BANGKOK — A prominent state university in Thailand is frantically buying back 3,000 kilograms of rare books and magazines that it mistakenly sold as recycling materials to a vendor for 6,000 baht last week.

According to Matichon, library staff at Silpakorn University's Thapra campus arranged for a recycling truck to pick up piles of books and magazines that were marked for disposal at the library on 30 June. However, the staff somehow mixed up the order and gave away 3 tons of the library's archival collections instead, at the meager price of 2 baht per kilogram, according to university officials. 

The collection includes essays, books, pamphlets, and dissertations on historical and anthropological subjects in Thailand. The collection also reportedly included magazines published by student activists in the years leading up to the 1973 student uprising that toppled the military junta at the time.

Matichon said the university administration discovered the mix-up a few days later, and ordered an investigation into the incident.

"Silpakorn University has already convened a committee to investigate to see how many important books are missing," said Sakdipan Tanwimolrat, director of Silpakorn University's library department. "From what I know so far, it's quite a lot. But we cannot answer for sure. Silpakorn University will try to track down and bring these books back as soon as possible."

Sakdipan added that the librarian who oversaw the sale offered a letter resignation, but the university turned it down because "it's not a solution. We want people to stay and solve this problem together … I want everyone to sympathize with the officials and librarians, because they also love these books." 

Udom Rattanawong, the 60-year-old owner of the recycling operation that bought the books, said he was contacted the University’s librarians after he posted an advertisement on the internet seeking old books and paper scraps.

He and four staff then arrived at the library on 30 June and moved the piles of books onto his truck, Udom said. According to Udom, a library official pointed to the piles and left shortly afterwards. No one else supervised the operation, as it was their lunch break, he said.

By the time the university contacted him to buy the books back at the same price of 2 baht per kilogram, Udom said he had alreaday discarded 100-200 kilograms of books because they soaked from a rainstorm. He added that he was about to send the rest to a recycling plant when he received the phone call from Silpakorn University.

"I didn't know they were rare books," Udom said. "I left school when I was in fourth grade."

BANGKOK (DPA) — Thailand deported 90 ethnic Uighurs to China, officials said Thursday, amid a spat between Turkey and China over where they should be sent and their treatment by Chinese authorities.

The Uighurs were deported "as per protocol" after Thai authorities identified their country of origin, government spokesman Weerachon Sukondhapatipak told reporters.

The spokesman confirmed that 173 Uighurs were deported to Turkey a week ago, and that after the latest deportation a few more remained in custody as their country of origin had not yet been determined.

The Uighurs, previously held in Thai immigration detention centres for illegally entering the country, have been at the centre of a tug of war between China and Turkey who both claim to be their country of origin. 

Turkey's Foreign Minstry welcomed the Muslim Uighur arrivals as "brothers," while Uighurs say they face discrimination and persecution by the authorities in China.

The Thai consulate in Istanbul was attacked late Wednesday by groups protesting the Uighur's possible deportation to China, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Protesters broke into the consulate building, smashed windows and lowered the Thai flag before being dispersed by police.

The ministry released a statement on Thursday on Twitter warning Thais in Turkey to be on alert after the attacks. 

Earlier this week, Beijing issued a travel warning for Turkey after a string of xenophobic incidents against Chinese targets.

The World Uighur Congress, an umbrella organization for the Uighur diaspora, criticized the "covert, and indeed heinous, operation" by Thailand.

The group had warned that the ethnic Muslim Uighurs would face "criminal allegations" and "heavy-handed" punishment in China.

SURAT THANI — The two Burmese men accused of brutally murdering two British tourists on the island of Koh Tao last year insisted on their innocence in letters written to the public on the first day of their highly anticipated trial.

Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, both 22, have been charged with murder, rape, and theft over the deaths of British travelers David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, on Haat Sai Ri beach in the early morning of 15 September 2014.

According to police, the two suspects raped Witheridge, killed her and Miller, and stole one of their mobile phones. They have been held in prison since their arrest, and face the death penalty if convicted. 

The trial began today with a cross-examination of four witnesses, including a policeman who was among the first to find the bodies, and a doctor who reportedly examined the victims soon after they were found.

Outside of the courtroom, a representative from the Migrant Worker Rights Network (MWRN), one of the NGOs assisting the two Burmese suspects, read a letter written in Burmese by Wai Phyo in which he described his year in prison as "torture."

"I thank people around the world for donating their money to help us fight this case," the letter said. "I insist that I did not kill or rape the British tourists, and I am not involved in what happened. So, I very much hope that I will have justice. Putting me in prison even though I did not do anything wrong is torture, and it is restriction of my freedom. Right now I miss my parents in Myanmar a lot. I thank everyone who has been helping my parents." 

"I am not involved in this case or what has happened. I would like to thank those who support us and care for us. I very much hope that I will have justice. God knows what the truth is. I hope I will be freed soon."

Letters written in Burmese by Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo and read to reporters on the first day of their trial, 8 July 2015.

The two men initially confessed to the crime after they were arrested and interrogated by police without a lawyer in October 2014, but later retracted their confessions and accused police of torture. Rights groups also expressed concern that the pair was used as scapegoats after a clumsy police investigation appeared to reach a dead end. Police have vehemently denied both allegations, and insisted that they have convincing forensic evidence that implicates the two suspects. 

Speaking outside the court today, Nakhon Chomphuchat, the suspects' lawyer, said his legal team believes there is a "disparity" between the evidence the prosecutors are presenting in the court and the evidence that his team has obtained from the UK. He declined to provide further details.

"I aim to bring fairness to all sides, and to reveal the truth," Nakhon said, adding that he has full confidence in the Thai court's ability to oversee a fair trial in this case. 

At the trial today, a representative from the British Embassy in Thailand distributed statements written by relatives of Miller and Witheridge.

"Over the coming weeks we hope to gain a better understanding as to how such a wonderful young man lost his life in such idyllic surroundings in such a horrible way," the statement from Miller's family said.

Witheridge's relatives wrote, "Hannah was a beautiful person, inside and out, she brought a room alive just being there. She was fun, honest and loved life. Her bright future was brutally ended, leaving those who loved her broken with no answers. We ask that the media treat Hannah with dignity in their reporting of the trial."

CORRECTION: The defendants' lawyer, Nakhon Chomphuchat, told reporters his team acquired new evidence from the United Kingdom, but did not specify that the evidence was provided by British police, as was originally reported.