Searches after terror plot alert yield nothing in Bangkok

Australian intelligence suggests jihadist car bombs planned for October 25-30 in terror-hit Thai capital

By Agencies and ToI Staff 11 October 2016, 12:24 pm

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File: A Thai policeman searches a visitor's bag in the center of Bangkok, Thailand, August 13, 2016. (AFP/Munir Uz Zaman)

Thai police say searches have yielded no evidence or suspects that would corroborate an intelligence report of possible car bomb attacks in Bangkok and its outskirts.

Police were instructed to step up security in the capital on Monday after deputy police chief Pol. Gen. Srivara Ransibrahmanakul met with the Australian ambassador and an Australian counterterrorism official.

The meeting resulted in information pointing to possible car bomb attacks on airports, parking spaces and department stores in Bangkok and its suburbs from Oct. 25 to 30.

Deputy police spokesman Col. Krisana Pattanacharoen says searches were conducted at three possible attack spots in Bangkok early Tuesday but nothing was found.

Thailand was rocked by a string of explosions in at least four cities in August that killed several people and wounded dozens more, including about 10 foreigners in the seaside town of Hua Hin.