Bangkok - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva flew to the country's troubled deep south Saturday for his first official time, days after saying he would review controversial emergency laws permitting extended detention without trial.

Abhisit had earlier shrugged off concerns about his safety visiting three provinces where some 3,500 people have died in the five years since a long-running Muslim separatist conflict became much more intense.

Bangkok - Thailand's government is investigating reports that a boatload of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar were set adrift in an overcrowded boat by border officials in December, allegedly resulting in many deaths, the foreign ministry said Friday.

Thailand remains committed to "humanitarian principles," even in the face of the "increasing urgency" and the "increasing size" of human trafficking in the region, the statement added.

Tokyo - Nissan Motor Co plans to shift production of its March subcompact car to Thailand as a way to reduce cost amid the business slowdown, a Japanese business daily said Friday.

Nissan would be the first Japanese automaker to transfer production of a top-selling car to overseas operations.

The Japanese automaker was expected to incur an operating loss for the 2008-09 fiscal year that ends March 31 due to the slowdown of global car sales and a stronger yen.

Bangkok- Thai shares slipped 3.01 in va

Bangkok  - Thailand's new government has launched a thorough review of the use of martial law in the country's conflict-ridden deep South where some 3,500 have been killed over the past four years and will decide on its extension within three months.

"I will ask the people involved to now run a systematic review of the various laws, so the next time they ask for an extension it will not be automatic," said Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, addressing an audience at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand Wednesday night.

Bangkok  - Thailand's exports are likely to hit 173.2 billion dollars in 2009, a 1.6 per cent decline on last year's performance, media reports said Wednesday.

With economic growth and import demand on the decline in the US, Europe, Japan and in other South-east Asian nations, Thailand is expected to experience a fall in exports for the first time since 2001, according to a study compiled by The Centre for International Trade Studies, part of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.