YANGON - More than 100 foreigners, most of them Chinese, were arrested in northern Myanmar in a crackdown on illegal logging, a media report said Tuesday.

Villagers and soldiers remove damaged trees blocking a village weir in tambon Bueng Nakhon. The barrier normally helps to ease overflow from the Pran Buri River.

In its annual report on disasters, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned that the outlook was bleak.

The Industry Ministry is on the verge of approving up to 70 gold exploration licences that have been in limbo for the past seven years. 

The big meal — fermented wild mushrooms and soybeans wrapped in leaves, boiled bamboo shoots, sticky rice, and pomelo — was ready long before the guests arrived.

A southwestern monsoon over the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand brought heavy downpours, strong winds and high tides in several southern provinces.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives is looking at whether technology based on genetically modified organisms (GMO) could improve four so-called economic crops. 

The Transport Ministry plans to set aside 800 billion baht to fund a 10-year infrastructure development scheme starting in 2016, focusing on overhauling the rail and land transport of the country.

Thailand will vow to cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20% over the next six years as part of a new plan to combat global warming. 

Lt Gen Preecha said he had ordered 600 soldiers to be deployed in flood-prone areas of Sukhothai.

They would help erect walls of sandbags and evacuate residents.