Political pressure groups like the red shirts, international terrorists and insurgents in the deep South are major threats to national security, according to an Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc) report submitted to the Cabinet yesterday.
The red-shirted Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) has the capacity to mobilise mass support for its anti-government activities. It also has many media outlets, including television, radio and the Internet, the report said.
The yellow shirts' People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has stopped its street protests but has transformed itself into a political party, it said. It did not specify whether the PAD posed any threat to national security.
The report said authorities should keep an eye on individuals and groups who used the Internet to post false information against the monarchy and the elite in society.
Thailand is not a direct target of international terrorist groups, but it might be attacked as the country is closely allied with the United States and Israel, it said.
However, some international terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have passed through Thailand and have had some presence here from time to time. Some of them, notably al-Qaeda and the JI, might associate with Islamic insurgents in the southernmost provinces, it said. They are now attempting to create a network in the deep South, the Isoc report added.
Thailand could be used as a launching PAD and logistics support for their movements, the report said. The terrorist groups used Thailand for their activities such as financial transactions and weapons procurement, it said. Many groups also use Thailand as a safe haven, it said.
The situation in the deep South will become more complicated as the insurgents are able to employ more sophisticated means against the authorities. They will use more brutality to keep local people in fear and call the attention of international agencies, the report said. Human-rights issues are sometimes used to draw the attention of international human rights-dedicated groups to intervene, it said.
Islamic donations known as zakat - notably to Islamic boarding schools - are still the main source of funding for the insurgency in the deep South, the Isoc report said.
