Phnom Penh - The Thai embassy in Cambodia called Thai nationals for a meeting Thursday to advise on options in case they require evacuation after upcoming national elections, a Thai business representative and Cambodian officials said.

A representative from the Thai Business Association of Cambodia who declined to be named said the Thai embassy had called a meeting Thursday in Phnom Penh to discuss emergency options for Thai citizens in case of problems after national elections scheduled for Sunday.

However, she said most Thai businesses were so far not affected by cross-border tensions and continued business as usual. Cambodian government officials said they were aware of the meeting and stressed it was routine consular protocol.

Bangkok - Exports of Honda products manufactured in Thailand increased 18 per cent in the second quarter of 2008, year-on-year, earning 28.5 billion baht (856.5 million dollars) in foreign exchange, Asian Honda Motor Company announced Thursday.

Exports for the first half of 2008 amounted to 55.6 billion baht (1.7 billion dollars), Honda's Bangkok-based regional headquarters revealed.

Honda has been using Thailand as an export base since 1987.

Bangkok - A Thai man drove his passenger car into the Chao Phrya River in an apparent suicide, media reports said Thursday.

Sakda Pholfarang, 41, a single male with no regular employment, on Wednesday morning drove his Toyota Vios into the Chao Phrya river off a pier outside a Buddhist temple in Nonthaburi, a province neighbouring Bangkok.

When bystanders dove in to the river to save him, Sakda shouted at them to stay away, rolled up his windows and sank to the bottom.

Sakda's brother Phichai Pholfarang, 37, expressed surprise over the vehicular suicide, saying his brother may have been suffering stress.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian palm oil giant Sime Darby and Thailand's PTT Chemical on Wednesday signed an agreement to jointly own a major producer of oleochemicals in a deal costing the Thai company 104 million euros (164 million dollars).

PTT Chemical, the largest chemicals producer in Thailand, agreed to buy a 50-per-cent stake from the German chemicals maker Cognis in the Malaysian firm Cognis Oleochemicals, one of the world's leading producers of oleochemicals, or chemicals derived from biological oils or fats.

The other 50 per cent of the venture is held by Sime Darby, the world's largest listed palm-oil producer. The two companies would now share ownership and control of Cognis Oleochemicals.

Bangkok - The United Nations Security Council will decide this week whether or not it will hold an emergency session to discuss an escalating border spat between Thailand and Cambodia over an ancient Hindu temple, a senior Thai diplomat confirmed Wednesday.

On Monday Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, claiming he feared an "imminent state of war," appealed to the 15-member UN Security Council to intervene in the Thai-Cambodian dispute over conflicting claims to territory adjacent to the Preah Vihear temple, perched on a cliff that partly defines the two neighbouring countries' common border.

Singapore - Foreign ministers of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) met Tuesday to discuss a request by Cambodia to mediate in its border row with Thailand.

ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said the ministers of the 10-country grouping met on the sidelines of its annual meetings to discuss the tension among its two members.

"It's unfortunate that we have to deal with the issues of two neighbours but we cannot control the situation," he said. "Whether or not the situation is dangerous, that has to be assessed."

A meeting on Monday between a joint border committee of Cambodia and Thailand did not produce satisfactory results, prompting Phnom Penh to seek the help of ASEAN in resolving the issue.