A new daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective. Reports from national and international media, with translations into English from Thai.

TNA: The Thai Travel Agents Association forecasts Thailand's tourist arrivals will drop another 10-15 percent as a result of the H1N1 outbreak even though latest lab tests confirmed no new cases have appeared in Thailand. Association president Charoen Wongananont revealed that 95 per cent of Chinese and Japanese tourists have cancelled trips to Thailand while half the scheduled travellers from Hong Kong have cancelled or postponed visits. Visitors from Scandinavia have dropped 30 percent. Thais travelling abroad are also down.

dailytelegraph.com.au Adam Walters writes: ''Thailand is about two thirds the size of NSW but with 12 times the population and its reputation for a harsh legal system is second only to Singapore, where even graffiti crimes are punished with an old-fashioned caning. The misdemeanours of Australians living dangerously in South-East Asia have been so well documented over the years, ignorance of the laws and their consequences is now no valid defence.''


heraldsun.com.au Andrew Bolt writes: ''And yesterday came news of another 'joke' - six Australians arrested in London for spraying graffiti. Excuse me, but do we have foreign tourists stealing, screaming, swearing, defacing, boozing and whoring in our cities quite the way foreigners have ours in theirs? It strikes me that our public manners in fact no longer meet the standard required in most other countries, and improving them might make us a lot safer when we travel.''

bloomberg.com Thailand's economy probably slid into a recession in the first quarter, shrinking the most since the Asian financial crisis a decade ago. Gross domestic product fell 6.5 percent last quarter from a year earlier, after contracting 4.3 percent in the previous three months, according to the median estimate of 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The government has boosted spending on training, cash handouts and public works to buoy consumption. The central bank says there are signs the contraction is moderating.

The Nation: International airlines are offering special fares in and out of Thailand to stimulate spending. Qantas/British Airways is offering return economy fares to Australia from 15,590 baht and London from 23,650 baht, booked for travel on or before June 30. Costs exclude airport tax, service fees, insurance, fuel and surcharges. Tickets are for up to 12 months' stay. Northwest and Delta Air Lines are offering deals to New York and Salt Lake City, to be booked before June 21, with departures before June 30.

Bangkok Post: Disgraced PM Thaksin Shinawatra is now carrying six passports issued by foreign countries, says Puea Thai MP chief Chalerm Yubamrung .Khun Chalerm recently visited the Thaksin in Dubai but was unable to give details of which countries had issued the passports. Thaksin often travelled from place to place in a helicopter he bought from the owner of the luxury Harrods store in London, Khun Chalerm said.

bbc.co.uk Burmese authorities have barred international observers from the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, a day after allowing them to attend. The government opened proceedings to diplomats and journalists on Wednesday, but a Burmese official said that the move had been ''only for one day''. Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is accused of breaking the terms of her house arrest, after a US man swam across a lake to visit her.


Tattooed Westerner Found Dead on Nai Harn Beach
Latest A gruesome discovery has been made on Phuket's Nai Harn beach: the body of a man tattooed with a dragon, a dolphin and a tiger. Police say murder is one of many possibilities.
Tattooed Westerner Found Dead on Nai Harn Beach

Condo Seminar Told of Phuket's Titles Problems
Latest A complete documentation of all Phuket land titles should be ready by the end of June, a large seminar at Laguna has been told. More than 300 people turned out.
Condo Seminar Told of Phuket's Titles Problems

Freed Aussie Mum Says: 'I'm So Glad It's Over'
Updating News Annice Smoel is free and heading for Australia. Phuketwan was present when the Governor of Phuket paid her fine and wished her well this afternoon.
Freed Aussie Mum Says: 'I'm So Glad It's Over'

Phuket's Beer Mat Martyrs and Cultural Chasms
Opinion/Analysis The Annice Smoel case is sad for her, and for her four children. Yet it could all have been prevented if her Government had been proactive and media savvy.
Phuket's Beer Mat Martyrs and Cultural Chasms


MediaWATCH: More Aussies Find Trouble
Latest Australia's media is credited with helping to free a woman charged over a Patong bar mat, but more Aussies face trouble abroad; Phi Phi deaths wait and see suggestion.
MediaWATCH: More Aussies Find Trouble

MediaWATCH: Aussie Mother's Patong Arrest Limbo
Latest An Australian mother arrested in a Patong bar finds herself in limbo on Phuket, facing a long jail term over a petty theft she says was a prank by friends; Latest on Aung San Suu Kyi.
MediaWATCH: Aussie Mother's Patong Arrest Limbo

MediaWATCH: Bar Pranks and Burma's Justice
Latest The eyes of the region are on the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, while Australia's focus is on a bar prank in Patong; An accused woman's four daughters want her home quickly.
MediaWATCH: Bar Pranks and Burma's Justice

MediaWATCH: Flu Surge Sweeps Japan
Latest: Japan becomes alarmed as H1N1 breaks out in schools; WHO may move to pandemic Level 6; PM talks of orange as the new red and yellow; Aung San Suu Kyi faces trial today.
MediaWATCH: Flu Surge Sweeps Japan