Prakit Prachonpatjanuk, secretary general of the National Security Council, said Saturday, "We have to double check the claims and investigate whether the testimony is true."

The alleged plots figured among 31 acts of actual or alleged al Qaeda strikes that Mohammed confessed to planning during a closed military hearing at the Guantanamo Bay US naval prison in Cuba. The Pentagon released a transcript of Mohammed's testimony on Wednesday.

The gruesome attacks range from the suicide plane hijackings of September 11, 2001 to many alleged plots never carried out, including those in Thailand.

Mohammed told US authorities he planned attacks on nightclubs in Thailand frequented by American and British citizens and that he was responsible for "surveying and financing" a plot to destroy an Israeli El Al airliner taking off from Bangkok International Airport.

"We cannot confirm whether he was in Thailand or not during such a period, or if he was in Thailand under another name. Thailand is an open country, where anyone can come in," Prakit told reporters.

Mohammed's testimony did not specify a date for the alleged plots.

Jemaah Islamiyah's alleged operations chief Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, was captured in Thailand in 2003 and is now in US custody.

Mohammed claimed responsibility for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people.

The Nation