BANGKOK: Thailand said yesterday that it had tightened security around the US consulate in the northern city of Chiang Mai in response to warnings of a possible terrorist threat.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said she had “instructed security officials to step up security protection” at the diplomatic facility.

A Thai senior intelligence official who did not want to be named said the government had received information late last week about a possible threat.

“We have learned that Al Qaeda linked Salafists (ultra-orthodox Islamists) may be planning an attack on the US consulate in Chiang Mai,” he said. “It’s difficult to find them because there are a lot of tourists in Chiang Mai and also it’s hard for them to find weapons to mount an attack,” he said.

A spokesman for the US embassy in Bangkok declined to comment on the reported threat but said the consulate was open as usual. 

AFP