This & That

● Cambodian and Thai troops at the disputed border area have been reinforced following brief clashes in which a Thai ranger is reportedly still missing.Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged gunfire for about 15 minutes near the Ou Smach checkpoint on theThai-Cambodian border about eight kilometres east of a permanent checkpoint in Thailand's Kap Choeng district in the northeastern province of Surin.Neither side has reported casualties. A ceasefire was ordered following negotiations, but troop reinforcements were seen arriving after the firefight ended.

● Two Iranian men were detained at Bangkok’s main international airport with one kilogramme of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as ‘ice,’ with a street value of about 1.5 million baht after customs officers observed them behaving suspiciously. After conducting X-ray scans, the customs officers found suspicious objects in both men's stomachs and gave them laxatives in order to excrete the objects from their bodies.After the laxatives took effect, the authorities found total 156 packages of crystal meth, weighing one kilogramme and worth about 1.5 million baht. The accused said that they smuggled the drugs into Thailand in order to sell 'ice' to agents based in the country.

● Thailand’s sovereign position is likely to be upgraded to A- or A+ from the existing BBB+ level if the current political turmoil ends, according to the Public Debt Management Office director-general Chakkrit Parapuntakul.He said the world leading rating agency Moody’s Investors Service would send its officials to assess the overall Thai economy.The office is ready to give the officials an explanation and additional information about improving economic conditions of Thailand upon the increasing exports and the global economic recovery."All key economic factors in Thailand have improved markedly, but the ongoing political standoff is an only factor affecting the economic growth," he said.

● Phuket tourism authorities will be in South Korea April 25-30 to promote Thai tourism there in the hope of attracting more Korean tourists to Thailand's Andaman Sea tourist haven.Phuket Tourism Association president Somboon Jirayus said representatives of the association and the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization will travel to Seoul and Busan for the upcoming road show, supported by Tourism Authority of Thailand’s South East Asian Market and Seoul Offices.Mr Somboon said around 20 million people live in Seoul, and about 5 million in Busan, and four airlines currently operate direct flights from Seoul to Phuket and vice versa.

● Thailand’s education will be reformed, especially at the primary level, with an aim to enable graduates to be intelligent, happy and most importantly not to forget about being a Thai, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.The educational syllabus at primary level must also be adjusted. Research indicated that 30 percent of all teaching could be eliminated, said Mr. Abhisit. If it is cut, students could spend time studying special activities outside their class, for example, meeting with villagers having education, experience and wisdom, so that they would gain more knowledge.