BANGKOK - A PLANE operated by flag carrier Thai Airways bound for Kuala Lumpur was forced to make an emergency landing in southern Thailand on Tuesday after a technical problem, an airline official said.

No one was injured when the Airbus A330 plane with 284 people on board landed at Hat Yai airport in Songkhla province, two hours after the plane left Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport early Tuesday.

The pilot decided to make the emergency lading after he discovered a problem with the air pressure system in the passenger cabin, said Suraphon Israngkula Na Ayudhya, who is in charge of crisis management for the airline.

'There was nothing serious wrong with the plane. It is normal procedure for pilots to make a technical landing if they find any problems with the plane's system,' he told AFP.

Thai Airways sent another plane from Bangkok to pick up the stranded passengers, and they were due to arrive in the Malaysian capital five hours behind schedule, Mr Suraphon said.

Ninety people were killed in September when a plane operated by low-cost carrier One-Two-Go crashed on the southern Thai island of Phuket.

Aviation officials blamed the crash on a weather condition known as wind shear. -- AFP