Thai PM:Law enforcement is intensified

BANGKOK, March 9 (TNA) - The Thai government is intensifying law enforcement for the sake of national security. Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha told journalists of the move on Monday, asking the general public to also provide information useful for national security if they come across any incident or suspicious act. The prime minister's remarks followed a bomb blast at the parking lot of Bangkok's Criminal Court last Saturday night, but there were no reports of casualties and three suspects have been arrested and detained so far. The prime minister stressed that security authorities have been hunting for more suspects in the grenade attack in the compound of the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road in the capital. The prime minister acknowledged that investigators are looking into a possible connection to politicians and asking neighboring countries to find out whether any illegal party is hiding and training weapon use in their countries. Meanwhile, the Criminal Court has approved arrest warrants against five suspects, including three men and two women, with three of them having already been arrested and detained just after the bomb attack. National Police Chief Police General Somyot Poompanmoung told reporters that those behind the bombing at the Criminal Court and a previous attack in front of the Siam Paragon shopping complex in the heart of the capital appear to be the same group. According to the national police chief, security measures have been beefed up at important places, government offices, symbolic places and locations packed with people and foreign visitors, including the deployment of plain-clothes police and soldiers to prevent any untoward incident. (TNA)