Thai police believe the three suspected bomb-makers arrested in Pasir Mas on Monday were planning attacks at New Year's eve celebrations in southern Thailand.

A senior Thai police officer, who wished to be anonymous, said investigations showed that the three men detained in connection with the seizure of home-made bombs were plotting to detonate the explosives to cause mayhem and death among party-goers.

"We could not determine the exact areas they were targeting but most probably in Narathiwat province where many people are likely to join in the celebrations.

"Those celebrating the event may include Malaysians and other foreigners," the officer said yesterday.

He said the three men were believed to be new recruits of a separatist group known as Ronda Kumpulan Kecil, which has been involved in a series of bombings in southern Thailand.

He said they had plotted to smuggle the bombs via illegal jetties along the Kelantan-Thai border as soon as they had completed making them.

The officer also said the three had provided their personal details to the Kelantan police but checks by the Thai police found that only one of them was a Thai citizen.

"They confessed to the Kelantan police that they were Thai nationals from Narathiwat but a cross-check with our registration department reveals that two of them are not in the database.

"We have reason to believe that they hold dual citizenship," he said.

The three men, aged between 20 and 30, were detained by Kelantan police during a raid on a house in Kampung Gebeng here .