"Our hearts are with the Chinese people, who are our relatives," Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama told Xinhua Tuesday.

China "can help herself, but (still) we would like to help," said Noppadon after paying condolences on behalf of the Thai government and people to earthquake victims in China at the Chinese Embassy.

Noppadon told Zhang Jiuhuan, Chinese ambassador to Thailand, that he was impressed and appreciated the joint efforts by the Chinese government and the people in dealing with the hardship brought by the deadly disaster.

He also expressed confidence that the Chinese people could overcome the difficulties and achieve success on rehabilitation in the affected areas as soon as possible.

Nearly 40,000 have been confirmed dead, while over 20,000 are still missing from the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Sichuan province in southwestern China on May 12.

Since the declaration by the Chinese government of the three-day national mourning period starting from May 19, a flux of ambassadors and international organization officials based in Bangkok have been seen at the Chinese Embassy to offer condolence messages on the book.

The ambassadors of Russia, the United States, Laos, Cuba, Romania, Myanmar, Nigeria, Cambodia, Pakistan, South Korea, Switzerland and Singapore have paid condolences at the Chinese Embassy since Monday.

(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2008)