Pattani, Thailand  - Suspected separatists on Saturday shot dead two college students and burned their bodies in Thailand's violence-ridden, majority-Muslim southern province of Pattani, police said.

Brothers Hiran and Arun Sukmak were attacked as they drove a motorcycle from the Yaling district to Pattani city, where they were scheduled to take an exam at the provincial university, Yaling police said.

Bangkok  - An ancient bead featuring the Hindu sun god Surya Dev was stolen while on display at Thailand's National Discovery Museum Institute, media reports said Saturday.

The stone bead, estimated to be 2,000 years old, was stolen Thursday from the Bangkok museum, where it had been on display since December 19.

Bangkok- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Friday that he would examine the use of laws that protect the royal family from criticism after a petition this week saying the lese majeste regulations were being used for political purposes.

Abhisit told reporters there had been "some problems" with the way the laws had been implemented.

Bangkok- Thailand's national airline said Friday that it would stop flying this month out of Bangkok's domestic airport and move all its flights to the capital's much bigger and newer Suvarnabhumi international airport.

The remaining 23 daily domestic flights that remain at the 95-year-old Don Mueang would be moved March 29 to Suvarnabhumi, which opened in late 2006, said Narongsak Sangapong, Thai Airways International PCL's acting president.

Bangkok - If the 1997 Asian financial crisis was most painful for the relatively well-off, this time around, the poorest Thais are going to be hurt first, Ammar Siamwalla, the doyen of Thai economists, said Friday.

"A decade ago, the rich were hit by a tremendous economic shock, [but] the crisis took time to hurt low income groups," said Ammar, a senior economist at the Thailand Development Research Institute think tank. "This time around, the pain is going straight to the grassroots."

Bangkok - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Friday that he would examine the use of laws that protect the royal family from criticism after a petition this week saying the lese majeste regulations were being used for political purposes.

Abhisit told reporters there had been "some problems" with the way the laws had been implemented.