BANGKOK - ONE of Thailand's deputy prime ministers had emergency heart treatment on Tuesday after he passed out during a cabinet meeting, the health minister said.

'Mr Paiboon Wattanasiritham, 66, collapsed the during the meeting,' health minister Mongkol Na Songkhla told reporters.

Doctors performed an angioplasty after finding his blood pressure was extremely low, and ordered him to remain in hospital for three days, Mr Mongkol added.

Mr Paiboon said during the cabinet meeting that he was not feeling well and asked to leave early.

But he collapsed before he reached the door, Mongkol said.

'Paiboon will be hospitalised for three days, and he will have to come back to the hospital for another angioplasty in the next few weeks,' he told reporters.

Five cabinet ministers as well as the government spokesman have resigned over the last month after being accused of breaching shareholding limits imposed by anti-graft laws.

The military-installed government is expected to remain in office until elections set for Dec 23, which would restore democracy after the military seized power in a coup last year.

The coup leader, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, joined the cabinet last week as a deputy prime minister, after retiring from the army and resigning as head of the junta. -- AFP

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