Would-be terrorists from Australia may be using Thailand as a staging post to travel to the Middle East undetected, analysts say, amid fears sleeper cells could be set up.
Australia is among a group of Southeast Asia countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, that are a source of IS recruits.
A senior Thai government adviser and political scientist, Panitan Wattanaygorn, says it's feared Thailand is being used as a staging point of IS recruitment operations.
"The concerns are that Thailand can be used as the place to engage in `surrogate' operations, such as false passports, for example, false documents, money laundering and others that may contribute in the end to the terrorist network," Dr Panitan told AAP.
A security analyst in Thailand believes IS is using Thailand as a stopover for Australian recruits who arrive on lengthy visas purportedly for education or sports activities.
The IS recruits are then given a new passport allowing them to travel to Turkey.
After several months' training, they return to Thailand, are given back their Australian passports and return home, leaving no paper trail of having travelled to the Middle East.
Australian official sources say around 175 Australians recruited by IS have travelled to the Middle East.
However, the analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity, says the number may be far higher.
He believes IS wants to establish cells in different countries around the world, and says it's not a matter of if a major attack occurs in Australia, but when.
A recent survey by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute revealed a majority of Australians feared attacks by home-grown terrorists and that it posed a high risk to Australia's national security over the next decade.
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