Jakarta  - Indonesia has denied requests by the United Nations refugee agency for access to 193 Myanmar boat people stranded in the westernmost province of Aceh, the foreign ministry said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said that the boat people appeared to be part of about 1,000 refugees from Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority held and later released by the Thai military late last year.

The Myanmar boat people were found adrift off Sabang island in Aceh province on January 7 and are now being sheltered at the naval base.

Bangkok - A Thai opposition movement on Friday petitioned South-East Asian ambassadors to make a "gesture" against the country's new government at a regional summit next month.

An estimated 100 "Red Shirts" - supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and is now living in self-imposed exile - marched to the embassies of Myanmar and Singapore in Bangkok to press their petition.

Bangkok  - Thick fog diverted 11 flights from Bangkok's international airport Thursday, forcing them to land at the Thai capital's domestic airport as well as farther afield in Chiang Mai and Phuket, airport officials said.

The fog, which reduced visibility to 800 metres, blanketed Suvarnabhumi Airport from 7 to 8 am, but lifted about 9 am, allowing traffic to resume, airport director Serirat Prasutanond said.

Sydney  - The Australian government has supported a request for a royal pardon for Australian author Harry Nicolaides, who was sentenced to three years in prison in Thailand this week for insulting its monarchy with his little-read novel, media reports said Thursday.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said he had written to his Thai counterpart supporting a request for a pardon from Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej for Nicolaides, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.

Bangkok - Thailand will send a representative to attend the launch of the world's first international agency dedicated to promoting the use of renewable energy, in Bonn, Germany, next week, with hope of tapping German technology on solar energy, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Thai Energy Minister Wannarat Charnukul will attend the founding ceremony on January 26 to 27 of the Initiative for an International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), a Germany-based organization dedicated to facilitating the use of renewable energy worldwide.

Bangkok - Thailand's auto parts industry is at risk of shedding 40,000 permanent jobs this year as domestic and global demand for vehicles shrinks, media reports said Wednesday.

Discussions Tuesday between the Industry Ministry and 1,600 auto parts manufacturers concluded that 20 per cent of 200,000 permanent employees in the sector were in danger of losing this jobs this year, the Bangkok Post reported.