Wendy's burger chain will withdraw from Japan, ending a seven-year presence in an Asian market long dominated by McDonald's Corp.

Zensho Co. Ltd., which runs America's No.3 hamburger chain in Japan, said Friday it will end a contract with Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. Zensho began operating Wendy's in Japan in 2002 and has 71 Wendy's burger shops across the nation. But the company said the burger restaurants will be closed by the end of December.

"We will focus our resources on beef bowl restaurants and others. The closure is part of our business plans," said a Zensho spokesman, who declined to be named, citing department policy. Wendy's in Japan generated 6.2 billion yen ($70 million) in sales in the previous fiscal year to March 2009.

Japan's burger business has long been dominated by McDonald's, which is said to enjoy around a 65 percent market share. McDonald's - the world's biggest fast-food chain - opened its first burger shop in Tokyo's glitzy Ginza district in 1971. Since then, the number of McDonald's shops in Japan has swelled to 3,720.

One of Thailand's most popular bakery chains, S&P, said Tuesday it was recalling all its packaged cookies from stores nationwide after Swiss authorities said they found high concentrations of melamine in the Thai biscuits.

"S&P will pull all its cookies from its 280 outlets nationwide as a precautionary measure," said Witoon Sila-on, vice president of business development at S&P Syndicate PCL.

Swiss authorities on Monday said that tests of Milk Cookies S&P found high melamine levels and called on other European countries to withdraw the products.

Witoon said the company had never exported its cookies to Switzerland and questioned where the sample came from. But he said the company would submit samples to Thailand's Food and Drug Administration to determine "whether our cookies are safe for consumption."

Continued increasing rice prices in the Thai market have prompted numerous farmers and middlemen to slow, stall or altogether stop selling paddy rice to millers, a move which eventually affects exporters, according to a Bank of Thailand (BoT) official who is deeply acquainted with the rice trade.

Benjamas Kotenongbua, a senior economist at BoT's Northeastern Office in Khon Kaen, said that this year's rice prices have soared unexpectedly to a new record high. The government-sponsored mortgage program for the 2007-2008 rice season saw only 240,000 tonnes of rice being committed to it, compared to earlier estimates of 8 million tonnes, she said.

The major reason for the sharp drop of rice participation in the program was the result of soaring of rice prices which persuaded farmers and middlemen not to sell rice to millers.

Asian physical rice prices rose late yesterday afternoon on dwindling paddy supply in Thailand and Vietnam, while trading was lackluster due to high export prices, exporters said.

In Thailand, tight paddy supply following monsoon rains slowed operations, while prices rose further as the government hasn't released rice stocks, exporters said.

"We expect prices to be on an upward trend until next month, when the new crop will be harvested," one exporter said. "There are no buyers right now because prices are too high," a second exporter said.

Wednesday, Thai 100% grade B rice was offered $2 higher from Friday at $333-$335/ton, FOB Bangkok, 5% broken was offered $2-$5 higher at $324-$325/ton, while parboiled 100% sortexed was also offered around $2 higher at $324-$333/ton.

Thailand, known for its tasty food yet slimline people, is getting fatter - a trend that's creating a new market for high-tech weight loss therapies aimed at portly people who want to shed the kilos.

A commuter munching on a fatty breakfast roll at a busy downtown intersection need only glance up to see a slimming center billboard showing success stories in skimpy outfits flaunting their trim frames.

Across town, rotund Thais can begin the day strapped into rubber weight-loss suits at a high-tech gym, or sweating off the fat at one of Bangkok's many spas.

The boom in such treatments is partly driven by pressure to emulate noodle-thin movie stars, but also by a growing incidence of obesity. 'We eat more fat now than compared with the traditional Thai food, which has a lot of vegetables,' says Chaicharn Deerochanawong, consultant in diabetes who works for the Ministry of Public Health.

Thai Hom Mali Rice enjoys a World Famous reputation for its high quality and its natural, aromatic fragrance like Pan Dan us leaves. One reason Hom Mali Rice is special is its adaptability for different dishes, from main courses to tasty desserts.

Rice is the edible seed of a semi-aquatic member of the grass family, and was probably discovered by humans through the aromatic fragrances released when rice grass is burned. And, after it was discovered that rice seeds have a sweet, aromatic flavor after cooking, humans paid more attention to it and have since acquired knowledge and wisdom, which, for thousands of years, has made it the staple diet for much of humanity.

Among the world's various strains of rice, Thai Horn Mali Rice enjoys a world famous reputation, being widely accepted for its quality and nutritional benefits including vitamins Bi and B2, niacin, carbohydrates, protein, and minerals such as iron, calcium and phosphorous. In Thailand it is more commonly known as Horn Mali rice: 'Hom' refers to its aromatic fragrance apparent during cooking, and 'Mali' refers to its white, jasmine-like color.

Pad Thai is traditionally made with rice noodles and Thai-Asian fish sauce, which you can find in Asian markets and some supermarkets. But soy sauce and fettucine noodles produce a great version, too.

Pad Thai was originally developed in Bangkok to serve busy workers with fast, nutritious and delicious food to eat in their breaks, but nowadays variations can be seen on menus across the country.

Although the dish is now popular in many parts of Thailand the best Pad Thai is still to be found at the roadside food stalls of Bangkok.

If you ask any tourist who have ever visited Thailand about their favorite Thai food, their answers, almost without exception, will be Tom Yam Kung.

Tom Yam Kung, or spicy shrimp soup, is the number one of the top ten Thai dishes loved by tourists. And in fact, it is one of the most favorite dishes for Thai people as well. It is simply because it is so delicious for its unique hot and sour taste and the refreshing smell of herbal spices charmingly attracts a wide range of tasters to murmur the words "Tom Yam Kung".

With pride in this Thai delicacy, the Research and Development Institute of Kasetsart University, Kampaengsaen Campus has joined hands with the Division of Applied Life Sciences of the Graduate School of Agriculture of Kyoto University, the Department of Biotechnological Science of Kinky University in Japan to pursue research regarding the benefit of spices that formulate this famous soup. 'Tom Yam Kung' contains ingredients which may help prevent digestive cancer, researchers said.

Speaking about Thai sweets or Khanom Thai is only one way of speaking about Thai women. Even today, cooking and the making of sweets are still considered a feminine art. That can be understood in terms of the social condition in Thailand since the Ayutthaya period. Men went to war while women stayed at home to take care of the family.

However, the role of women then was no less active or less renowned. For, during the intervals when the soldiers came home, it was the women who put the hearts back into them by welcoming them to "sweet home," not only figuratively but literally.

In performing household duties, Thai women have pleased not as slaves, but as free people who are well aware, of the division of labor. In this respect, great women cooks were not only much appreciated in their times, but have also lived on in people's memories.

Thai sweets are, in fact, made from three simple ingredients, namely, coconut, rice flour, and palm sugar. But out of this mixture they can come in many different shapes, colors, and flavors. Some also have beautiful names, such as Bulan Dan Mek or the Moon Soaring through the Clouds. Thai sweets making, like Thai cooking in general, appears quite simple.

Thailand's love affair with fresh snack food is enough to shock the most seasoned of palates thanks to an explosive use of extra ingredients.

In Thailand, nature has been generous to its people, letting them enjoy a wide variety of year-round and seasonal fruits. Add to this the fact that, in this country, cooking is a tradition that Thais cherish in their own sweet way, and the possibilities for locally grown snack food are endless.

Among the many offerings are durian and banana chips, three flavored mango, tamarind candies and durian toffees, as well as a long line of dehydrated and flavored fruits. They are - no pun intended - the fruition of Thai culinary efforts. The secret, which is no more, of the fine taste of Thai food, dessert and preserved fruits is not their honed intuition but their daring to be different, to experiment and explore beyond the boundaries of ordinary tastes.