Sydney consulate warns local Thais

Sydney consulate warns local Thais

The consulate-general in Sydney on Monday advised Thais to leave the central business district due to on-going hostage situation while Thai authorities remain confident of safety in the kingdom.

The consulate-general warned on its homepage that Thais should not approach the vicinity of the hostage standoff at the Lindt cafe in the Martin Place mall and should leave the centre of the capital of New South Wales because there were bomb threats in many areas there.

Australian authorities reportedly told offices in the vicinity of the hostage scene including the Thai consulate-general to close on Monday as a precaution.

Regarding the incident, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said Thai authorities were checking people visiting and leaving the country and exchanging intelligence reports with neighbouring countries.

He said Thailand was not involved in the matter - which involves a jihadist with suspected ties to the Islamic State group - and said he would not make any comment that might cause an impact on the country.

Supreme Commander Gen Worapong Sa-nganate said Thailand was not a target of the Islamic State group and such an incident wasn't expected to happen here.

Normal security measures continued in the country including those for the Greater Mekong Sub-region Summit on Friday and Saturday, he said.

In response to the United States' security alert for its people in Thailand, Gen Worapong said authorities were paying attention to the warning but security operations proceeded as usual for the time being.

He added authorities were verifying the report that any member of the Islamic State group entered any southern border province.

National police chief Pol Gen Somyot Pumpunmuang said there had not been any sign of any terrorist sneaking into the country.

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