Thailand

BANGKOK (AP) — A fire broke out in dorms at a boarding school for elementary students in central Henan province, and 13 students died in the blaze, Chinese state media reported Saturday.

All of the dead were third grade students, a teacher told Zonglan news, a state-backed media outlet from Hebei province. One person rescued from the scene was being treated in the hospital, CCTV, China’s state broadcaster said.

MUEANG SUPHAN BURI, Thailand (AP) — Rescue workers carried out the grim task Thursday of recovering the remains of the 23 apparent victims of a fireworks factory explosion in central Thailand.

Only part of the building frame stood at the site of the devastated factory in an otherwise-empty rice field in rural Suphan Buri province the day after the blast.

The damage to the site and the condition of the bodies made the number of victims difficult to determine.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand and China will soon implement visa-free entry for each other’s citizens, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said Tuesday.

Chinese nationals will be granted visa-free entry on a permanent basis beginning March 1, Srettha said after his Cabinet’s weekly meeting. Chinese visitors have been allowed visa-free entry since September last year, but the privilege was due to expire on Feb. 29.

BANGKOK, Jan 1 (Bernama) — Visitors from Malaysia to Hatyai, the vibrant southern Thai city, doubled to 20,000 daily during the Christmas and year-end holiday season, contributing more than 2 billion Baht to the local economy in two weeks before the year ended.

Hatyai Songkhla Hotel Association President, Sitthipong Sitthiphataraprabha said Hatyai’s irresistible appeal lies on its combination of delectable and diverse food choices, easy accessibility, and affordable hotel options drew Malaysians in droves.

BANGKOK, Dec 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Floods in southern Thailand have killed at least six people and affected tens of thousands of households, authorities said.

The floods, which began on Dec 22, have hit more than 70,000 homes across the provinces of Satun, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, regional officials said.

Six people including an 89-year-old woman and a toddler were killed in Narathiwat, deputy provincial governor Preecha Nualnoi said.

Dec 8 (Reuters) - Thailand and conflict-torn Myanmar will create a task force to boost humanitarian assistance to people displaced by fighting and could expand that to include other aid agencies, Thailand's foreign ministry said on Friday.

Thailand hopes the plan will lead to constructive engagement between military-ruled Myanmar, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc, and the international community, it said in a statement.

BANGKOK (AP) — About two weeks into a major offensive against Myanmar’s military-run government by an alliance of three well-armed militias of ethnic minorities, an army captain, fighting in a jungle area near the northeastern border with China, lamented that he’d never seen such intense action.

His commander in Myanmar’s 99th Light Infantry Division had been killed in fighting in Shan state the week before and the 35-year-old career soldier said army outposts were in disarray and being hit from all sides.

BANGKOK (AP) — Seventeen Thai workers released from captivity by the militant Hamas group were greeted Thursday by family and friends, officials and journalists in an emotional homecoming at Bangkok’s international airport.

The 17 are among 23 Thais freed so far, with six left temporarily behind in Israel because doctors said they were not yet fit to travel. Thai officials says another nine Thai hostages are still being held in Gaza.

BANGKOK, November 24. /TASS/: Thailand expects up to 1.6 mln tourists from Russia next year, whereas by the end of this year a total of 1.4 mln Russians are expected to visit the kingdom, Deputy Governor for International Marketing of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Americas Markets at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Siripakorn Cheawsamoot who is responsible for issues of European countries’ tourism markets, said in an interview with TASS.

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar ’s military-controlled government said Thursday that almost half of more than 250 cargo trucks stranded by fighting against ethnic minority armed groups near the northeastern border with China have been destroyed in a fire caused by bombs dropped by drones.

Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson of the ruling military council, said in a statement phoned to state television MRTV that trucks parked in a compound near a trade zone in Muse township caught fire after drones belonging to ethnic armed organizations launched an attack at about 9:45 a.m. on Thursday.