February 23, 2012:
The government is under pressure to screen tourists coming in, in order to keep out Islamic terrorists. This is because of the recent discovery of five Iranians who were caught building bombs in the capital. The target was apparently Israeli diplomats. A month ago pro-Iranian Hezbollah terrorists were caught building bombs in the capital to attack Israelis. In all cases the terrorists entered pretending to be tourists. A lot of people do come from Iran and Lebanon (where Hezbollah is) to party in Thailand, especially the beach resorts in the south. Since the 1990s, several foreign Islamic terror plots have been uncovered in Thailand. Because of the recent ones there are demands to increase efforts to keep the Islamic radicals out.
The most recent Islamic terror plot was apparently related to the Iranian terrorists who attempted to attack Israelis in Georgia and India. Thai police will only say they have evidence that this was the case. It's believed that at least one of the captured Iranians has been persuaded to talk. Iran has denied any responsibility for the Iranians caught building bombs and has offered to help identify the five Iranians.
Malaysia has offered to do more to help calm down the Islamic radical situation in southern (Moslem) Thailand. This is a tricky situation for Malaysia, a Moslem country with large non-Moslem minorities and a history of openly favoring Islamic conservatives. This has led to Malaysia becoming a base for many Islamic terrorists, who can stay as long as they do not carry out any attacks in Malaysia or neighboring countries. The Islamic terrorists do not always behave in neighboring nations and this has been causing more and more diplomatic problems for Malaysia. The result is a greater willingness to assist neighbors with any Islamic terrorism problems they might have.
February 21, 2012: In the south, Islamic terrorists ambushed a local defense patrol, but the militiamen fought back, killing three of the terrorists. One of the militiamen was wounded.
February 15, 2012: The army is having eight of its Bell 212 transport helicopters (similar to the Vietnam era UH-1) refurbished.
February 14, 2012: In the capital, three Iranians fled a house after bombs they were building exploded. One man came out of the house with two of the bombs and tried to attack a taxi (for refusing to take him and his bombs downtown), but the bomb went off after it bounced off the cab, blowing off his legs. Three Iranian men were arrested, one after flying to Malaysia. A fourth man successfully fled to Iran, as did the fifth member of the group, an Iranian woman. It took about a week for the police to discover that there were five suspects and that they were all Iranian.
February 9, 2012: In the south, a truck bomb killed one person and wounded ten.