Hat Yai, Thailand: High school and college students in Hat Yai are becoming "rented wives" for foreign men, especially from Singapore and Malaysia, who are seeking to avoid being infected with Aids. These men pay a monthly allowance of about 40,000 baht (S$1,600) and rent an apartment for their partner. (Straits Times 16 Dec 2002) (A7) 

  The Golden Triangle, an area north of Thailand known for opium production, has earned a new reputation as an arms haven for regional rebel groups, including terrorist organisations with links to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. A draft United Nations (UN) report obtained this week said arm dealers "are known to provide ammunitions and weapons to groups such as Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines, Jemaah Islamiah in Indonesia and other South-east Asian countries that are linked to Al-Qaeda. (Straits Times 4 Sep 2002) (1)

  A woman apparently intent on suicide was ripped apart by crocodiles after she jumped into a pool of more than 100 crocodiles at a wildlife park near Bangkok yesterday. She was identified in some media reports as Somjai Setabul. (Straits Times 12 Aug 2002) (4)

  Posing as reporters, three plainclothes policemen overpowered a monk who had stormed into the Thai Parliament yesterday, brandishing an Ak-47 assault rifle and taking 20 members of staff hostage. The monk, Pramaha Sayanjerasutho, 37, was defrocked immediately and charged. He faces up to 20 years in jail. (Straits Times 23 May 2002) (4)

   Women who go to a place of entertainment in Thailand without being accompanied by a male companion are banned from entering the premises under new orders issued by the police. The order has provoked an outcry from the public and many female groups. But police pointed to a 40-year-old law, intended to curb prostitution, empowering police to ban women. (Straits Times 15 Feb 2002)(6)

  Thai police detained more than 200 students, following a clash between rival groups armed with guns, knives and explosives at a Bangkok vocational college on Thursday night. The gangland-style battle left one student killed and 32 injured. (Straits Times 22 Dec 2001)(A25)

  Thais are so obsessed with gambling that 70 per cent of funerals held in some provinces are auctioned off by bereaved families. The successful bidder foots the bill, in return for the family's permission to hold gambling sessions during the funeral. The illegal gambling industry generates a revenue of hundreds of thousands of baht a night.(Straits Times 20 Dec 2001) (4)

  A Thai software site, Thaiware.com, has launched a downloadable program which it says will keep mosquitoes at bay by emitting a low-frequency sound from computer speakers. (Straits Times 18 Dec 2001)(5)

   A Thai company has developed low-cholesterol eggs by giving its chickens feed mixed with nutritious acids found mainly in seafood. The company, Quality Meat, has named the eggs, Doctor Hen and plans to market them as health food. Infants, young children and middle-age consumers who are concerned about cholesterol have been identified as niche markets. (Straits Times 17 Sep 2001)(A6)

   A 90-page booklet on education reform, written by a student, is being snapped up by teachers and officials across Thailand. The booklet, A Thai Student's View On Education Reform, was written by Thosaphon Chieocharnpraphan two years ago when he was just 14. It is now in its fourth run with 8,000 copies distributed across the country. (Straits Times 26 Aug 2001)(6)

  Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was acquitted by the Constitutional Court yesterday of charges that he hid his wealth, ending months of uncertainty and allowing him to get on with solving the country's economic woes. Chief Judge Prasert Nasakul said at a press conference that the panel of 15 judges voted 8-7 in Mr Thaksin's favour. (Straits Times 4 Aug 2001)(1)

 Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has proposed shifting the country's clocks one hour forward in a radical attempt to boost the country's  competitiveness. Changing Thailand's time to match Singapore, Malaysia and Hongkong's - which are currently an hour ahead - is the latest proposal from Mr Thaksin to help the country stave off recession and put the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) on a level playing field with the region's bourses. (Straits Times 18 Jul 2001)(1)

  Restaurant owners whose business has dropped 70 per cent folowing charges that shark's fins contain dangerously high levels of mercury have set up an organisation to counter such allegations. Thirty of 50 restaurants in Chinatown here have established the Shark Fin's Soup Entrepreneurs Club in response to conservation group WildAid, which says the soup posed a serious health threat. Last Monday, WildAid released its latest study showing high mercury contamination levels in seven of 10 shark's fin samples taken from the Chinatown area. (Straits Times 9 Jul 2001) (A5)

  Night entertainment in the Thai capital is in for a major shakeup, with a move by the government to relocate bars, massage parlours and other sleazy forms of nightlife to outer-city areas - away from residential estates, temples and schools. The plan, which will see areas in Bangkok and 40 other major Thai cities designated as residential and entertainment zones, is aimed at reducing crime and curbing the spread of drugs, which are associated with these establishments. (Straits Times 1 Jun 2001)

  Thailand executed four drug criminals by firing squad on 18 Apr 2001 and, for the first time, televised their final hours - up to the point the blindfolds were put on - as the government showed just how far it was willing to go to warn off traffickers. Interior Minister Purachai Piemsomboon indicated yesterday there were plans to carry out weekly executions of condemned drug offenders. (Straits Times 19 Apr 2001)

  Two bomb blasts, thought to be the work of a separatist group, hit two southern Thailand towns within hours of each other on 7 Apr 2001, leaving a five-year-old boy dead and at least 45 people injured. The first blast ripped through a train stationed at Hatyai. The second bomb exploded in a hotel carpark in Betong, near the Thai-Malaysian border. (Straits Times 8 Apr 2001)