Thailand immigration authorities will be keeping close tabs on Cambodian Muslim tourists, according to a senior official quoted in the Bangkok Post yesterday.

Thai Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa said nearly 1,000 Cambodian Muslims were arriving in the country each day, but he did not provide a reason for suspicion, or any connection to the Islamic insurgency Thai forces have battled in the south.

He also said the Cambodian government would be asked to provide “information” about its Muslims.

A spokesman for Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior neither confirmed nor denied the request.

Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak declined to comment in detail.

“About the request made by Thailand to provide information about Cambodian Muslims, maybe they requested directly to [the immigration department], I am not sure,” he said.

Pin Piseth, director of the immigration department at the Ministry of Interior, declined to comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Vong Sokheng at [email protected]

With assistance from Bangkok Post