REPORTED THREATS of a payback plot in Thailand's tourist destinations appeared today to be without foundation. The advice from police on Phuket was that they should not be taken seriously.

Phuket's chief of police, Major General Pekad Tantipong, told Phuketwan today: ''Don't worry about that news.''

The supposed threats, apparently stemming from the arrest in Thailand of five crew on an aircraft carrying arms from North Korea, are unlikely to be real.

However, the usually reliable international news agency Xinhua carried a report that it said was taken from from The Nation online in Bangkok.

The Xinhua report said that Thailand's acting police chief said that plots were ''underway to create unrest in some areas in Thailand during the new year festive season.''

The prominent China news agency quoted The Nation online as reporting Prateep Tanprasert as saying that ''there are groups of ill-intended people planning to provoke violence in tourist destinations across the country including Chiang Mai, Phuket, Songkhla, Pattaya and Bangkok.''

He did not elaborate on their objectives or detailed plans.

The acting police chief said he has ordered all police stations in risk areas to take strict security measures to ensure peace and order, Xinhua quoted The Nation as reporting.

''He also said he will call a meeting of senior officers at the metropolitan police bureau to discuss security plan in Bangkok during the New Year celebrations,'' the newspaper site said.

Phuketwan was able to locate the Xinhua report today but unable to find a similar report on The Nation, either in the English version or the Thai version.