New York: A month after the devastating bombing on the Indonesian resort island of Bali killed 190 people, mostly foreign tourists, Western intelligence experts have warned that Thailand may be the next likely target of the al-Qaida terrorist network.

The reason cited is that a group of al-Qaida operatives met in Thailand and discussed plans to attack bars, nightclubs and tourist resort throughout the region months before October, Western officials were quoted as saying.

A senior lieutenant of Osama bin Laden led the group, which included a Qaida explosives expert who was later arrested and told American officials of the January meeting during his interrogation, the 'New York Times' reported.

A Western intelligence analyst said Thailand is a vital link in the "international terrorist's underground railroad".

The presence of al-Qaida in Thailand, with its freewheeling culture, chaotic cities and porous borders, is greater than the Thai government has been willing to acknowledge, or than Western governments, including the US, were aware, diplomats from several countries told the paper in interviews.

"People who claim this country is devoid of any prospects of terrorism are naive," one Ambassador, who was not identified, was quoted as saying.

Counter-terrorism experts said al-Qaida, no longer dependent on camps for its operations, is probably working in small groups, much like the one that met here. The Bali operation, an American official said, may have been the work of cells in several countries, none of them larger than six or eight men.

The fear now is that Thailand will not only provide an easy base of operation for terrorists working in smaller cells, but also that the country itself is high on the list of potential targets as al-Qaida shifts its focus to tourist sites.

PTI