Bangkok  - Thailand's king gave his approval to the country's new cabinet Saturday, despite criticism that several cabinet members in charge of economic issues lack experience.

Abhisit Vejjajiva, the new prime minister, told television stations his government was "good enough and committed enough" to restore an economy that has been rocked not only by the global economic crisis, but also months of local political turmoil culminating in the closure of Bangkok's two airports, from November 25 to December 3.

Bangkok - Thailand will run an ethical foreign policy untainted by personal business interests, the likely new foreign minister, former diplomat Kasit Piromya, said Friday.

Kasit said foreign policy moves made by the previous governments controlled by fugitive billionaire businessman Thaksin Shinawatra were compromised by his personal interests.

"From now on there will be no personal business dealings on the side. This government will not mix business and politics," Kasit told an academic conference.

Former prime minister Thaksin was frequently accused of using official state trips to promote his family's sprawling telecoms empire, before it was sold two years ago.

Bangkok - Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Wednesday endorsed the election of former opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva as the country's 27th prime minister.

Abhisit, 44, leader of the Democrat Party which has been in the opposition since 2001, won the premiership Monday by a 235-198 vote in the lower house of parliament.

His selection was not official until it was endorsed by the king, who is head of state under Thailand's constitutional monarchy.

Abhisit said he would name his cabinet on Thursday, comprising ministers from a five-party coalition government.

Bangkok - An estimated 3 million foreign tourists are expected to go "missing" from Thailand this high season - December to March - as a result of the recent closure of Bangkok's two airports by protestors, the tourism council predicted Wednesday.

From November 25 to December 3, the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy seized and closed Bangkok's two international airports - Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang - stranding about 350,000 international travellers in the capital.

Bangkok  - Thailand's convicted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra has lost his diplomatic "red" passport after failing to appeal an abuse of power sentence, media reports said Tuesday.

Thaksin's diplomatic passport was revoked by the Foreign Ministry Friday as Thailand was under a caretaker government.

The Foreign Ministry said the decision was made after Thaksin failed to appeal an October 21 verdict of the Supreme Court that sentenced him to two years in jail for abuse of power when he was prime minister in 2003.

Bangkok - More than 1,000 new species, including the world's largest huntsman spider and the Laotian rock rat, have been discovered in the Greater Mekong Region of Southeast Asia between 1997 and 2007, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) revealed Monday.

The huntsman spider has leg span of 30 centimetres, and the rock rat was previously thought to have become extinct 11 million years ago, according to the report, First Contact in the Greater Mekong.

Some of the 1,068 newly discovered species were found in surprising places, said the report.