AMERICAN favorites Kerri Walsh and Nicole Branagh won today's Phuket women's beach volleyball final 21:23, 21:14, 15:11 over Italy's Marta Menegatti and Valeria Rosso.

ft.com Despite thinly veiled threats that it would be ''irresponsible'' for individuals not to vote, observers said there was a muted security presence on Burma's streets, and little sign of any intimidation. But there was also little sign of enthusiasm among voters either.

afp A Japanese journalist has been arrested in eastern Myanmar after illegally crossing over the border from Thailand, an official said.


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

heraldsun.com.au Burma votes today in its first election in 20 years with complaints of intimidation and fraud adding to fears the poll is a sham to put a veneer of democracy on decades of iron-fisted military rule. Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest and two pro-junta parties are together fielding about two-thirds of the total candidates, leaving the splintered opposition with little chance.

Phuketwan Update Sources in Ranong, the visa-run Thai border town north of Phuket, say there are just two choices available to voters in Burma's southern port of Victoria Point: a party stacked with former military, and a single no-name opposition party.

voanews.com Standing outside of Mae La camp, Kitty McKinsey, a spokeswoman for the UN's refugee agency, says refugees tell horror stories about their lives in Burma. "Young men don't sleep in their own homes because they're afraid of being conscripted by the army, being used for forced labor, unpaid labor, and people are even being used as human landmine detectors, being forced to walk in front of soldiers across landmines," she said.

theage.com.au Thirty-seven political parties have registered for the poll, but the major opposition movement, the National League for Democracy, has called for a boycott, arguing the election is flawed and will only strengthen the military's grip on power. Burma's military government says the elections are a major step towards a ''disciplined democracy''.

cnn.com Aung San Suu Kyi's son is trying to get a visa to meet his mother in Burma, the Nobel laureate's attorney said. Suu Kyi says she will not vote in the elections.

theaustralian.com.au Some years ago Indonesia's President Yudhoyono offered to help Burma make the difficult transition to democracy, but the Burmese generals seem more interested in the Suharto version of government, which includes blatantly rigged polls, a savagely censored press and overwhelming military dominance.
Burma's planned model echoes Suharto's dwi fungsi (dual function) military doctrine, which encompassed parliamentary seats and high-ranking bureaucratic positions for the military. All of Burma's leading corporations are either owned by generals or have strong links with the military, and the country is ranked on Transparency International's 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index as the second most corrupt in the world.

smh.com.au Three midair emergencies in as many days left more than 1200 Qantas passengers stranded and thousands more affected by flight delays and cancellations from Sydney to Singapore and San Francisco. The pilots' union has accused all airlines of lowering safety, maintenance and training standards and said safety incidents were occurring more frequently.

aap Qantas, on Saturday celebrating its 90th birthday, did not yet know what had caused the latest incident involving the Boeing 747-400 jet carrying the 412 passengers and 19 crew. The day before, the A380 Airbus plane was piloted by Captain Richard Champion de Crespigny. Captain Champion de Crespigny was a passenger on the Boeing flight that was turned back.

dailymail.co.uk Malaysia Airlines, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines have scrapped flights to Jakarta because of the continued volcanic activity. The flight cancellations come after Mount Merapi's worst eruption in a century sent the death toll rising to 138.

smh.com.au A young Asian man in his early 20s wearing a silicone Halloween mask as an ''elderly Caucasian male,'' boarded an Air Canada flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver and sought asylum after being arrested upon arrival.

scmp.com The passenger who boarded an Air Canada flight last month disguised as an elderly Caucasian man has been identified as a mainlander transiting in Hong Kong.

telegraph.co.uk Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced plans to criminalise street prostitution. Opposition MPs accused him of hypocrisy. "If it wasn't terribly serious it would be hilarious," said Donatella Poretti, a senator.

medindia.net Taiwanese health authorities said they plan to establish a special medical zone for foreigners in a bid to tap into the growing health tourism market. The zone will be located near the island's major international airport in the northern county of Taoyuan to make it easily accessible, said a health department official who asked not to be named.

asiaone.com Malacca has overtaken Penang as tourism destination attracting some 8.9 million tourists throughout last year. Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said in the same period Penang had only managed to draw 5.96 million tourists.

reuters Somali pirates said they had received a record ransom of $9.5 million for the release of Samho Dream, a South Korean oil supertanker hijacked in the Indian Ocean in early April.

telegraphindia.com From the late 1990s, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia started aggressive tourism marketing. The travel-happy Calcuttan, forever ready to be on the go, responded eagerly. Travel agents hard-sold ''three-night-four-day'' packages.



AMERICAN pair Kerri Walsh and Nicole Branagh, who lost in the second round of the FIVB Phuket Open, have reeled off six consecutive straight-sets wins to land in the gold-medal match of the season's final tournament. This afternoon at Karon beach the fourth seeds will face 16th seeds Italians Marta Menegatti and Valeria Rosso, playing in their first title match.

Until November 7 Phuket womens' beach volleyball, Karon beach
November 12 IBAP meets at Thai Naan restaurant to hear Woody Leonard on what's best for internet access on Phuket.
November 19 AustCham at the new Westin Hotel at Koh Sireh from 3pm. E: harry@ladypie.com Tel: 081 2731740
November 21 Loy Kratong Festival
November 28 Laguna Phuket triathlon
December 4-11 Phuket King's Cup Regatta
December 5 Laguna Ironman title
December 15-20 Patong Carnival
December 30-January 9 Phuket Red Cross fair, Saphan Hin park, Phuket City
2011
January 6-9 PIMEX boat show, Royal Phuket Marina
January 22 QSI International fun run day at Bang Wad Dam, Kathu
January 23 The Great Phuket Rubber Duck Race Day, Laguna Phuket
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi