Jakarta  - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Saturday his government was conducting a comprehensive review of the way the conflict in the country's south was being handled, and promising a new direction to achieve peace.

A five-year-old conflict in Thailand's southernmost region has resulted in the loss of almost 3,300 lives and cost the state an estimated 109 billion baht (3.1 billion dollars).

Jakarta - Indonesia and Thailand agreed Friday that the issue of the Myanmar Rohingya boat people should be tackled together by countries in the region, Visiting Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.

The Thai military has been criticized for pushing back about 1,000 Rohingya refugees from Thailand's southern shores last December, leaving them at sea in boats without engines and insufficient food and water.

Bangkok  - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva departed Bangkok for Jakarta Friday for a two-day official visit that will include talks on the Myanmar-Muslim Rohingya boat people.

The Thai military has been criticized for pushing back about 1,000 Rohingya refugees from Thailand's southern shores in December, dragging them out to sea in boats without engines or sufficient food and water.

Some of the boat people were rescued by the Indonesian Navy off the coast of Aceh.

Bangkok - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva should seek royal advice on changing the lese majeste law that has led to a slew of cases in recent months and forced a prominent academic to flee the country, well-known social critic Sulak Sivaraksa said Wednesday.

"There is a chance to change the law but the government must have moral courage," said Sulak, 76, who himself faces a lese majeste charge that may be officially lodged with the Attorney General later this month.

Bangkok - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva departed Thursday for Japan on a roadshow designed to restore confidence in the kingdom, which was plagued by political chaos last year.

Bangkok  - Thailand's new government has launched a thorough review of the use of martial law in the country's conflict-ridden deep South where some 3,500 have been killed over the past four years and will decide on its extension within three months.

"I will ask the people involved to now run a systematic review of the various laws, so the next time they ask for an extension it will not be automatic," said Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, addressing an audience at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand Wednesday night.