Curse follows tourist back to Thailand

BANGKOK (AFP): A Thai tourist who said he had been cursed after taking stones as souvenirs from Australia’s famed Ayers Rock has returned the stones to the Australian embassy here, officials said today. The unidentified tourist had ignored signs asking visitors not to take pieces of Ayers Rock – a sacred site for Australian aborigines. He sent the two fist-sized rocks back to the embassy in Bangkok with an unsigned letter saying he had been plagued by bad luck since his return from Australia. Embassy staff said the rocks had been handed over to visiting Northern Territory Industry Minister Mick Palmer who would take them back to Ayers Rock.