THAILAND - The chikungunya that has ravaged Southern Thailand has spilled over, with 13 patients detected in Si Sa Ket, Ubon Ratchathani and Amnat Charoen, an official said yesterday.

Most are rubber-plantation workers and soldiers returning from the South, said Disease Control Office 7 chief Dr Sarayuth Uttamangkhapong. He expressed concern that nine more people had developed chikungunya symptoms although they had not been outside their provinces.

Nakhon Ratchasima, which has had 92 dengue-fever patients this year, saw Muang district's Tambon Jor Hor villagers making a good use of cake tins to eliminate mosquitoes.

They placed open tins lined with black cloths in dark corners of their homes to lure the insects and initially trapped 100 per container. With the lids back on, the tins were left in hot sunlight to kill the mosquitoes, making ideal fish food. The tambon has reported no single case of dengue fever.