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Published on August 8, 2007

National Elephant Institute director Worawit Rojanapaithoon said the Bureau of the Royal Household's Royal Elephant Den had informed the TECC that the Queen had heard about the thin and weak baby elephant whose 25-year-old mother Phang Kaew was unable to breastfeed because of an abnormality in the milk-producing hormone.

Her Majesty granted Bt300,000 to buy milk powder for the baby elephant, he said. The TECC will hold a ceremony to receive the donation on Friday.

Worawit also revealed that donations from the public had reached about Bt400,000.

Phang Kaew and her baby were admitted to the Elephant Hospital in Lampang on July 23 by owner Pornchai Chanthanatrakul, of Chiang Mai's Mae Chaem district, after the baby became thin and weak.

Bangkok:Minibus crash leaves 7 injured

Seven people were injured when a minibus skidded out of its lane, over a safety divider and into several oncoming vehicles yesterday. The pile-up took place near the mouth of Soi Pattanakarn 16 in Bangkok's Suan Luang district.

The minibus driver, 62-year-old Jantee Saengseeda, who was one of the injured, told police that the vehicle swerved when he applied the brakes while going down an overpass for the Klong Tan Intersection.

"The last thing I saw was the minibus hurtling towards my car," Surin Saengsee, 38, said from hospital.

Bangkok:Bus driver's jail sentence upheld

The Appeal Court yesterday upheld a lower court's ruling to sentence a Bangkok bus driver to 18 months in prison for the death of a university student who fell off the bus he was driving at Lam Salee Intersection in September 2004.

Tawin Saengdet - who was convicted of reckless driving causing another person's death - had his original three-year term halved after he confessed during his trial.

Assumption University student Piyathida Chotemanas, who was standing at the open door when the number 207 bus took a turn, died 10 days after falling and hitting her head on the pavement on Ramkhamhaeng Road.