Bangkok - Thousands of anti-government protestors turned a royal park in central Bangkok into a sea of red Saturday night, putting pressure on a new Thai government that seeks national reconciliation after three years of political upheaval.

The followers of controversial former prime minister Thaksin Shinwatra are demanding the government take action against rival demonstrators who closed Bangkok's airports in December, including the current foreign minister, Kasit Pirom.

Bangkok - Thailand will deport the latest group of Rohingya boat people to arrive from Burma, a top immigration official said Saturday.

A group of 78 Rohingyas who claim to be refugees from Myanmar's dire economy will be repatriated "just as soon as we have found a way to do this humanely," Immigration Commissioner Lt-Gen Chatchawan Suksomchit said.

Bangkok - A Thai court on Friday sentenced the son of a former Miss Thailand to more than 10 years in prison for ramming his Mercedes into a crowd of people at a bus stop, killing one woman and injuring several others.

The Phra Khanong district court handed down a term of 10 years and one month to Kanpithak Patchimsawat, 21, after finding him guilty of intentionally causing death and injury for the 2007 incident that sparked widespread public indignation against the rich and powerful in Bangkok.

Bangkok - Thai immigration police on Thursday arrested the alleged mastermind of a murder attempt on an US citizen, a case the prime minister last week ordered the police to prioritize.

Janpen Oxley, 48, the Thai wife of British national Darren Oxley, was arrested at 7 am Thursday at Aranyaprathet on the Thai-Cambodian border.

Bangkok  - The United Nations on Thursday called on the Thai government for a "transparent" investigation into reports that the navy last month took an estimated
1,000 Rohingya refugees out to sea and set them adrift in boats without engines or supplies.

"We feel very strongly that this needs to be the subject of a transparent investigation," United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regional representative Raymond Hall said.