Security at US Consulate General in Chiang Mai tightened

BANGKOK, February 12 (TNA) - Security measures at the US Consulate General in Thailand's northern resort Chiang Mai province have been tightened, following intelligence reports that the premise has become a terror target. Security guards and police armed with rifles have been protecting all the four corners of the US Consulate General office round-the-clock for almost a week, when people entering or leaving the office have also been searched thoroughly and vehicles have not been allowed to park along the fence in front of the building. The guarding police acknowledged the tightened security at the US Consulate General as the northern Thai resort city is hosting the regional Cobra Gold military exercises 2013, scheduled for February 11 – 21, in which armed forces of Thailand and those from the United States, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia participate. Thai Deputy Prime Minister Police Captain Chalerm Yubumrung confirmed after the Cabinet's weekly meeting that Thai police have received intelligent reports that the US Consulate General in Chiang Mai could be hit by armed Muslim militants, saying that the intensified security at the US Consulate General in the northern Thai city will be continued until the end of the US-led Cobra Gold military exercises 2013. The deputy premier insisted that the beefed up security measures will not affect a plan by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to visit Chiang Mai, her hometown, later this week. Meanwhile, the local security forces told journalists that no unusual movements have been detected in Chiang Mai so far, reiterating, however, that they have heavily guarded the US Consulate General round-the-clock in a coordinated manner. (TNA)