Thai holiday island a 'high risk' terrorist threat

The popular Thai holiday island of Phuket is at high risk of a terrorist attack according to information obtained by Australia, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today.

Downer said he also feared that the expected declaration by the United Nations that the Southeast Asian Islamic group Jemaah Islamiyah had links to al-Qaida could spark violent attacks by its supporter in Indonesia.

“We know from the Bali experience that you just can’t be too cautious, and we have had some information in relation to Phuket and Phuket is a favoured holiday resort for Australians,” he said.

The minister gave no details of the information. Yesterday, Downer’s ministry issued a travel notice which said Thailand posed a high risk for Australians.

However, it only warned travellers to “exercise extreme caution” in Thailand, stopping short of urging Australians to leave the country.

Downer also said that if the UN Security Council added Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) to a list of groups subject to sanctions because of links to al-Qaida, “there are some suggestions that there could be a violent reaction from supporters of JI in Indonesia.”

If the UN lists Jemaah Islamiyah, member nations are required to freeze its finances and impose arms embargoes and travel bans on individuals and groups associated with it. A decision on the listing was expected tonight.