BANGKOK - THE new strain of flu sweeping the world has reached South-east Asia, with Bangkok on Tuesday reporting two cases.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said samples from the two had been tested at the Centres for Disease Control in the United States and confirmed positive for H1N1. But the minister stressed: 'There is no outbreak in Thailand.'

Mr Witthaya said both patients had mild fever upon returning from Mexico, the epicentre of the outbreak, and both recovered after a course of antiviral medication. Separately, an official said the medication was Oseltamivir.

The official said details of the patients' identity and dates of their return from Mexico could not be revealed.

But an official at Thailand's Department of Communicable Disease Control said passengers who travelled on the same flight as the two patients had been contacted, and 'no one has presented any symptoms'.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had confirmed one case of H1N1, telling reporters: 'It doesn't mean there will be more patients because the virus hasn't spread here.'

The appearance of the virus in Thailand came as little surprise to experts, who have noted the speed with which new viruses have circled the planet even before air travel.

H1N1 is considered capable of infecting up to one-third of the world's population, while scientists also worry that the virus could mutate into a more virulent strain. Thailand is considered better prepared than many others to handle a pandemic, thanks to its experience with avian flu.

It and other countries in the region have successfully kept the H5N1 avian flu virus at bay, mainly through wholesale culls of infected poultry. However, H5N1 - while much more lethal than H1N1 - has not been known to be transmitted between humans. Thailand has seen 17 of 25 people infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus die since 2006.

Additional information from Agence France-Presse, Associated Press and Reuters