PDAS FEIERSTEIN DISCUSSES CT ISSUES WITH THAI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 001991 SIPDIS NSC FOR PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2018 TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL PTER TH SUBJECT: PDAS FEIERSTEIN DISCUSSES CT ISSUES WITH THAI COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIALS BANGKOK 00001991 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Anne S. Casper, 1.4 (b) a nd (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: In a round of meetings in early June to discuss Thai counterterrorism issues, Thai security officials told S/CT PDAS Gerald Feierstein that they did not believe Thailand is a likely target of international terrorism, but acknowledged that Thailand did have a regional role in dealing with terrorism. Although they believe Thailand's counterterrorism capabilities are good, they cited weaknesses in several areas and requested further assistance in understanding how to deal with urban terrorism, how to protect critical infrastructure, and how to use mass media to counter radical extremism. While we are uncertain how to assess these officials' confidence in a low probability of an attack in Thailand, these discussions lead us to believe that the current political turmoil in Bangkok has not distracted security officials from paying attention to the threat posed by international terrorism. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) In a round of meetings in early June with Thai counterterrorism officials, S/CT PDAS Gerald Feierstein, Office Director Theodore Allegra, RSI Coordinator Jason Donovan and Poloff spoke with Counterterrorism Operations Center (CTOC) Commanding General Tanasak Patimapragorn, National Security Council (NSC) senior expert on terrorism Surachai Nira, MFA Director of Policy planning Sek Wannamethee, and Penprapa Vongkovit, chief of the MFA,s International Security Unit. ¶3. (SBU) General Tanasak, commander of Thailand's Counterterrorism Operations Center (CTOC),said Thailand's counterterrorism capabilities were very good thanks to U.S. assistance. He asserted that the CTOC is the primary operational organization responsible for dealing with international terrorism in Thailand, and that, in the event of a terrorism related crisis, operational control would fall to CTOC. CTOC coordinates all civilian, military, and police units that would be tasked with responding to a terrorist attack, and its responsibilities include supervising, coordinating, and training these units. ¶4. (SBU) Expanding further on Thailand's national level organization for responding to terrorism, Tanasak said the NSC established Thailand's primary organization for setting counterterrorism policy and strategy, the Committee of Counter International Terrorism (COCIT). The Prime Minister chairs this committee. Its 25 members include the chiefs of all the armed forces, the Supreme Commander, the Secretary General of the NSC, the Police Commissioner, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and other cabinet ministers. The Supreme Commander chairs a committee subordinate to the COCIT called the sub-COCIT, which is composed of operational level elements of the armed forces, police, and the relevant agencies. According to Tanasak, if there were a crisis, local authorities would take the lead in an initial response. The local authorities would report the situation to the CTOC and sub-COCIT, which would recommend a course of action to the COCIT. The COCIT would issue orders to the CTOC, depending on the CTOC's recommendations. ¶5. (SBU) Surachai Nira, senior expert on terrorism at the NSC, told the delegation that, in his opinion, Thailand was not currently at risk of attack from international terrorists. He said this could change quickly, however, and that Thailand needed help in three specific areas: how to deal with urban terrorism, how to protect critical infrastructure, and how to use mass media to counter radical extremism. He said Thailand needed to conduct a review of its counterterrorism policies and needed to focus on three major areas: prevention, intelligence, and coordination with international partners - both bilateral and multilateral. Surachai is a firm believer in cooperation. He said, "We cannot solve this alone. Terrorists have networks; we need our own networks to solve the problem." Surachai repeated much of General Tanasak,s lecture on national level counterterrorism organization, and added one more committee to the list of organizations he believes are important in BANGKOK 00001991 002.2 OF 003 formulating counterterrorism policy. He said the National Coordinating Center for Combating Terrorism and Transnational Crime (NCC-CTTC) plays an essential role because of its focus on transnational crime, which Surachai believes supports terrorist activities. This organization operates under the supervision of the Secretary General of the NSC and is chaired by the Deputy NSC Secretary General. ¶6. (SBU) Moving on to a discussion of southern Thailand, Surachai said the insurgency in the deep south did not pose a "terrorist threat". He said they worry about international groups entering the conflict, but as yet, they have not seen any connections in the South to international terrorist groups. He believes that if there are any links, they are likely personal and not organizational. Surachai added that the South was a long-standing problem that will take time to resolve. He described the conflict as having several levels: the first is the political level - the constitution says Thailand is one country that cannot be divided. The insurgents, however, want to divide it. The second level is economic. People in the deep south, according to Surachai, are among the poorest in Thailand in terms of income per year. The third level is the social structure of the South. To guard their religious identity, parents send their children to private schools with a primarily religious curriculum - which deprives them of the education they need to function in Thai society. The last layer and the most difficult to deal with is the cultural layer, i.e., tradition, language, customs. Surachai acknowledged that ethnic Malay Muslims in southern Thailand have had, in the past, legitimate social grievances. He believes, however, it is time to get over those grievances. "We can't do anything about what happened in the past. The other side must look to the future." ¶7. (SBU) MFA Director of Policy planning Sek Wannamethee and Penprapa Vongkovit, Chief of the International Security Unit in the MFA, said terrorism is a relatively new issue for the MFA and they are still learning how best to add value to the existing counterterrorism infrastructure. According to Sek, the Policy Planning office is attached to the office of the Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and the International Security Unit, headed by Penprapa, is within the Office of Policy and Planning. ¶8. (SBU) Both Sek and Penprapa agreed with Surachai,s assessment that Thailand is probably not itself at risk from international terrorist groups. They acknowledged, however, that terrorism continues to be an issue for the region and that Thailand has a role to play in dealing with it. When asked what Thailand could do regionally, Sek mentioned Thailand's decision to participate in the "eyes in the sky" program. (The "eyes in the sky" program is a program run jointly by Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia to provide surveillance and security to the Malacca Straights.) Sek said the operating procedures for Thailand's participation are still being reconciled with those that were drafted by Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, but the cabinet has approved Thailand's participation. Malaysia will host the coordinating mechanism for the program. Sek also talked about the ASEAN Convention on Counterterrorism. Although it was signed in 2007, it is up to each individual nation to ratify the agreement. Sek said Thailand would use its term as ASEAN Chairman to push for all the ASEAN nations to accede to the convention. Turning to domestic issues, Sek said one of the primary issues Thailand is struggling with is how to deal with "homegrown radicals." Although Sek suggested there were not many of these individuals in Thailand, he said they presented a challenge. He believes the internet plays a significant role in their radicalization, and Thailand needs to find a way to counter its influence. ¶9. (C) Comment: None of the officials we spoke with considered Thailand a likely target for international terrorists at the present time. Although their reasoning remains unclear, their uniform and confident response was interesting given the large and diverse international presence in Thailand. These officials seemed to be BANGKOK 00001991 003.2 OF 003 unaffected by the ongoing political turmoil in Bangkok, and it appeared that they remained focused on the possible terrorist threat, not internal politics. Although confident about their capacity to deal with incidents involving international terrorism, they requested further assistance in understanding how to deal with urban terrorism, how to protect critical infrastructure, and how to use mass media to counter radical extremism. We will look for opportunities to expand our cooperation on this issue, as appropriate. ¶10. (U) PDAS Feierstein did not clear on this cable. JOHN