A daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media.

bbc.co.uk Burma's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is on a voters' list for the first general election in 20 years, eyewitnesses have told the BBC. Analysts say Ms Suu Kyi's inclusion would have little impact on the outcome of the November 7 vote. The development comes as Burma's military rulers are attending an annual UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

nationmultimedia.com The state of emergency will be lifted next week in six provinces, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in a television interview with CNBC during his US visit. Abhisit told the US media that tourism and the economy had been recovering.

bangkokpost.com The Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation has rejected an Interior Ministry proposal to lift the state of emergency in three more provinces in the Northeast.
Two teenage girls and a man were injured around 5pm last night when a bomb in a bin exploded in Bangkok's Yannawa district. Police chief Pol Gen Wichean Potephosree said the blast stemmed from a personal conflict.

thephuketinsider.com Phuket's West Sands Resort has entered into a hotel management agreement with Singapore's Ariva Hospitality. Ariva's Vice President of Operations is currently at West Sands in Mai Khao overseeing the transition.

bangkokpost.com Thai Airways International is embarking on a multi-billion-dollar shopping spree that may include up to 77 new Boeing aircraft, mostly wide-body types, in a major fleet renewal in the flag carrier's 50-year history.

bernama Malaysia and Thailand agreed to lessen, if not totally eliminate, hindrances to economic activities between the two friendly neighbors along the border. Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Mukhriz Tun Mahathir said the focus to remove obstacles would be on trade, investment, halal industry, logistics and tourism.

northern-times.co.uk A Dornoch man who was reported missing in April, amid local concerns over his business dealings, has died suddenly on holiday in Thailand. Bill Willey had not been seen for a number of weeks before he was reported missing by his brother. A death notice confirms that he "very suddenly passed away" on September 11. [Mr Willey was found dead in a room on Phuket earlier this month.]

indiainfoline.com The 59th Indian Travel Congress of the Travel Agents' Association of India has been scheduled for September 24 until September 27 in Laguna Phuket. The event is likely to be attended by around 800 delegates apart from the tourism officials of India and Thailand and also travel industry leaders from both the countries.

theage.com.au The first man to be extradited from Indonesia to Australia on people-smuggling charges, Hadi Ahmadi, 35, was found guilty of two counts of illegally assisting 562 asylum seekers to reach Australia on two boats in 2001. He was sentenced in Perth to seven-and-a-half years' prison.

pattayadailynews.com A German national has been arrested in Thailand's northeastern province of Nongbualamphu attempting to rob a Krung Thai ATM. The offender successfully cut three large holes in the side of the machine but emptied the gas bottle. Mr. Albareto (full name unknown), explaining that he had been trying to steal the money to purchase a flight back to Germany.

afp A Malaysian political cartoonist said he had been arrested under the Sedition Act and his offices raided by police over his new book, just hours before its planned launch. Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque - better known as Zunar - uses cartoons to highlight contentious issues such as the sodomy trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and police shootings.

indedpendent.co.uk Britain's Queen asked ministers for a poverty handout to help heat her palaces but was rebuffed because they feared it would be a public relations disaster, documents disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act reveal.

afp Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel threw down the gauntlet ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix with a hugely impressive series of laps to top the times in the opening day's practice on Friday. The German tyro, who has slipped 24 points behind teammate Mark Webber in a tight championship race, convincingly outpaced his title rivals under floodlights with a best lap of one minute and 46.660 seconds.

washington post 'Shooting in the Wild' exposes the unpleasant secrets of environmental filmmaking: manufactured sounds, staged fights, wild animals that aren't quite wild filmed in nature that isn't entirely natural. ''If you see a bear feeding on a deer carcass in a film,'' Chris Palmer writes, ''it is almost certainly a tame bear searching for hidden jellybeans in the entrails of the deer's stomach.''

cnn.com A Scotsman providing free daily meals to 400,000 children, a former child soldier clearing land mines in Cambodia and a Texas builder giving injured vets mortgage-free homes are among the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2010.

nytimes.com American Joseph Davis, 54, is part of an expanding population of nearly 11,000 foreign husbands in the Udon region, drawn by the low cost of living, slow pace of life and the exotic reputation of Thai women - something like a brand name for Western men seeking Asian partners. ''Thai women are a lot like women in America were 50 years ago,'' said Mr. Davis, before they discovered their rights and became ''strong-headed and opinionated.''



September 25 International Reef Cleanup Day, Phuket. More: Roger Chubb 087 628 2805 E: scubawoj@gmail.com
September 25-26 Phuket Dinghy series, for young sailors, begins
Until September 26 Quiksilver 2010 Surf Competition, Kata beach
Until September 29 USNS Walter S. Diehl visits Phuket
October 1-3 Asian Hospitality and Travel Show, Hafale, Phuket City
October 8-16 Vegetarian Festival, Phuket
October 12 Qatar begins daily flights to Phuket
November 2-7 Phuket womens' beach volleyball, Karon beach
November 5 Phuket Charity Pro Am Golf, Blue Canyon
November 19 AustCham at the new Westin Hotel at Koh Sireh from 3pm. E: harry@ladypie.com Tel: 081 2731740
November 28 Laguna Phuket triathlon
December 4-11 Phuket King's Cup Regatta
December 5 Laguna Ironman title
2011
January 6-9 PIMEX boat show, Royal Phuket Marina
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi