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BANGKOK, July 3 (AFP) - Authorities in the southern Thai province of Phuket said Wednesday they had seized a haul of weapons and arrested a man suspected of illegal arms trading with rebel groups in either Sri Lanka or Indonesia.

Provincial governor Phongpayom Vasaphuti led local and marine police to arrest Thai national Prachumphol Rangphung, 30, at a private pier on the resort island late Tuesday.

Six rocket-propelled grenades, two M-67 hand grenades and 596 AK-47 bullets were confiscated from him, they said.

"The suspect was about to load the arms into a fishing trawler, but he threw most of them into the sea when he saw the police coming, so marine police had to dive to fetch them back," provincial government official Sophon Kiemkarn told AFP by phone.

"The suspect confessed that he was hired for 200,000 baht (4,760 dollars) per trip to transport arms from the Thai province of Prachinburi, and that this was his third trip," Sophon said.

Prachinburi province borders Cambodia, lying 135 kilometres (85 miles) east of Bangkok.

Sophon said it was unclear whether the arms were destined for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka or rebels in the restive Indonesian province of Aceh.

Authorities will question the suspect further on Wednesday, he said.

Reports surfaced in March that a cache of arms and explosives seized by police in the southern province of Ranong may have been destined for the LTTE.

Police sources said then that most smuggled arms in the region were being supplied to the separatist Tamil Tigers, who are preparing for peace talks with the Sri Lankan government in Thailand next month.

Sources close to the Thai military have told AFP that the Tigers were last year operating a sizeable base on a Thai island 15 kilometres (nine miles) off Phuket.

Phuket itself lies 862 kilometres (535 miles) southwest of the capital in the Andaman Sea.

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