AM - Tuesday, 7 December , 2004 08:25:13
Reporter: Peter Lloyd

TONY EASTLEY: Thailand, a popular destination for Australian tourists, is developing a reputation for being the most violent-prone nation in South East Asia, and with a peak tourist period approaching, authorities are stepping up their security efforts.

Intelligence agents are watching out for members of the regional terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiah, particularly concerned about their involvement in southern Thailand.

Tensions have been running high in the Muslim south, with authorities bracing for retaliatory attacks for the mass suffocation of Muslim demonstrators held in custody in late October.

This report from South East Asia Correspondent, Peter Lloyd.

PETER LLOYD: In central Bangkok a uniformed police officer armed with an M16 rifle carries out a car boot search at a driveway security checkpoint. It is part of upgraded security measures at some prominent five star hotels popular with western holidaymakers during this, the peak tourist season in the Kingdom.

So far the violence has been happening far away in Thailand's three Muslim dominated southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, which have been the scene for a revival of a century old Islamic separatist movement.

In large part the insurgency is regarded as a homegrown affair, but the sometimes brutal response of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Government has been blamed for radicalising younger Muslims, perhaps even driving them into the arms of extreme Islamic movements like Jemaah Islamiah.

(sound of gunfire)

Thailand increases security measures at tourist hotspots continued

This is a transcript from AM. The program is broadcast around Australia at 08:00 on ABC Local Radio.

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