Thaksin Dismisses ‘Time’ Terror Report

A Time magazine report that said terrorists used Thailand as a training base was "close to fiction", Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday.

"It is not acceptable that a world-standard magazine like Time would run a report that quoted only a single source. The magazine's report that Thailand was used as a training base for terrorists is close to fiction," Thaksin said.

In a story headlined "Thailand's Terror", by Andrew Perrin and datelined Pattani province, the magazine based the accusation on an exclusive interview with a "would-be terrorist" from Malaysia.

The man claimed he and his group were taken to a Thai military base, where they underwent weapons and explosives training.

"Uniformed Thai military officers were there," he was quoted as saying, "and they taught a few of us to handle C4 [explosives] and weapons like the M-16 . . . Some were taught the skills of producing home-made bombs."

Thaksin also said that the author of the report had not done enough background research. "So he based his whole report on a single source," he said.

Royal Thai Police spokesman Maj General Pongsathat Pongcharoen said the author would be invited to clarify his report.

"We will take action against anyone who blames Thailand without back-up evidence. Time's report does not damage an individual but the country as a whole," he said.

Investigations by security agencies into Time's report showed it was inaccurate and groundless, he added.

Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry said yesterday the sender of letter bombs to Burmese embassies was not a Thai.

"I can confirm that it is a Burmese dissident that posted the letter bombs to Burmese embassies in Manila and Singapore. It was not the work of Thai citizens," said permanent secretary Sampan Bunyanon. On Wednesday, the Philippine postmaster-general said he would seek Thailand's help in tracking down the real mailer of the letter, which had a postmark from Thailand and a Bangkok return address.However, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said it was impossible to trace the letter back to the sender because it was dropped into a mailbox.