No Thai treasure exists: Survey

No Thai treasure exists: Survey

BANGKOK (AP): Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has been pilloried for seeking out hidden war treasure in a jungle cave in western Thailand, said on Thursday that a satellite survey showed no sign of buried gold.

Thaksin told reporters that the survey results were vague and the surveyors said wires needed to be laid across the mountains "to check the electromagnetic current to check for gold."

He said he was reluctant to go ahead with laying wires as it would mean felling trees, which would offend environmentalists.

Thailand was gripped by a gold fever two weeks ago after a maverick senator, Chaovarin Lathasaksiri, claimed to have located a cave in the western province of Kanchanaburi holding 2,500 tons of gold and 67-year-old U.S. bonds with a face value of $25 billion.

Thaksin surprised observers by going to the cave himself to check out the story. The senator has been making similar claims for the past five years and is regarded as an eccentric.