Bangkok - Up to 60 per cent of the real estate executives in the Asia-Pacific are willing to pay a 10 per cent premium for "sustainable space," higher than their counterparts elsewhere, a survey revealed Monday.

According to a survey conducted by CoreNet Global and Jones Lang LaSalle, an international property consultant, 60 per cent of respondents in Asia Pacific would pay up to 10 per cent more rent to occupy a sustainable building, an increase from 55 per cent in 2007.

Bangkok  - The Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry on Monday denied that a Hmong refugee was severely beaten over the weekend in a camp controlled by the Thai military as part of its efforts to forcefully repatriate 5,400 members of the ethnic minority to communist Laos.

Authorities detained Joua Va Yang, who had guided a BBC team to Laos to document the plight of the Hmong in 2004, on Saturday night in Huay Nam Khao refugee camp in Phetchabun province, the ministry's deputy spokesman Thani Thongpakdi confirmed.

Pattani, Thailand - Thai security forces fought with suspected Muslim militants in Narathiwat province Monday in a clash that left three insurgents dead and two captured, army sources said.

Insurgents killed two villagers in separate incidents in Pattani province, part of Thailand's southernmost region where 3,700 people have fallen victim to sectarian violence over the past five years.

Bangkok - Thailand's food exports to Japan rose 30 per cent last year, benefiting from the Japanese market's health concerns about Chinese imports, media reports said Sunday.

Thai exports to Japan in 2008 were valued at 100 billion baht (2.8 billion dollars) and could continue to rise this year if the Japanese market continued to be wary of chemical-contamination of Chinese food products, President of Thailand's National Food Institute Yuthasak Supasorn told the Thai News Agency (TNA).

Bangkok  - Thai authorities have allegedly arrested a Hmong refugee who once guided a BBC TV team to Laos to document atrocities committed against the minority group, a Hmong advocacy group claimed Sunday.

"Around 8:30 pm Saturday night, Thai authorities in Huay Nam Khao camp arrested Joua Va Yang, a former guide for the BBC," Chicago- based Hmong Advocate Joe Davy said in a statement.

"Witnesses on the scene claim that authorities had beaten Mr Yang very badly during the arrest," Davy said.

A study has disclosed that India ranks second in medical tourism all
through the world by spending just 1.2% of its GDP on health matters.

The study also said that India takes proper care of patients, which comes from foreign countries.

In 2007, around 4.5 lakh foreign patients were treated in Indian hospitals as compared to other nations.

Thailand topped the list with a record number of 12 lakh.

The
two-year study conducted by healthcare researchers Deloitte also said
that India treat patients not only from its neighboring states and West