Authorities assure Koh Phangan is safe

Tourists pack the beach in front of a local nightspot on Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party in July 2022. (File Photo: Supapong Chaolan)
Tourists pack the beach in front of a local nightspot on Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party in July 2022. (File Photo: Supapong Chaolan)

Authorities in Surat Thani province have said that Koh Phangan is safe, dismissing reports about a possible terror plot against Israelis on the tourist island as untrue.

They were responding on Wednesday to the news that Israeli authorities had advised their nationals in Thailand to remain vigilant following reports that they might be targeted during the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan on Friday.

Israeli media outlets said the reports of a possible threat were contained in internal Thai police documents. Police reportedly have been carrying out intensive operations in response to the alerts, which were based on “concrete information”, the Israeli news site Ynet said.

Police and officials said the reports on various local and international media outlets had caused confusion. There will be patrols on the island as part of normal security measures during the Loy Krathong festival and the Full Moon Party, which will both take place on Friday.

Reports of a terror plot against Israelis on Koh Phangan were groundless, said police on the island.

The National Security Council in Israel said it had not changed its assessment of the threat level in Thailand, the Times of Israel reported. However, it called on Israelis to remain alert.

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Vocabulary

  • alert: a warning to people to be prepared to deal with something dangerous - การเตือนให้ระวัง
  • assessment: a judgment or opinion - การประเมิน
  • assure: to tell someone that something is true or will definitely happen - ให้ความมั่นใจ, ยืนยัน
  • authority (noun): a person or government agency who has the power to make decisions or enforce the law - เจ้าหน้าที่ผู้มีอำนาจ
  • concrete: based on facts, not on ideas or guesses - ที่เป็นรูปธรรม, ที่ทำให้เป็นจริงได้
  • confusion: a feeling that you do not understand something or cannot decide what to do - ความสับสน
  • dismiss: to refuse to accept that something might be true or important - ไม่สนใจ,แย้งกลับ
  • groundless: based on no good reasons or facts - ไม่มีมูลความจริง
  • national: a citizen of a particular country - ประชาชน
  • officials: people who have the power to make decisions or enforce the law - เจ้าหน้าที่ผู้มีอำนาจ
  • patrol: a group of people or vehicles that move around a place in order to prevent trouble or crime - หน่วยลาดตระเวน
  • plot: a secret plan to do something bad - แผนการลับ
  • threat: a danger - อันตราย
  • vigilant: always being careful to notice things, especially possible danger - ซึ่งระแวดระวัง, ซึ่งดูแลความปลอดภัย

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