The Constitutional Court ruled 4-2 to dismiss charges of electoral fraud against the ruling Democrat Party and key senior party members, including the PM.

reuters.com The ruling removed the possibility that the Democrat Party would be dissolved or that Abhisit would be banned from politics and forced to step down.

news.fox.com Arab rulers secretly lobbied the US to launch air strikes to destroy Iran's nuclear program, leaked US diplomatic messages reveal.


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

cnn.com Tens of thousands of confidential US government communications spanning several years were published after being leaked by the whistle-blower website Wikileaks.

nytimes.com The US has expanded the role of American diplomats in collecting intelligence overseas and at the UN, ordering State Department personnel to gather the credit card and frequent-flier numbers, work schedules and other personal information of foreign dignitaries. Revealed in classified State Department cables, the directives, going back to 2008, appear to blur the traditional boundaries between statesmen and spies.

theguardian.co.uk The US was catapulted into a worldwide diplomatic crisis today, with the leaking to international media of more than 250,000 classified cables from its embassies, many sent as recently as February this year.
The Guardian can disclose that Arab leaders are privately urging an air strike on Iran and that US officials have been instructed to spy on the UN leadership.

theage.com.au The US and Washington hold grave fears about the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons and Arab leaders are privately urging an attack on Iran, according to reports based on classified US embassy cables leaked by WikiLeaks.

latimes.com Chinese leaders, stung by accusations that they haven't done enough to rein in North Korea, call for an international summit, but US and South Korea remain noncommittal.

Phuket Update The driver of a classic VW had a classic engine problem outside a Phuket dim sum restaurant in Yaowarat Road, Phuket City, over the weekend. A Phuketwan photojournalist was there to record the motoring catastrophe.

gulf-times.com Thailand's ruling party and its leader face a possible court decision on their future today that threatens further upheaval for the fractured political landscape. The Constitutional Court has the power to disband the Democrat Party and hand down five-year political bans for senior figures, including PM Abhisit Vejjajiva.

bangkokpost.com Six Senses, the international luxury resort and spa developer and manager, is gearing up to expand its private flight services and facilities at its flagship property on Koh Kood in Trat. Its airfield is believed to be the first privately owned facility in Thailand to be equipped with customs, immigration and quarantine facilities.

nationmultimedia.com A budget of one billion baht has been earmarked for building a new terminal and getting the U-Tapao Airport ready for international air-traffic by 2013. The U-Tapao airport, roughly 140 kilometres to the east of Bangkok, played a significant role when Suvarnabhumi was seized by the People's Alliance for Democracy in 2008. Bangkok Airways operates daily flights to Phuket and Samui from U-Tapao.

afp Parts of Britain have experienced record low temperatures, including minus 17 Celsius in Wales, forecasters say, amid warnings of more heavy snow to come.

wsj.com Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce defended the airline's handling of a string of recent incidents, notably an engine explosion on an Airbus A380 superjumbo earlier this month, as another aircraft was grounded overnight.

xinhuanet.com Passengers were pulled off the Q1 flight from Sydney to London via Bangkok after a loud noise emanated from the engine while they were taxiing towards the runway. The flight was canceled.

thephuketinsider.com Thais and expatriates who are eager to try the posh new Airbus A380 superjumbo have taken to flying the cost effective Emirates Bangkok to Hong Kong service.

reuters.com More than 1000 Burmese villagers poured into Mae Sot after renewed fighting between Burma's army and ethnic Karen rebels, witnesses and officials said.

afp US authorities have shut down dozens of websites offering counterfeit goods and pirated music, five months after a crackdown on sites offering movie downloads.

bangkokpost.com Thanapon Tangkananan, vice-president for business development, said the Central Festival Phuket 500 million baht facelift was intended to tap the recovery of tourism in Phuket, which attracts about six million foreign tourists a year. [The forecast of more than seven million air passengers for Phuket in 2010 is a total for arrivals AND departures, international AND domestic.]

Phuket Update Organisers say the first day of the Phuket International Soccer 7s at the Fifa Phuket Tsunami Football Center on Cape Panwa produced 56 games, 126 goals, 0 injuried, three dozen of the WWPCG Charity Calendars sold as well as a lot of cold Carlsberg. ''Everyone enjoyed this fabulous sportly day, played with the right attitude and in the right spirit,'' one said.

Associated Press Five endangered Sumatran elephants have been found dead in Indonesia, and conservationists said they suspect farmers poisoned the animals to stop them from damaging crops.

telegraph.co.uk As a boy in Cambodia Michael Misiewicz fled the civil war with the Khmer Rouge. Now 37 years later he is about to return to the country of his birth as commander of US warship. It will be the first time Commander Misiewicz, 43, has set foot on home soil since he left in 1973. His father had arranged for him to be adopted by a woman at the US embassy who was leaving for home as the situation in Cambodia grew more perilous.



December 1 World Aids Day
December 4-11 Phuket King's Cup Regatta
December 5 Laguna Ironman 70.3 title
December 3-5 North Phuket Culinary Arts Festival, Mai Khao resorts
December 15-20 Patong Carnival
December 16-18 2010 Asia Superyacht Rendezvous
December 17 US Consular outreach service on Phuket
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