Uyghur on watch list visited Thailand twice: authorities

One of the three Uyghurs who have been put on a special watch list after Thailand's worst attack at a popular temple here last year visited the country twice last month, authorities said today.
Immigration Bureau chief Nattorn Prohsunthorn said the man wasidentified as Ali Yalcin Ergin, a Turkish passport holder.
A source told Bangkok Post that Ergin was allegedly plotting to attack Chinese interests in the ASEANregion. 20 people mostly Chinese tourists were killed and over 100 injured at the bomb blast at the Erawan Brahma shrine here.
Nattorn said that Ergin first flew into Thailand from Singapore on March 18 on an AirAsia flight, spent four days here and then took an AirAsia flight to Cambodia.

"Records show that two days later, he again took an AirAsia flight back to Thailand, and spent four days here," he said.
In his second trip, Ergin went to Phuket from where he took a flight to Kuala Lumpur, he added.

Officials have checked the places he stayed at in Thailand, including in the tourist resort of Phuket town, he said.
"The National Intelligence Agency had alerted the Immigration Bureau to keep a watch for three radical ethnic Uyghur Turkish passport holders - Ergin, Hid Yet Dursan and Ali Talcin," the Bangkok Post quoting unnamed sources said.
"They are apparently plotting to attack Chinese interests in the Aseanregion," the paper said.

Nattorn added that the three Uyghurs were already on the Immigration Bureau database and in its watch list.
General Thawip Netniyom, secretary-general of the National Security Council, said Singapore had issued a warning about the three Uyghurs.
Uyghur Muslims complain of heavy-handed rule and ethnic discrimination under Chinese rule in China's Xinjiang region.
Hundreds of people have been killed in unrest in Xinjiang in the recent past. China blames the violence on Islamist militants who want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan for minority Uyghurs.