Thai officials investigating a man who was recently arrested in Bangkok for trying to sell cesium 137 believe additional quantities of the material still remain in neighboring Laos, the Wall Street Journal reported today (see GSN, June 16).

Narong Penanam, who was arrested in the attempted cesium sale, has told interrogators that the material originated in Russia and was shipped to Thailand through Laos, a Thai spokesman said.  Thai officials believe two large caches of cesium still remain in Laos, along with at least one of Narong’s accomplices, according to the Journal.

“It’s still an open case,” said a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok.  “The recent big bust is part of an ongoing investigation into where the material originated, who the potential buyers were and who else may have been involved,” the spokesman said.

Narong has also told authorities that he obtained the cesium from the aide of a deceased Thai Air Force marshal, the Journal reported.  The Thai Air Force has denied any involvement with the cesium and said it does not know how it was obtained.

The blocked cesium sale in Thailand has raised concerns that proliferation is beginning to pose a problem in a region where it has not previously been seen, the Journal reported.

“Historically the region has been just about completely free of any sort of proliferation threat,” said a Western diplomat based in Bangkok.  After the recent arrest though, “it appears anything is possible,” the diplomat said (Crispin/Fields, Wall Street Journal, June 18).

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