Thailand wants to clear Bangkok of all its homeless and destitute

The authorities are already planning to clear the capital's streets of thousands of Thai homeless and stray dogs for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit.

[We will fly them] as far as possible from Thailand so they won't come back again Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai

Now Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai has said Cambodian beggars will be rounded up and returned home next week, once the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok had verified the beggars' identities.

"In the past, when we rounded them up and sent them across the border, they just kept coming back," Mr Surakiart told reporters.

"This time we will put them on a C-130 plane, flying around 100 of them to Phnom Penh either on Monday or Tuesday, as far as possible from Thailand so they won't come back again."

He said that Thailand considered the beggars to have entered the country illegally, and that he expected that hundreds of people would be repatriated.

Officials have also been renovating government buildings ahead of the 20-21 October meeting, which will be attended by US President George W Bush.

The Thai authorities will not only be working to ensure the capital is aesthetically pleasing. They will also want to guarantee tight security.

Prime Minister Thaksin said in June that Muslim militants had been plotting to target Western interests in Bangkok to coincide with the summit.