Thailand’s government says the nation is still a safe holiday destination for Australian tourists, despite reports of 10 Syrians with links to the Islamic State (IS) group entering the country.

A Russian intelligence report marked “secret” and “urgent” was sent in late November from Thailand’s police intelligence unit to various investigative branches, and later leaked to the media.

It cites intelligence from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), warning the Thai government that 10 Syrian members of the IS group slipped into Thailand in October and were planning to attack Russian targets.

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“In the aftermath of the downing of the Russian airliner in Sinai, the FSB would be, to put it bluntly, in panic mode,” said Anthony Davis, a Bangkok-based analyst with security group IHS Jane’s.

“They would be looking at areas of Russian vulnerability globally, and particularly areas that concern large numbers of civilians. Thailand would be pretty close to the top of the list there.”

The police memo said two of the Syrians disappeared from sight, but four of them travelled to Pattaya, two to Phuket, and two to Bangkok.

These are places visited by thousands of Australians every year, providing an obvious target for would-be terrorists.

Mr Davis said tourism was one of several security vulnerabilities in Thailand.

“We have large numbers of Chinese, very large numbers of Russians, of Westerners, of Australians – you name it, they’re here – so it’s a target-rich environment,” he said.

“Secondly, Thailand labours under the baggage of being, still, a permissive environment, and that involves two particular areas: one, of official corruption, and the other is the presence in this country of transnational criminal groups.

“And both of these areas of vulnerability were underscored in the terrorist attack at the Erawan shrine in central Bangkok on the 17th of August this year.”

The bombing outside the busy Erawan shrine in downtown Bangkok killed 20 people and injured more than 120 more.

It is being blamed on extremists linked to the Muslim Uighurs of western China, but many questions remain about the attack.

Thai government playing down memo

There are just as many questions about the recent Russian intelligence report.

“What we do not know is, are they planning to pull off some sort of attack in the fairly near future, over the holiday season for example, or are they looking to, under the guise of Syrian refugees, of which there are quite a few in Thailand now, are they looking to establish a longer-term presence,” Mr Davis said.

The Thai government is playing down the leaked memo, and said it was part of normal intelligence sharing.

“It doesn’t mean that we have the imminent ISIL threat in Thailand, but I can assure our foreign visitors to come to Thailand, and Thailand is still a safe place to come to,” the deputy spokesman for Thailand’s military government said.

Mr Davis said Thai security forces are relatively well-equipped to deal with a terrorist threat.

“With the Thai economy hurting at the moment, tourism is becoming increasingly vital, and the last thing Thailand needs is the threat of Islamic State operatives lurking around the bars and beaches that bring in so much foreign cash,” he said.

-ABC