A massive earthquake off Indonesia triggered tsunami fears across the Indian Ocean today sending people in coastal cities fleeing to high ground.

A tsunami watch has been issued for countries across the Indian Ocean after a large earthquake hit waters off Indonesia, sending people pouring from their homes in panic.

SOUTHERN Thailand is facing more torrential rain after downpours killed at least 15 people and forced the navy to help evacuate hundreds of stranded tourists.

A YOUNG Irish woman has described how she and her friends were lucky to escape serious harm when freak weather conditions caused a Thai plane to crash land, injuring passengers and killing the pilot.

AN airliner crashed into the control tower after landing on the Thai holiday island of Samui yesterday, killing the pilot.

An airliner crashed into the control tower after landing on the Thai holiday island of Samui today, killing the pilot.

The political crisis gripping Thailand could damage vital tourism trade, experts said today.

THAI police used tear gas to disperse a crowd of several thousand anti-government protesters who were besieging city police headquarters.

Investigators are today searching through charred remains of a plane that crashed and killed 90 people – mostly foreigners – on Thailand’s resort island of Phuket, while an airline official said wind shear may have doomed the flight.

A suspect in the failed London car bomb attacks recently spent several days in a Thai resort before returning to the UK, Thai police said today.

MIDLETON-based Discover Travel has launched its largest brochure for south-east Asia, updated to include Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

THE Government is to pay for relatives of the four Irish victims of the south-east Asia tsunami to attend a remembrance service in Thailand.

The Government is to pay for relatives of the four Irish victims of the south-east Asia tsunami to attend a remembrance service in Thailand, it emerged today.

The body of Conor Keightley, the second confirmed Irish victim of the Asian tsunami, is due to be flown back to Ireland today.

Noel Baker and Juno McEnroe

The father of tsunami victim Conor Keightley has been telling how lucky his family is to have found his son’s body.

Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern has expressed his sadness at the death of Tyrone man Conor Keightley in the south Asian tsunami disaster.

Officials in Thailand have positively identified the body of Tyrone man Conor Keightley, who had been missing since the St Stephen's Day tsunami disaster.

Relatives of a 30-year-old Co Tyrone man feared killed in the Asian tsunami disaster have said they believe his remains may have been found in a mortuary at the Thai resort of Krabi.

Noel Baker, Krabi, Thailand

NEARLY 300 people, including a number of Western holidaymakers, were killed and more than 2,300 injured in southern Thai resorts after a major earthquake hit southeast Asia yesterday, causing tidal waves and flooding, a government disaster centre said.

Nearly 170 people were killed and more than 1,900 injured, with scores missing in southern Thai resorts after a major earthquake hit southeast Asia today.