Washington - US President George W Bush heads to Asia later Monday for a seven-day journey that will take him to South Korea, Thailand - where he is to deliver a major policy speech and liaise with Myanmar dissidents - and finally China for the opening ceremony of the summer Olympics.

Bush was to arrive Tuesday in Seoul, where he will meet with President Lee Myung Bak, who visited the US in March at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. The two men are marking the 55th anniversary of US-South Korean ties.

Bangkok- Thailand's inflation in July rose to 9.2 per cent year-on-year, the highest rate in a decade, the commerce ministry announced Friday.

Pairoh Sudsawang, Permanent Secretary for Commerce, said the Consumer Price Index in July was up 9.2 per cent compared with July, 2007, and up 0.3 per cent compared with last month's rate.

In June, inflation rose to 8.9 per cent, year-on-year, while in May it was 7.6 per cent.

Despite the steady rise over the past three months, Pairoh projected that the rate for all of 2008 will be about 6.6 per cent.

With international oil prices now on a gradual decline, Thailand's inflation rate is expected to lessen in August, the Kasikorn Research Centre (KCR) said.

Bangkok - Thailand will this month host the world's first international symposium on fireflies, attracting 200 experts from 20 countries to the kingdom to present the latest studies on the insects and discuss means of preserving them, media reports said Friday.

The International Symposium on Diversity and Conservation of Fireflies will be held on August 26 to 30 at the Botanical Garden Organization in Chiang Mai, 560 kilometres north of Bangkok.

Suyanee Vessburr, chief organizer of the event, said Chiang Mai was an appropriate venue for the symposium as the province was having trouble conserving their fireflies due to tourism, said the Bangkok Post newspaper.

Bangkok - Peru plans to table the need for corporate social responsibility as a crucial element of globalization at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be hosted by Lima next November, Peru's deputy foreign minister said Thursday.

"If you are living in the Andes where you don't have electricity, education and health services and you have next door a very important international company that is making billions of dollars exploiting gold, silver and copper, that creates a social problem," noted Gonzalo Gutierrez Reinel during a visit to Bangkok.

Reinel, who is scheduled to meet Thai Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag Friday, was in the Thai capital to discuss progress in establishing a full-fledged free trade agreement

Bangkok - Thailand expressed satisfaction Tuesday with the outcome of marathon talks with its neighbour Cambodia over joint claims to an ancient Hindu temple on their border that had threatened to turn into a military conflict.

On Monday Thai Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong spent 12 hours at a hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia, trying to defuse an escalating border spat over joint claims to portions of the Preah Vihear temple perched on their common border.

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers were preparing for lunchtime talks Monday aimed at defusing mounting border tensions over land surrounding an ancient Hindu temple.

The talks were scheduled to be held in a Siem Reap hotel, more than 300 kilometres north-west of Phnom Penh, between Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and his newly appointed Thai counterpart, Tej Bunnang.