Security checks at Chiang Mai Airport upped

23 Jan 2012

Airport security personnel at Chiang Mai International Airport have raised security levels following the arrest of a suspected terrorist in Thailand. Airports of Thailand (AoT) boss Aniruth Thanomkulabutr said the security risk rating for Chiang Mai’s airport had been raised from stage two to three at the beginning of last week.

The director said that while the new security rating at Chiang Mai was not the highest, more security officers would be onsite and there would be more frequent passenger and luggage checks, as well as patrols through the passenger areas. AoT says it has also asked airlines operating at the airport to liaise with each other and set up communication channels to handle any terror incident.

Threat level three is also being applied at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, the other principal international air gateway to Thailand. The less busy facilities of Chiang Rai, Phuket, Hat Yai and Bangkok’s second airport at Don Muang have not been changed from level two as they are seen to be less of a target.

Ten days ago, Lebanese-Swedish citizen Hussein Attiris, 48, was arrested by Thai police officers at Suvarnabhumi following a tip-off from foreign police agents. Attiris is alleged to be a member of the Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group.

A police search at a lock-up storage facility where Attiris stored products in Samut Sakhon turned up a large stash of materials that could have been used to make bombs. The arrested man says he did not know about the suspect materials and believes they were planted by the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency.

Thai police were also looking for Attiris’s accomplice while several foreign governments issued travel warnings advising their nationals to stay away from busy Thai tourist precincts.

Tags: Security Airport upped