Bangkok  - The Thai government on Thursday changed the venue for the upcoming summit between South-East Asia and Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea from the resort island of Phuket to the beach resort of Pattaya.

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya confirmed the venue switch for the summit, scheduled for April 11 to 12, at a press conference Thursday.

Bangkok  - Tourist arrivals to the Asia-Pacific region fell 2.8 per cent in the last quarter of 2008, with Thailand leading the plunge with a 28 per cent decline, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) revealed Wednesday.

PATA compiles travel statistics for 37 destinations in Asia, the Pacific islands and the Americas.

The association noted a "dramatic downturn" in arrivals last quarter of 2008 in Japan, Thailand and Sri Lanka, reflecting "both the worsening global economic climate and regional/national issues."

Bangkok - Thailand's tax collections fell 29.1 per cent last month, to 82.43 billion baht (2.3 billion dollars), government sources said Tuesday.

Fiscal Policy Office director-general Somchai Sujjapongse said the government had collected 451.52 billion baht (12.54 billion dollars) in tax revenues between October and February, the first five months of the fiscal year.

That amount was 16.4 per cent below projections, the Bangkok Post online news service reported.

Bangkok  - Marine police launched a sea surface search Tuesday near the Similan Islands for six missing foreign tourists and a Thai national whose scuba diving boat sank after being hit by a sudden storm.

"We are conducting a surface search in the area today," Marine Police Lieutenant Colonel Wanlop Phuangbaka said. "If the bodies are not in the boat they should float to the surface within 24 hours," he said in a telephone interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Bangkok - Thai shares were down nearly 2 per cent Monday on Hong Kong jitters and global worries, analysts said.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) ended at 411.27, down 8.24 points, or 1.97 per cent.

"It's the same story, people are worried about the world economy," Atkinson Securities analyst Chaiyot Jetwankul said.

He said the 5-per-cent fall on the Hong Kong stock market Monday had added to the regional jitters.

Bangkok - Thai marine police on Monday were searching for six foreigners and one Thai who went missing after their speed boat sunk near the Similan Islands, a popular scuba-diving destination in the Andaman Sea.

"We're still searching for the missing," Marine Police Lieutenant Colonel Wanlop Phuangbaka said.

Among the missing were two Australians, two Swiss, one German, one Japanese and one Thai, Wanlop said in a telephone interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.