Thailand

Thailand seeks clarification from India on sinking of "pirate" ship

Thailand seeks clarification from India on sinking of "pirate" shipBangkok - Thailand has sought a clarification from the Indian Navy on its rules of engagement in sinking an alleged pirate ship last week off the coast of Somalia after evidence has emerged that the ship was a Thai vessel, officials said Wednesday.

"We have asked the Indian authorities to help us verify the ownership of the vessel and then clarify their rules of engagement," said Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat.

Protestors shut down Bangkok's international airport

Thailand agrees to reduce troop presence at Cambodian temple

Thai protestors start siege of Bangkok airport

Bangkok - Thai protestors on Tuesday blocked the main road access road to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport in an effort to prevent the return of Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, who was scheduled to return Wednesday.

Police set up a blockade to prevent about 1,000 protestors, members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), from entering the airport and creating problems for passengers.

"At the moment it's just causing an inconvenience, but some people may miss their flights if this continues," said a spokesperson at Suvarnabhumi Airport's public relations department.

Thai protestors pressure army chief after government proves elusive

Bomb kills one at Bangkok's seized Government House Bangkok  - Thousands of Thai protestors surrounded the Royal Thai Army headquarters in northern Bangkok Tuesday to thwart the cabinet from meeting after earlier chasing the government out of Parliament and Bangkok's old international airport.

The well-organized anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has succeeded in suspending parliamentary business and chasing the cabinet around town but appeared unable to spark the "final battle" needed to topple the government by Wednesday as pledged, observers said.

Thailand could lose 1.1 million jobs by mid-2009 as exports fall

Thailand could lose 1.1 million jobs by mid-2009 as exports fallBangkok - Thailand might see 1.1 million workers lose their jobs by the middle of next year as the global economic downturn bites into the country's exports, media reports said Tuesday.

Export orders were expected to drop more than 20 per cent by the second quarter of 2009, forcing industries to lay off workers to survive, the Federation of Thai Industries said.

Thai tour bus staff robs foreign passengers and leaves them

Thai tour bus staff robs foreign passengers and leaves them Bangkok  - Twenty foreign tourists were abandoned in a tour bus on a roadside after being robbed by the staff, police said Tuesday.

Police found the tourists at 6 am Monday sitting in a driverless bus on the side of the Asian Highway in Ayutthaya province, 90 kilometres north of Bangkok.

The tourists said they had forced the driver to pull over after finding their cash and belongings had been stolen by the bus's three male staff while some of the passengers slept on the overnight bus from the northern city of Chiang Mai to Bangkok.

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