Bangkok  - Inspired by the online game Grand Auto Theft, a 19-year-old Thai boy over the weekend stabbed a taxi driver to death, media reports said Monday.

Polwat Chinno, a 12th grade high-school student, was arrested at 2:30 am Sunday as he was attempting to make a getaway in a Bangkok taxi.

The taxi's driver, 54-year-old Kuan Pohkang, was found dead in the back seat with more than 10 knife wounds in his body.

Bangkok  - Thailand's reshuffled cabinet was endorsed by King Bhumibol and announced Saturday evening, Thai media reported.

The shake-up was necessary after several ministers had to resign after losing legal battles over their qualifications, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said.

Before the shake-up, Samak had already lost three of his cabinet ministers to Thailand's judiciary and court rulings during his six months in office.

Bangkok  - Thailand canceled fruit exports this weekend to neighbouring Cambodia in the latest fallout over joint claims to an ancient Hindu temple on their borders that had threatened to turn into a military conflict.

Thailand's Department of Export Promotion canceled plans to ship more than 10 tons of longan, a fruit grown in northern Thailand, to sell in two malls in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, the government-run Thai News Agency reported Saturday.

Bangkok- Thailand's inflation in July rose to 9.2 per cent year-on-year, the highest rate in a decade, the commerce ministry announced Friday.

Pairoh Sudsawang, Permanent Secretary for Commerce, said the Consumer Price Index in July was up 9.2 per cent compared with July, 2007, and up 0.3 per cent compared with last month's rate.

In June, inflation rose to 8.9 per cent, year-on-year, while in May it was 7.6 per cent.

Despite the steady rise over the past three months, Pairoh projected that the rate for all of 2008 will be about 6.6 per cent.

With international oil prices now on a gradual decline, Thailand's inflation rate is expected to lessen in August, the Kasikorn Research Centre (KCR) said.

Bangkok - Thailand will this month host the world's first international symposium on fireflies, attracting 200 experts from 20 countries to the kingdom to present the latest studies on the insects and discuss means of preserving them, media reports said Friday.

The International Symposium on Diversity and Conservation of Fireflies will be held on August 26 to 30 at the Botanical Garden Organization in Chiang Mai, 560 kilometres north of Bangkok.

Suyanee Vessburr, chief organizer of the event, said Chiang Mai was an appropriate venue for the symposium as the province was having trouble conserving their fireflies due to tourism, said the Bangkok Post newspaper.

Bangkok - Peru plans to table the need for corporate social responsibility as a crucial element of globalization at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be hosted by Lima next November, Peru's deputy foreign minister said Thursday.

"If you are living in the Andes where you don't have electricity, education and health services and you have next door a very important international company that is making billions of dollars exploiting gold, silver and copper, that creates a social problem," noted Gonzalo Gutierrez Reinel during a visit to Bangkok.

Reinel, who is scheduled to meet Thai Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag Friday, was in the Thai capital to discuss progress in establishing a full-fledged free trade agreement