Colombo.

Thailand didn’t really know what had hit it, and didn’t have a real plan to handle the issue. Part of the reason was that the country’s security and intelligence apparatus didn’t want to pick a fight with this well organised rebel group, for fear of retaliation.

But building a mini-submarine was not the only activity that LTTE operatives were up to in Thailand. One of the LTTE’s top men, Selvarasa Pathmanadan, alias “KP”, was said to having been going in and out of Thailand until his arrest in 2009.

KP was just one of many so-called international rebel figures the Thai authorities didn’t want to mess with. Prior to that, there was the arrest of Naga rebel leader Thuingaleng Muivah in Bangkok in 2000. He, too, had been in and out of Thailand until the curtain fell on him.

Thailand has also been a hub for down-and-out rebel leaders from neighbouring countries including Burma, Cambodia and Laos. It’s one thing to permit Thailand to be a rest and recuperation place for political cliques from neighbouring countries, but when Thailand is at risk of becoming a launching pad for Iran-backed Hezbollah, one of the world’s most feared militant groups, it is entirely another matter. Something will have to change if Thailand is to be taken seriously as a responsible parter in the global community.

The recent arrest of its suspects is not the first time Hezbollah has made headlines in Thailand. In March 1994, a Hezbollah-linked group planned a car bomb attack at the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok, which was situated in Soi Langsuan. By sheer luck, the mission was aborted as the bomb mysteriously failed.

But this time around, there is too much heat for Bangkok’s liking. A pro-Iranian group, Hezbollah has once again placed Thailand under an unwanted spotlight, and Bangkok has been forced to act. And not surprisingly, the authorities went about the task in a very clumsy manner, shooting themselves in the foot while unintentionally revealing a lack of sophistication and professionalism as they struggled to deal with the issue.

One can say that the Thai authorities were forced to act because the US Embassy in Bangkok had posted a warning of a possible terrorist attack in Bangkok on Friday, January 13.

The suspect, a Lebanese-born Swedish citizen, Hussein Atris, has been on a watch list since December 10 last year, after local autorities were warned that Hezbollah operatives, who were already present in Thailand, with others possibly arriving, could carry out attacks in Bangkok. Possible targets included US and Israeli citizens.

After hours of intense interrogation, Atris disclosed the location of a three-storey building in Mahachai, Samut Sakon, on the outskirts of Bangkok, where he had stored explosive materials – urea-based fertiliser and ammonium nitrate. The Thai authorities believed that these supplies were destined for third countries, not for local targets. In other words, if Iran was attacked by the US or Israel, Bangkok would become a launch pad for counter attacks.

The Thai government reacted furiously to the US announcement and demanded that the American Embassy lift the warning now that the suspect was in custody along with the explosive materials found at his warehouse in Samut Sakon. The notion of boosting the country’s counter-terrorism credibility didn’t cross their minds. They appeared to be more concerned with tourist dollars, as well as the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration.

The above-mentioned so-called liberators are not the only undesirable people who have entered Thailand over the past decades. Criminals and transnational criminal groups of all stripes have been using the country as a base to carry out all sorts of illegal activities such as arms and drug dealings and human trafficking.

But the presence of Hezbollah is an indication that something has to give. And the first thing that might have to be let go is the long-standing notion that as long as we don’t interfere with these foreign organizations, they won’t harm us. If Thailand wants to be taken seriously in the international arena, it will have to take this route.