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.

Britain and the United States have warned people to stay away from southern Thailand because of the possibility of terrorist attacks.

Farmers in southern Thailand whose rice crops have been stolen by marauding monkeys have been deploying fake crocodiles to scare the raiders away, a local policeman said today.