detnews.com Ford Motor Co. is to announce Thursday morning that it is investing $450 million in a new plant in Thailand to make the Ford Focus, starting in 2012. The Rayong plant will make the next generation of the Focus that will be sold worldwide.


A daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. PLUS World Cup Watch, every day.

World Cup Scores:SVN 0:1 ENG USA 1:0 ALG GHA 0:1 GER AUS 2:1 SRB
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AUSTRALIA has its first female Prime Minister. Julia Gillard, who was deputy PM, was elected unopposed when the Federal Labor Party met today. PM Kevin Rudd, elected in 2007, stepped aside. Australia, with one of the strongest economies in the world, will hold a general election later this year.

businessweek.com Welsh-born Julia Gillard, 48, becomes Australia's first female PM after an overnight push for power. Rudd's support began to slide in polls in April after he shelved his carbon-trading proposal, a key poll campaign pledge. Then he proposed a 40 percent tax on the ''super profits'' of resource projects in Australia, the world's biggest shipper of coal and iron ore, and refused to back down even after members of his own party objected.

afp Thailand could hold elections in early 2011, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said in Brussels, in the wake of bloody opposition protests. Independent bodies examining a raft of reforms could present their conclusions by the end of the year, paving the way for a referendum on a new constitution at the start of 2011, Kasit said.

nationmultimedia.com The Tourism Authority of Thailand has set its sights on wooing 14.4 million international tourists next year, bringing arrivals back to the 2009 level. TAT is targeting 14 million foreign tourists this year. TAT Governor Suraphon Svetasreni said the authority would release the national tourism strategy plan on July 5 to the private sector and other official bodies.

todayonline.comThailand has become the value-for-money destination du jour to entice travellers back to the country after a month of conflict. Shops in Bangkok are offering discounts of up to 70 percent in the ongoing summer sale and hotels have reduced rates and upped perks to fill rooms. Similar deals can be found in Changmai, Phuket and Samui.

Phuketwan Phuket Update An autopsy will determine the cause of death of Australian Jamie Thomas Trow, 40, whose body was found by a Canadian friend at the BYD Lofts apartments in Patong on Tuesday. He was lying on a sofa and clad in a towel. It is believed Mr Trow was an asthmatic and had been on a dive trip not long before his death. A large amount of cash in baht and other currencies was found in the unit's safe.

voanews.com A drought in Southeast Asia is threatening rice production in Cambodia and Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter. The concern about production comes as rice prices have sunk to a two-year low, hurting farmers' incomes. The lack of rain in Cambodia and Thailand cut rice production by as much as 40 percent. In Thailand, the government is concerned that farm irrigation will stretch already thin water supplies.

washingtonpost.com After he spent more than 15 hours flying from his post on the other side of the world, it took less than 30 minutes for the US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, to find out what most in Washington assumed was coming: He was out.

Phuket Update Phuket's expat community is expected to turn out in numbers on Saturday for the funeral and cremation of popular Phuket property pioneer Eric Tomlin, founder of Lynx Real Estate. News of his death in Bangkok after an illness drew many messages of condolences to his wife and daughters via thephuketinsider.com. One said: ''The south of Phuket will not be the same without Eric.'' The ceremony will take place at: Wat Khosit Wihan, Highway 402, Rassada, Phuket City, at noon.

telegraph.co.uk John Isner and Nicholas Mahut fought over their first round Wimbledon match which so far has lasted - wait for it - 10 hours exactly. They walked off, the match suspended due to poor light, at 59-all. After such strength of will, it will be tragic that there should be a loser tomorrow (today Thailand time).

bangkokpost.com The skies over Bangkok and Hong Kong are getting more crowded with the arrival of Hong Kong Airlines, which began scheduled daily service between the two cities on June 11. The Hong Kong-based affiliate of the Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines is going ahead with the plan it had made earlier, as it has recently taken delivery of a new 283-seat Airbus A330-200 jet. It believes it can find a niche on a route dominated by Cathay Pacific and Thai Airways International.

nationmultimedia.com Lawyers for fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra launched a concerted attack both locally and overseas against the government's reconciliation plan. In Tokyo, Thaksin's foreign lawyer Robert Amsterdam, one of at least seven lawyers representing Thaksin, said the reconciliation process was ''phoney''.

nationmultimedia.com Metropolitan Police apprehended a Pakistani man allegedly trying to smuggle 450 grams of heroin at Bangkok's Southern Route Bus Terminal. City police chief Pol Lt-General Santhan Chayanon said Asghar Manzoor, 25, travelled by bus from Phuket with the drug tightly packed and ready for transportation outside the country. Two Pakistanis were held at Suvarnabhumi airport earlier this week, bound for Phuket with 1.4 kilos of heroin secreted internally.

sify.com Rescuers searched for as many as 15 people after the boat they were travelling in capsized off Malaysia's southern coast. Marine police rescued seven Indonesian nationals. The trawler was believed to be ferrying undocumented immigrants working in Malaysia back to Indonesia.

cnn.com Police in Indonesia captured a man believed to be one of the most wanted terrorists in the country. He is Abdullah Sonata, an explosives expert. Police said they became engaged in a gun battle after they launched a raid in the central Javan district of Klaten. One person was shot dead and Sonata and two others were arrested.

Phuketwan Phuket Update A 19-year-old wanted for a murder in another province has been arrested at the Crystal Hotel in Patak Road Karon, Chalong police said. The killing took place on May 10. The suspect was nabbed in possession of an illegal handgun. In other separate arrests, two alleged yah ba drug dealers were nabbed, one in possession of an illegal gun. Both admitted selling the drug to children.

voanews.com Human-rights advocates are calling for the Indonesian government to release more than 100 imprisoned political activists and to end its use of torture. Human Rights Watch says it has documented abuse being used to silence peaceful advocates for independence in the Papua and Maluku regions of the country.



cnn.com American striker Landon Donovan told CNN the USA can ''beat anyone'' after his injury-time goal helped the side qualify from the group stages of the 2010 World Cup.

afp England's World Cup campaign finally took off at the third attempt as Fabio Capello's side qualified for the last 16 with a 1-0 win over Slovenia. But the US took top spot in Group C with an injury-time winner over Algeria, meaning England finished runners-up and Slovenia - who had begun the day on top of the table - were eliminated.

scmp.com A thundering strike on the hour by Germany's Mesut Ozil gave the three-times World Cup winners a 1-0 win over Group D rivals Ghana and a place in the second round.



WHAT'S being touted as Asia's biggest beach dance party returns to Phuket's Karon Beach on Friday and Saturday, 6pm-2am. The Phuket Music Festival - Full Moon Version ''will help rehabilitate the image of the country and Phuket. It will also bring smiles back to the faces of Thai people and to foreigners following the political turmoil,'' says Wiwatchai Boonyapak, executive director of the product promotion department of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. ''Tourists from all around the world including Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Hong Kong will be back,'' he adds. With a budget of 15 million baht, the event features a dance floor of 9200square metres of beach catering to an anticipated crowed of 50,000 plus visitors. There is parking for 300 to 500 cars, but no public transport. Admission is free.

June 25-26 Phuket Music Festival, Full Moon Version, at Karon beach. [Last year it was called the RoyFest. It's no longer the RoyFest.]
June 25 to 27 Second Kathu Culture Road Fair, recalling the region's history
July 4 US Phuket Navy League Independence Day free family picnic at the Headstart International Learning Center directly across from Makro (near Central Festival) in Phuket City from 10am-7pm.
July 9-18 Phuket Flower Festival and Pineapple Show, Saphan Hin park, Phuket City
July 21-25 Phuket Six Senses Race Week, Evason, Rawai
July 24 Third Worldwide Photo Walk, with at least one walk for photographers on Phuket
October 1-3 Asian Hospitality and Travel Show, Central Festival Phuket Convention and Exhibition Center, Phuket City
December 4-11 Phuket King's Cup Regatta
2011
January 6-9 PIMEX boat show, Royal Phuket Marina
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi