Pattani, Thailand - A bomb explosion Thursday killed three Thai policemen returning to base after escorting teachers to school in the conflict-ridden province of Pattani.

The bomb, planted on a public road in Nongjik district of Pattani, 700 kilometres south of Bangkok, was detonated by a mobile phone shortly after 8 am (0100 GMT) as the pickup truck carrying police passed over it, said Lieutenant General Prasit Kirisri, commander of the joint army/police task force in the deep South.

Jakarta  - Thailand will work with the UN refugee agency and neighbouring countries to help Myanmar's Rohingya boat people, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Wednesday.

The Thai military has been accused of mistreating migrants belonging to the Rohingya minority group, who said they were fleeing persecution in Myanmar, by towing more than 10 vessels out to sea and leaving the refugees in engineless boats without sufficient food and water.

Almost 400 of the Rohingya migrants were rescued by the Indonesian Navy off the coast of Aceh province in January and earlier this month.

The Rohingya told Indonesian officials they had been physically abused by Thai authorities before being abandoned at sea.

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  - The issue of Rohingya refugees is to be raised at the South-East Asian summit to be held this month in Thailand, which has been accused of abusing the rights of the Myanmar minority group, officials confirmed Tuesday.

Bangkok - Provincial authorities on Tuesday reopened Phra Viharn National Park that has been closed for the past seven months because of a border spat with Cambodia over an ancient Hindu temple adjacent to the area.

"It's an arrangement at the local level," Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said. "We're letting the local people try it to see how smoothly it goes."

Phra Vihran National Park in Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket province, 350 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, has been closed to the public since July 14, 2008.

Bangkok - Myanmar will need nearly 700 million dollars in international aid over the next three years for ongoing relief efforts in the Irrawaddy Delta, where Cyclone Nargis left 140,000 people dead or missing last year, the United Nations said Monday.

"This is a small requirement in proportion to the magnitude of the disaster," said Bishow Parajuli, United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar.

The amount of relief aid needed and projects designed for the victims of Cyclone Nargis was documented in the The Post-Nargis Response and Preparedness Plan
(PONREPP), released in Bangkok on Monday.