A CORNER of Teesside could soon be forever Thai.

Courses on Thai cuisine, massage, Muay Thai, the country's national sport, dramatic art, music and dance may soon be on offer at the Middlesbrough College, Middlesbrough, as part of a cultural exchange.

Thailand's ex-deputy prime minister, General Tienchai Sirisompan, president of the International Amateur Muay Thai Federation, is in Britain heading a delegation of cultural and educational leaders.

In Teesside, delegates from the Chulalongkorn University and the Thai and Cultural Organisation will meet college principal John Hogg to discuss forming a British-Thai Cultural College, in association with Middlesbrough College.

Mr Hogg said that if the project went ahead it would be unique. He said: "The British-Thai Cultural College will be a very exciting venture for us. A collaboration across so many miles is certainly challenging and one which the college is keen to investigate further."