Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has warned of violence from the Bali bombings possibly spilling over to prime tourist spots in Thailand as he had put those major resorts on full alert, local media Tuesday reported.

Thaksin said the number of plainclothes police and security officials has been beefed up in major tourist areas, including Phuket, Pattaya and Phang Nga. "We are on full alert," Thaksin was quoted by the Nation as saying. "We have some information that has caused us to be very cautious."

When asked to elaborate on what kind of intelligence information had prompted the government's reaction, Thaksin replied local media: "It's not very clear, but we have the situation under control."

The alert came after suicide bombs on the Indonesian resort island of Bali last Saturday killing 22 people and injuring over a hundred.

"Geographically it may seem that the locations are far apart, but Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are actually connected along sea routes. These people (the terrorists) have been traveling between and circulating around the region via the sea for generations," the Prime Minister said on Monday.

Thaksin said the terrorists have close links across the borders due to relatives and friends in the areas.

Though Thailand has been battling its own Muslim insurgents in the South, Thaksin has so far insisted that the violence in the deep South is an internal affair and has no connection with international terrorism. Monday's statement was the closest Thaksin has come to linking the ongoing violence in the south to a broader network of radical elements outside the country.

Source: Xinhua