I AM about to shake the hand of the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand. It will be a pleasure because Suthep Thaugsuban is, from all that I have seen and heard, an extremely likeable man.

Oh yes. And perhaps it's because I am an expat in shorts and a holiday shirt that not one of the scores of people in uniform at today's Patong tsunami practice drill has bothered to check what's in my backpack.

It's black and it's large. Because I am a photojournalist, it is mostly filled with camera lenses.

But for all the scores of police and security people around me know, my backpack could just as easily contain one of those unmentionable items.

A suicide bomb.

Now, I have to say it is delightful to be at an event such as a tsunami practice drill (which went perfectly, by the way) in a hospitable place such as Thailand, and to be enjoying the Patong sunshine.

But being a photojournalist who is perhaps far too serious for my own good, I did happen to let myself think ''What if . . . ''

And here I was, shaking the Deputy PM's hand . . . possibly with a bomb on my back. Or a grenade. Or a gun.

Although I didn't qualify for a handshake last time, I also managed to move within a few feet of Khun Suthep when he visited Phuket earlier this year. And I was wearing my backpack then, too.

Of course, tall, rangy expats are not expected to carry bombs. Why would we? How could we?

Yet as the security people in Jakarta discovered recently, even a peace-loving florist at a large upmarket city hotel can be a killer, ready to die for a cause.

The florist, incidentally, had been working at the hotel for three years before the opportunity came for him to strike.

The same terror cell is now accused of plotting an assassination attempt on the Indonesian President. And if today's news is accurate, US President Barack Obama would have become a target for their snipers when he visited Indonesia.

In Patong, when the sun is shining and everything is going well, it's easy to look on at a tsunami practice drill and wonder what could ever go that wrong again.

But isn't security and preparedness what the tsunami practice is all about? Look at Bali, where the bombers came calling not once, but twice.

If it happened once, it can happen again. That's why people were there today, at the tsunami drill, to make sure that it doesn't happen again.

That's why the Deputy PM was there. That's why I was there.

The tsunami that struck the Andaman coast in 2004 was a natural disaster, unlike the suicide bomb disasters in Bali and Jakarta, which were man-made.

But surely a man-made disaster couldn't happen here, on Phuket. Here, in Thailand. It couldn't. Could it?


Flying Tuk-Tuks Open New Phuket to Perth Flights
Latest Another ait link, this time to Perth, Australia, provides the sense that the worst is over as Phuket establishes more connections to get tourists and revenue flowing.
Flying Tuk-Tuks Open New Phuket to Perth Flights

Phuket's Beaches Fail the Five-Star Enviro Test
Latest A new star rating system for Thailand's beaches leaves the best on Phuket lagging a little. There's one local island with a five star beach, but it's not Phuket.
Phuket's Beaches Fail the Five-Star Enviro Test

Phuket Still Has Chance of Gaining Extra Police
Photo Album Word has begun on a perimeter wall that will eventually surround the new Region 8 Police Headquarters, in Mai Khao. Local Phuket squatters have been asked to move.
Phuket Still Has Chance of Gaining Extra Police

'Withered' Rohingya Rescued from Ranong
Latest Rohingya boatpeople have been evacuated from Ranong Immigration detention centre. A doctor says conditions there were so bad that two men died and more were endangered.
'Withered' Rohingya Rescued from Ranong

Two Killed with Different Weapons, say Police
Latest The investigation into a double murder in which the victims were dumped at a national park north of Phuket is uncovering more information about the deaths.
Two Killed with Different Weapons, say Police

Phuket Governor Halts Big $$$ Taj Exotica Project
Photo Album Phuket's upmarket Taj Exotica project has been halted by the Governor, who wants to know more about potential environmental issues. The resort is to go on a small island.
Phuket Governor Halts Big $$$ Taj Exotica Project

Final Word on Phuket and Asean Due Monday: PM
Latest The prospects of Phuket hosting the October Asean summit of 16 national leaders has seen more swings and roundabouts than a carousel. A final decision is due on Monday.
Final Word on Phuket and Asean Due Monday: PM


MediaWATCH: US Anger at Bomber Set to Flare
News Digest Looming freedom for a Lockerbie bomber; World recovery begins; Indonesia terror arrests; Haze hard to see; Rohingya protest; Consumers more confident.
MediaWATCH: US Anger at Bomber Set to Flare