Bangkok - Thai Prime Minster Abhisit Vejjajiva on Friday lifted the state of emergency he had imposed 12 days ago on Bangkok and surrounding provinces to quell anti-government protests. Abhisit announced early Friday at the end of a two-day joint session of the lower and upper houses of parliament that he had decided to lift the state of emergency to show the government's sincerity in seeking national reconciliation.

Small groups of a soldiers posted at various sensitive locations throughout the capital had been withdrawn from the streets Friday morning.

Bangkok - Violent street protests that had to be quelled by the army last week are expected to cost Thailand 1.4 to 2.8 billion dollars in lost tourism revenues, a Thai think tank said Thursday.

Thailand was rocked by anti-government street protests earlier this month, culminating with a crackdown on April 13 to 14 by army troops. Two were killed and 123 injured in the violence.

Bangkok  - Thailand's army chief, General Anupong Paojinda, admitted Thursday that bullets used in last week's assassination attempt on media mongol Sondhi Limthingkul came from a military arsenal used for shooting practice.

Unidentified gunmen on April 17 riddled the car of Sondhi, a core leader of protests that shut down Bangkok's two airports last year, with more than 100 bullets from AK-47, M16 and HK33 assault rifles.

Sondhi survived the attack with minor head injuries from bullet fragments.

Bangkok  - With street violence and assassination attempts on the rise in Thailand, automobile companies have found a lucrative new growth market - bulletproof cars - news reports said Thursday.

This week Germany's BMW AG launched its X5 Security Plus model in Thailand, marketing the vehicle as the first to offer protection against AK-47 assault rifle attacks while Ford Motor Co has offered two bulletproof cars to the deputy prime minister in charge of security, The Nation newspaper reported.

Bangkok - Bangkok residents in 2007 produced as much carbon dioxide as New Yorkers and surpassed Londoners' emissions by 1.2 tons per capita, a United Nations-sponsored report revealed Wednesday.

Residents in Bangkok and New York each emitted 7.1 tons of the greenhouse gas in 2007 while London residents emitted 5.9 tons, according to a report compiled by the Bangkok government and the Green Leaf Foundation, a Bangkok-based environmental group, with support from the United Nations.

Bangkok - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva maintained Wednesday that his government had acted with restraint and transparency in last week's crackdown on violent protests in Bangkok that left two people dead and 123 injured.

"Only two people died, and six were injured by bullets, including two soldiers and four civilians," Abhisit told a joint session of the upper and lower houses of parliament.