3 patients under close watch for bird flu in Thailand.

BANGKOK, Jan. 21 Kyodo

Three people in central Thailand with pneumonia-like symptoms are being tested for bird flu, Public Health Minister SUdarat Keyuraphun said Wednesday.

She said the results of laboratory tests will be available in two to three days in a ''straight-forward manner.''

The Thai government has repeatedly said the country is free of the avian influenza which has killed five people in Vietnam.

Thai officials said thousands of chickens in Thailand had died of poultry cholera and respiratory disease and hundreds thousands of other chicken have to be slaughtered as part of preventive measures against the possible epidemic.

At a press briefing, Sudarat assured the public that health officials are closely monitoring the conditions of the three patients in Nakhon Sawan, Suphanburi and Kanchanaburi provinces.

''All the three patients under close watch have been in contact with chickens. It is not concluded if they are (infected with) bird flu. They all are still alive,'' she said, stressing that the ministry will straightforwardly announce the lab test results.

One of the three patients is a poultry butcher living in Nakhon Sawan Province and his lung inflammatory condition has improved, according to the minister.

The ministry has also been monitoring 55 other people living in the communities where the three suspected patients live. ''So far, none of them has any problem. They will be watched for 10 days,'' Sudarat said.

To dispel public fears that some poultry in Thailand might contain the bird flu virus, Thailand's association of chicken exporters said Tuesday that it will pay 1 million baht (about

$25,600) in compensation to anyone who dies of avian influenza as a result of eating Thai chicken.

At the Government House on Tuesday, the 36-member cabinet led by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra were served lunch with all chicken dishes. The Thaksin cabinet said it hopes to boost public confidence in Thai poultry.

Poultry has not been selling well ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays. Domestic consumers have curtailed purchases of chicken meat and food made of chicken in the wake of reports that some 800,000 chickens were culled recently due to the cholera outbreak in central Thailand.

In 2002, Thailand exported food products worth $6.78 billion, with frozen and processed chicken accounting for 14.4%, according to statistics compiled by the country's Export Promotion Department.

Thailand is the world's fourth largest chicken exporter.

According to the Thai Broilers Processing Exporters Association, Thailand exports premium grade chicken products to many countries, including Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Middle East countries, European Union countries and South Africa.