reuters A peace plan put forward to end weeks of protests was in limbo as the government and protesters squabbled over details, including a proposed election in November. Red numbers had swollen to as many as 9000, a Reuters reporter estimated, although numbers usually grow during the day from the 1000 to 2000 that typically spend the night behind barricades.

the-afc.com Officials from the newly-formed Phuket Football Association have committed to develop football in Phuket following the AFC Vision Asia team's assessment visit. The visit was the initial step to identify how the Phuket association needs to start development, leading to a strategic plan. FC Phuket leads the Southern Second Division.


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

Britain's first exit polls suggest that David Cameron can take the keys to Number 10 Downing Street - but he will preside over a minority government and the Parliament will be hung. As British polling booths closed, the exit polls echoed a clutch of final surveys which had pointed to a Conservative victory, without an overall majority.

smh.com.au In Scotland, The Sun at least had a sense of humor: a piece of burned toast with Gordon Brown's face superimposed on it and the entire page devoted to the headline: 'Use your loaf today or Britain is Brown bread'.

imtj.com Many countries are now advising their citizens not to travel to Bangkok. Some are advising against all but essential travel to anywhere in Thailand. Some are advising against any travel to Thailand. Some have even flown their citizens, some of whom are medical tourists home. How damaging the political troubles are to medical tourism is something local hospitals and clinics may not know for months or even years to come.

Phuketwan Comment The ineffectiveness of the present travel alert system is highlighted by the revision of the British warning on Thursday. Other nations apparently think visitors are still in danger. Who's right? Are Britons now safer than everybody else? Please give us a reliable international system that works for us all.

todayonline.com In a sign of the deep mistrust between the opposing sides, the demonstrators said they would not go home until the government specified a date for the legislature's dissolution. Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva is insisting on a total pullout, warning: ''If they don't go home, I'm not going to dissolve Parliament.''

voanews.com The number of protesters has shrunk in the past two weeks. Part of the decline is from exhaustion, tired protesters have headed home to their families and jobs. Others left because of fears of a military operation to clear the camp. And public support has shrunk after a series of violent incidents that left at least 27 protesters and security forces dead.

wsj.com Weeks of disruptive and bloody protests will leave a deep scar across Thai society, regardless of whether opposition leaders accept a government plan to end the crisis. Even as the sides appear to be feeling their way toward an agreement, their battle has exposed and widened a rift, largely between city and country, that will complicate efforts to find a lasting solution to Thailand's troubles.

straitstimes.com Cambodia has set up a 'Freedom Park' designated for political demonstrations in a move critics say is another attempt to protect the government and silence dissenting voices. The site, which is located far from government buildings and parliament, will be the only space made available to any group wanting to stage a demonstration. Protests at other locations in the capital Phnom Penh will be outlawed.

bangkokpost.com Tourism operators expect an influx of foreign visitors into Thailand in the second half of the year. Somchai Ratanaopath, managing director of A-One Bangkok and Pattaya, said political tension had prevented any new bookings for May and June, so the end of protests is bound to have an impact. ''Thai tourism will pick up in the third quarter because of a reviving world economy and the fact that tourist operators sell a good product,'' said Mr Somchai.

thehindu.com Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab ''shall be hanged by neck till he is dead.'' Pronouncing these words, the Special Sessions Court in Mumbai on Thursday sentenced to death the lone surviving gunman of the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Kasab was given the death penalty on five counts: murder, abetment to murder, waging war, criminal conspiracy and committing terrorist acts.

nypost.com A British sniper set a world sharpshooting record by taking out two Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan from more than a mile and a half away - a distance so great, experts say the terrorists wouldn't have even heard the shots. Craig Harrison killed the two insurgents from an astounding distance of 8,120 feet -- or 1.54 miles -- in Helmand Province last November firing an Accuracy International L11583 long-range rifle.

nytimes.com Neanderthals mated with some modern humans after all and left their imprint in the human genome, a team of biologists has reported in the first detailed analysis of the Neanderthal genetic sequence. The biologists have been slowly reconstructing the genome of Neanderthals, the stocky hunters that dominated Europe until 30,000 years ago, by extracting the fragments of DNA that still exist in their fossil bones.

etaiwannews.com An ailing Malaysian state sultan was under tight police security at a hospital after one of his palace guards was shot under mysterious circumstances amid a rare royal power struggle. A feud between the sons of Sultan Tengku Ismail Petra, the constitutional ruler of Malaysia's northern Kelantan state, has thrown one of the country's most prominent royal families into disarray and provided an unprecedented glimpse into behind-the-scenes palace intrigue.

reuters Who owns the middle seat arm rests on an airplane, really? How do you break away from the marathon talker in seat 12E? And what do you do, if anything, about the angelic-looking child kicking the back of your seat? Incivility and rudeness are often the product of stress, and there are few situations more primed for stress these days than travel - especially air travel.

cnbc.com Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson on Marina Bay Sands in Singapore: We look at the breakdown of the (applications) for the credit and we find they're coming from the main three areas: Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. And there are lots of very high rollers. Substantially higher ... than we've experienced here in Las Vegas. We don't get a lot of $10 million, $12 million credit players here, although we do get some.



May 8 The Middle Way Team will be at the Meditation Center of Phuket for a one-day retreat taught by an English Monk by the name of Venerable River Bhaddako. Details: 083 1391757

May 7 Two welcoming events by Phuket Navy League for crews on US warships.
May 31-June 5 Eight-nation football tournament for players over 55 at Surakul Stadium in Phuket City. Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Taiwan, Iran, Armenia competing.
May Annual Phuket seafood festival.
May 21-23 Paragliding on Phuket.
June 4-13 Phuket International Film Festival, Coliseum Cineplex, Phuket City.
June 13 Laguna Phuket International Marathon. Fun runs, too.
July 21-25 Phuket Six Senses Race Week, Evason, Rawai
December 4-11 Phuket King's Cup Regatta

2011
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi