Blimp to aid Thai security

Thailand's Cabinet has approved buying a blimp to help to survey the country's insurgency-plagued southern provinces.

More than 3300 people have been killed in Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani since early 2004, when an Islamic separatist insurgency flared.

The provinces are the only ones with Muslim majorities in Buddhist-dominated Thailand.

A Government spokesman said 260 million baht ($14.72 million) of a total 350 million baht would be used to buy the unmanned dirigible from the United States.

The rest would be for surveillance cameras for the aircraft and ground equipment.