Bangkok - Thailand on Saturday issued an official protest to the Cambodian government over an alleged border incursion and subsequent clash that left three soldiers injured, Thai officials said Saturday.

On Friday a Thai military patrol encountered Cambodian troops allegedly situated about 1 kilometre inside Thai territory near the Phreah Vihear temple, an 11th century Hindu temple that has been the cause of many border disputes between the two neighbouring countries for almost five decades.

Bangkok - Thai police on Friday arrested one of nine leaders of the protest movement that has occupied government headquarters for the past 39 days and detained him to face treason charges.

Chaiwat Sinsuwong, a leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) that stormed Government House with thousands of followers on August 26 and have occupied the seat of the executive power since, was arrested as he left the house of Thai politician Kraisak Choonhavan, a member of the opposition Democrat Party.

Chaiwat and eight other leaders of the PAD have been charged with treason, for which the maximum penalty is death.

Bangkok - A US tourist was badly beaten up Friday by a bar owner at Thailand's Pattaya beach resort for refusing to pay 170 baht (5 dollars) for a bottle of beer, news reports said.

Dennis Leo Greenwood, 51, was hospitalized 12:30 am Friday morning at Pattaya Memorial Hospital for treatment of facial injuries, a head wound and several missing teeth, said The Nation online news service.

His Thai girlfriend, Suparp Mahasen, told police that a Pattaya bar owner and another employee had beaten up Greenwood after he refused to pay 170 baht for a bottle of beer, arguing that he had been overcharged.

Bangkok - Foreign husbands of women from Thailand's Buriram province are pumping 230 million baht (6.7 million dollars) into the local economy each year in remittances and spending, a recent survey of the income-generation of mixed marriages revealed Friday.

According to a survey of 967 mixed marriages registered in Buriram province, 300 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, foreign husbands have proved good providers for the local economy, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported.

Bangkok - Thailand's newly appointed Culture Minister Worawat Ua-apinyakul has announced plans to promote the sale of black magic amulets, including phallus and buffalo-shaped ones, as souvenirs for tourists, media reports said Wednesday.

"We can turn local amulets with phallus symbols and buffalo statuettes into key chains and sell them to tourists," said Worawat, unveiling his bold plans for the culture ministry under his leadership. Worawat was named Minister of Culture last week.

Although the dominant religion in Thailand is Buddhism, there is a strong undercurrent of Brahmanism and black magic in local customs, such as the use of amulets that are believed to protect the wearer from harm or endow them with special powers.

Bangkok - Thai exports grew 15.5 per cent in August, the slowest performance this year, while imports were up 26.9 per cent, leaving the kingdom with a 
675-million-dollar trade deficit, the Bank of Thailand said Tuesday.

The value of Thailand's exports totaled 15.79 billion dollars, up 15.5 per cent from August 2007, the central bank said. The rise was lower than July's 44-per-cent jump.

The export slowdown was led by declines in rice shipments and prices while rubber exports also dropped in volume, the bank said.