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SINGAPORE, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Thai equities rose on Monday on hopes the country's political turmoil may ease after the country's former prime minister fled to exile in Britain, while Indonesian stocks fell as coal prices dropped.
Other Asian stocks rose as oil prices briefly dipped below $115 a barrel and on a growing view that the U.S. dollar's decline is nearing an end.
Thai stocks hit a three-week high on news that ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had skipped bail and gone into exile in London, sparking hopes that persistent protests against the government might now die down.
"We have a potential legitimate solution to a three year political crisis," said Andrew Stotz, head of research at CLSA Securities in Bangkok.
"Local investors will find it positive and ready to start investing but it may be foreign funds and big funds who will wait and see."
Thailand's main SET index pared some of its gains to close up 1.8 percent, led by top oil and gas firm PTT , up 3.9 percent, and lenders Bangkok Bank and Kasikornbank , which rose 4.2 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.
Vietnam stocks gained 2.4 percent, while the Philippine index added 2.8 percent, but the Jakarta index declined 2.8 percent.
Indonesia coal miners weighed on the index after a coal price benchmark in Australia fell to a nine-week low, due to weak demand and lower oil and gas prices.
The country's largest coal producer PT Bumi Resources Tbk
closed 8.9 percent lower, while second-ranked PT Adaro Energy Tbk eased 3.8 percent.
Singapore stocks and Malaysia both edged 0.6 percent higher.
In Singapore, shipping line NOL jumped 9 percent on the weaker oil price, helping it to recover its losses last week, while Malaysia's Maybank was top gainer in Kuala Lumpur, rising 3.3 percent.
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