Bangkok - Thai shares jumped 3.4 per cent on Monday, propped up by growing confidence in the economy after a reduction in oil prices.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index ended at 687.30, up 22.78 points, or 3.43 per cent, on 14.5 billion baht (433 million dollars) worth of trading.

"Investors came back to the market to snap up shares cheap, but this is not necessarily a sign that the market is on the rebound for the long term," said Mongkol Puanghaetha, an analyst at Adkinson Securities.

He noted that the volume of trade was low, at only 14.5 billion baht, suggesting that many investors have take a wait-and-see stance after the sharp slump in share values last week.

Kantharalak (Thailand), July 21: Hundreds of Thai and Cambodian soldiers remained locked in a tense standoff at the ruins of an ancient Hindu temple here for a sixth straight day on Sunday, in a modern-day echo of the age-old clash of empires across Indochina.

The contentious 4.6-square-kilometre zone is in Si Sa Ket province, to the west of the ancient temple that Cambodia has successfully listed as a World Heritage site.

The centre of the dispute is the makeshift Wat Viharn temple that Cambodia built in the disputed area in 2001, despite opposition from Thailand.

Soldiers from both sides remain there on condition that all of them must be unarmed, the New York Times reported.

Aranyaprathet, Thailand - Thailand and Cambodia Monday kicked off a joint meeting aimed at defusing an escalating row over an ancient Hindu temple that turned into a tense military standoff on the Thai-Cambodian border. 

Thai Supreme Commander Boonsrang Niempradit and Cambodian Defence Minister Teah Banh met at the Indochina Hotel in Aranyaprathet, Sa Kaeo province, 270 kilometres east of Bangkok, to commence talks on the Preah Vihear temple controversy. 

Members of the General Border Committee (GBC), set up several years ago to handle border issues, will join them later. A joint press conference was planned at mid-day. 

Singapore  - ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan has called for "maximum restraint" in the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand, while Cambodia has asked for UN intervention, news reports said Sunday.

Nearly 1,000 Cambodian troops and more than 500 Thai soldiers continue to face each other on the disputed territory.

Surin Pitsuwan, secretary-general of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and a former Thai former minister, urged ministers from the two countries to talk, The Sunday Times said.

Phnom Penh - Cambodia's Defence Ministry announced it would fly military attaches from China, the United States and other countries yet to be named to the Preah Vihear temple complex to view a bor

Bangkok, July 19 : Thai and Cambodian troops are now in confrontationist mode at the border dividing the two countries after four days of clashes over the ancient Preah Vihear Hindu temple.