The Thai government plans to launch a "major campaign" across the country to increase public awareness of dengue fever. Southeast Asia is facing a serious threat from Dengue fever, with cases found in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore.

The Thai campaign against dengue fever will be launched on May 29, Public Heath Minister Dr. Suchai Charoenratanakul was quoted by the Thai News Agency as saying Saturday.

Betel-chewing is a habit indulged in all over Asia, and in Thailand nowhere more enthusiastically than in the northeast, where the three essential ingredients for a good chew - betel leaf, limestone ash and areca palm fruit - are found in abundance.

Firefighters try to contain a fire yesterday morning that affected four houses in Bangkok’s Bangrak district, causing millions of Baht’s worth of material damage.

A Munich-bound Thai aircraft with 355 passengers on board made an emergency landing at Netaji International Airport after developing a snag.

The pilot informed Kolkata (India) Air Traffic Control that the plane, which was on its way from Bangkok to Munich, would make an emergency landing at the airport because of some pressure difficulty in the aircraft following which arrangements for emergency landing were immediately made.

Rats fed GM corn due for sale in Britain developed abnormalities in blood and kidneys

Rats fed on a diet rich in genetically modified corn developed abnormalities to internal organs and changes to their blood, raising fears that human health could be affected by eating GM food.

The Independent on Sunday can today reveal details of secret research carried out by Monsanto, the GM food giant, which shows that rats fed the modified corn had smaller kidneys and variations in the composition of their blood. According to the confidential 1139-page report, these health problems were absent from another batch of rodents fed non-GM food as part of the research project.

Phuket Air has stopped its Bangkok-Bali service after passenger numbers slumped following banishment of the airline from Amsterdam and London airports earlier this month for breaches of safety standards.

The Good View a branch of the popular Chiang Mai riverside restaurant. The good View is now drawing crowds of drinkers to the banks of Bangkok’s Chao Phraya. A large venue, it sits at the working end of the river near the Krung Thep Bridge, so rather than five-star hotels and their dinner cruisers, the view here is of the next-door boatyard with ribs of abandoned wooden fishing boats poking through the mud banks and larger sea-going vessels laying up for repair.

In popular Thai belief, there are four trees which are associated with love and the effects of love, namely, the Rak, the Sok, the Rakam, and the Sal trees. Beginning with the Rak or the tree of love, this tree has unscented white flowers which are woven into garlands for the bride and bridegroom at their wedding ceremony. On many occasions, the Rak flowers are mixed with jasmines for fragrance. And, especially as they are unscented and heart-shaped, lovers may gallantly say that the fragrance emanates from the hearts of their beloved.

There is another tree of the same name which grows in the forest. It has large blossoms of a color ranging from pink to dark red. The extract of this Rak tree is jet-black and thick. It is most useful for coating Buddha images before gold leaves are put on. And both the Rak and gold have helped preserve many images to this day.

The first thing that hits you upon entering Pantip Plaza in Bangkok, are aggressive youths, mostly male but even a few females, who jump out and block your way as you enter. They even grab your arm firmly as your pass, and shout in your face "Sexy DVD, Sexy Movie", and at the looks of the covers of these movies they are a bit more then only sexy, they won't go away even when you wrestle yourself free. You get pounced on as much as three times in less than a minute on entering and leaving Pantip Plaza.

A nest of baby Siamese crocodiles (Crocodylus siamensis) has been found in southern Laos, raising hopes that the nearly extinct species may yet survive, conservationists said Friday.

Lao and international wildlife specialists found seven hatchlings and an old crocodile nest in a small swamp in the southern Lao province of Savannakhet in March, the Mekong Wetlands Biodiversity Program announced in a statement.