Thailand's capital Bangkok is no more an ideal destination for the tourists. It has turned into a battlefield from a calm and quite tourist heaven. The anti government red shirt protesters refused to calm down without re-election.

The protesters have boycott the previous election alleging corruption issues. Their demand is still the same. They want the Prime Minister to step down. The authorities of Bangkok have extended the curfew for three more nights because of the army assault on red shirt protesters yesterday. The curfew will be on in 23 provinces.

It has been reported that Thai protesters ignored official orders to clear Bangkok's business district Tuesday and the government declared the day a holiday to promote public safety.

There were reports of renewed clashes Monday between protesters and government forces. A U. N. official appealed to protesters and the government to begin talks to prevent further loss of life.

It has been reported that the Bangkok Post, in an editorial Tuesday, condemned the anti-government protest in Thailand for the violence and disruption of life in Bangkok.

The Red Shirt protesters' demonstrations since March, demanding the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and new elections, showed no sign of ending Tuesday. Escalating clashes between them and Thai security forces have left dozens dead and injured.

Police has said that thousands of Red Shirt protesters Monday ignored a government demand they cede the downtown Bangkok territory they've held since March.

The Bangkok Nation reported, quoting a hospital spokesman, that the stalemate continued after a renegade general supporting the protesters died of a bullet wound, officials said. Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdipol, also known as Seh Daeng, died at Vajira Hospital Monday of a head wound from a sniper bullet suffered last week.

Thai officials said on Sunday that an "intense and fierce" gun battle has broken out between anti-government Red Shirt protesters and the military in Bangkok.

CNN has reported that the Bangkok metropolitan area and 21 other provinces have been placed under a state of emergency.

According to the media reports, three police officers were shot Friday night in Bangkok, killing one, near an area where protesters against the Thai government were camped.

The Bangkok Post reported A bystander was also injured. The shooter was on a motorcycle, Witnesses said.

A grenade exploded in the same neighborhood early on Saturday, injuring five police officers and three soldiers.

Officials have said that political demonstrators stormed Thailand's Election Commission offices in Bangkok Monday in their ongoing protests against the government.

In a counter-protest to the red-shirted United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, pink-shirted Thais rallied at a Bangkok park on Friday.

The Bangkok Post has reported that the group, gathered around a statue of King Rama VI, swore to protect Thailand.

Bangkok, Feb 7 : Gaganjeet Bhullar gave Indian golf a great present right at the start of the year with a brilliant course record of eight-under 64 and winning the season-opening Asian Tour International by one shot Sunday at the Suwan Golf and Country Club.

Bhullar, who won his maiden Asian Tour title last year, began the day six shots behind and produced one of the best come-from-behind victories on the Tour. It was his second title of the career.

Bangkok, Jan 7 - A 35-million-year-old primate fossil found in southern Thailand has added to evidence that primates, which include humans, might have originated in Asia rather than Africa, Thai media reports said Thursday.

Adisak Thiongkhaimuk, the director general of Thailand's Mineral Resources Department, confirmed Wednesday that fossils of a primate's right jaw found in an abandoned coal mine in Krabi province belonged to a gibbon-like primate that roamed the earth about 35 million years ago, The Nation newspaper reported.

Bangkok, Dec 28 - Thailand Monday began deporting 4,000 ethnic Hmong refugees to Laos despite international appeals to the government to reconsider the involuntary repatriation to an uncertain future.

The first batch of 442 Hmong were taken from Huay Nam Khao camp in Phetchabun province at 9.30 a. m. to buses that will carry them to Nong Khai province where they will cross the Mekong River on the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge into neighbouring Laos, said Thai Army Colonel Thana Jaruwat, spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command.

Bangkok, Dec 25 : Thailand's Christmas present from the international community Friday was a barrage of appeals to cancel its plans to deport some 4,000 ethnic Hmong refugees to Laos before the New Year.

Thailand earlier this year agreed with Laos to deport 4,200 Lao-Hmong living at Huai Nam Khao camp in Phetchabun province and another 158 recognised Hmong refugees detained in Nong Khai province by year-end 2009.

Bangkok, Dec 18 - A staff member of the Thai prime minister's secretariat has tendered her resignation after drawing the ire of women's rights groups for passing out sexy beer calendars at Government House, media reports said Friday.

Chitpas Bhirombhakdi, a 23-year-old heiress to the business clan that owns Boonrawd Brewery - makers of Singha and Leo beers - has handed in her resignation letter to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and plans to quit her office next week, the Bangkok Post reported.

Bangkok, Dec 14 : A Thai court Monday ordered a 12-day detention period without bail for one Belarus national and four Kazakh citizens who landed a cargo plane with 35 tonnes of weapons at a Bangkok airport on the weekend.

The Russian-made IL76 cargo plane landed at Don Mueang Airport Saturday for refueling after a flight from Pyongyang, North Korea. Acting on a tip from US intelligence services, Thai authorities boarded the plane and discovered 35 tonnes of weapons, including missiles and rocket-propelled grenades.

Bangkok, Dec 14 - Opium cultivation in South-East Asia rose 11 percent this year as soaring prices in Laos and political instability in Myanmar drew more farmers to the illicit poppy crop, a UN report revealed Monday.

Cultivation increased to 33,811 hectares from 30,388 hectares last year in the Golden Triangle - comprising parts of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand - which two decades ago accounted for more than 70 percent of the world's supply of heroin, a refined derivative of opium.

After years of crop-substitution and development projects that reduced the acreage under cultivation in the region, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) now acknowledges a "worrisome" trend towards increased cultivated in the illicit crop since 2006.

The famous Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor is constantly living in a fear to be encountered by his female fans. The success of the movies like Jab We Met and Kaminey has made him the one of the most sought actors in the Bollywood.

During the recent shooting under the Yash Raj Films, in Bangkok, the actor was cornered by some female fans, who wanted to see his bare torso. This incident made the actor to think about strengthening his safety measures.

A source said, "Shahid has a huge female fan following and is constantly mobbed at various places. At times it becomes too risky for him."

Bangkok, Nov 26 : An alleged member of Thailand's opposition movement was arrested Thursday after police reportedly found 6,000 small bombs and eight guns in his house in Chiang Mai ahead of a planned visit by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to the city.

Police raided the house where, besides mini-bombs, they discovered four revolvers, two automatic pistols and two rifles, the Nation newspaper said.

Bangkok  - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Monday that he might skip Sunday's scheduled visit to the northern city of Chiang Mai due to the threat of violent demonstrations.

Activists loyal to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra have threatened to physically prevent Abhisit from meeting local businessmen, and allegedly have threatened his life.

He said he would listen to the advice of intelligence officials before deciding whether or not to travel to Thaksin's hometown at this time, the Bangkok Post reported.

Bangkok  - Thailand's exports hit 14.8 billion dollars in October, a decline of 3 per cent year-on-year, marking the lowest fall in 2009, the commerce ministry said Friday.

Imports reached 13.1 billion dollars, down 17.5 per cent year-on-year. Thailand recorded a trade surplus of 1.7 billion dollars, Thai Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai said.

Bangkok  - Violent incidents have declined 28 per cent this year in Thailand's predominantly Muslim deep South thanks to the army's "hearts and minds campaign" in the troubled area bordering Malaysia, the region's army commander claimed.

"In 2008, there were 700 incidents of violence but this year there have been only 500 incidents," Lieutenant General Pichet Wisaijorn, told the Foreign Correspondent Club of Thailand Wednesday night.