Not a good week for Thailand

At least 78 people died in southern Thailand after being arrested and loaded into army trucks following Monday's clashes with security forces.

Officials said almost all the dead suffocated as they were taken to an army barracks several hours away.

Thai officials said 78 of the arrested protesters were later found dead, apparently after they suffocated in trucks used to transport them.
"After we brought people who were arrested into detention, we found that another 78 people were dead," Justice Ministry spokesman Manit Suthaporn told reporters.

Dr Pornthip Rojanasunan, a forensic expert for the Justice Ministry, told the BBC that 80% of the victims died from smothering or suffocation and 20% from stress or convulsions.

Army deputy commander Maj-Gen Sinchai Nujsathit admitted that "we had more than 1,300 people packed into the six-wheel trucks" for a journey to Pattani province that took five hours.