BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has moved next month's Asian developer conference from Bangkok to Singapore due to flooding in the Thai capital.

The company said on Tuesday it would relocate the conference, part of a global push to get more apps onto its smartphones and PlayBook tablet, and offer refunds to attendees who could not attend the Singapore event.

The Bangkok conference was due to take place on December 7 and 8, and the Singapore event is planned for the same dates.

RIM is committed to the developer community in Asia, the Canadian smartphone company said in a statement on a website for the event. RIM apologizes to all current registrants for the late notice and inconvenience this may have caused.

Thailand's worst floods in half a century have killed more than 500 people, damaged millions of tons of rice, and forced a series of industrial estates to close.

RIM held a similar developer event in San Francisco in October and plans another in Amsterdam in February. It said it plans to return to Bangkok for future Asian events.

(Reporting by Alastair Sharp; editing by Rob Wilson)

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