Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Turksuban, who plays a key role in national security, flew to Phuket to oversee the investigation. Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan and Army Chief General Anupong Paochinda were also on Phuket. Khun Prawit said the case posed no threat to Asean security. There was also no connection with Friday's Jakarta bombing.


RUMORS swept Phuket this morning that five people had been arrested as part of a terrorist cell, and that secret meetings were being held by security chiefs as a result.

However, senior police and leading officials contacted by Phuketwan rejected the notion that anything was amiss.

They denied there had been arrests and said there had been no increase in existing tight security. A senior Asean official also denied any knowledge of arrests.

Later it emerged that a man is being held on suspicion that he may have connections to Southern separatists.

He and four other men were arrested on the pier at Yao Noi island, off Phuket's east coast, on Saturday.

The five men were questioned at length, having been airlifted by helicopter to Cherng Talay, where the Army has a temporary base on Phuket under the Internal Security Act.

The base is close to the Sheraton Grande Laguna Resort, venue for Asean meetings this week. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to arrive on the island tomorrow.

Sources named the chief suspect as Chaifudin Tabu, 24, from Narathiwat, one of the three Southern provinces where separatists are active. It is understood Chaifudin is wanted for questioning over incidents in his home province.

The other men, also from Narathiwat, were named as Mohammed Arechee Audmaln, 33, Muyee Buromon Jaena, 28, Wareauseng Wani, 24, and Roorun Dahami, 25. They were questioned and released.


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