Bangkok - Thai police on Tuesday charged the lead singer of a rock band as the prime suspect in starting the fire at the Santika pub on New Year's Day that killed 66 people and left more than 200 injured.

Salawudh Arriya was arrested Monday night while performing at a Bangkok pub with "Burn," a popular Thai rock band that was on stage at Santika on the night of the fire.

Phnom Penh - Cambodian and Thai foreign ministers meeting in Phnom Penh agreed Monday to negotiate a border dispute that last year erupted into a fatal skirmish between the South-east Asian neighbours.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters after his two-hour meeting with Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya that talks concerning the border surrounding the
11th-century Preah Vihear temple would resume next week.

Bangkok - Honda Motor Company's exports from Thailand reached 23.6 billion baht (674 million dollars) in the last quarter of 2008, down 12 per cent compared with the same period in 2007, the Japanese auto manufacturer revealed on Monday.

Total Honda exports from Thailand in 2008 amounted to 104.6 billion baht (2.9 billion dollars), up 4 per cent on the 2007 performance, according to figures released by Asian Honda Motor Company, Honda's regional office in South-East Asia.

Bangkok - Honda Motor Company's exports from Thailand reached 23.6 billion baht (674 million dollars) in the last quarter of 2008, down 12 per cent compared with the same period in 2007, the Japanese auto manufacturer revealed on Monday.

Total Honda exports from Thailand in 2008 amounted to 104.6 billion baht (2.9 billion dollars), up 4 per cent on the 2007 performance, according to figures released by Asian Honda Motor Company, Honda's regional office in South-East Asia.

Bangkok - Thai hospitals attracted an estimated 1.4 million foreign patients last year, earning the country about 70 billion baht (2 billion dollars) from medical tourism, media reports said Monday.

Tanatip Supparit, chief executive officer of Piyavate Hospital - one of about 30 Thai hospitals that cater to foreign patients - estimated that some 1.4 million foreigners received medical care in Thailand in 2008, with 800,000 receiving "complicated treatment," reported The Nation newspaper.

Bangkok - Erratic price fluctuations on the international market have forced gold shops in Bangkok's Chinatown district to shut their doors Monday, the start of the Chinese New Year.

Jitti Tangsitpakdi, president of the Gold Traders' Association of Thailand, said gold jewellery shops in Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown, will stay closed until Wednesday to weather out the wild fluctuations in gold prices.