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MediaWATCH: China's 'Pirate Power' Sea Change

Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Phuketwan MediaWATCH

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

scmp.com China has formally requested to take a lead role in co-ordinating international anti-piracy operations off Somalia, an unprecedented move that would be an expansion of its historic deployment of warships to the Indian Ocean. Beijing officials lodged the request during a closed-door meeting at the weekend involving representatives of the key navies involved in protecting vital sea lanes between Asia and Europe as they pass round the Horn of Africa into the Gulf of Aden.

guardian.co.uk Burma's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, may soon be released so she can play a role in next year's election, a senior Burmese diplomat has said. ''There is a plan to release her soon . . . so she can organise her party,'' Min Lwin, a director-general in the foreign ministry, told the Associated Press. He gave no details and it was unclear whether Aung San Suu Kyi would be allowed to campaign or stand for election.

channelnewsasia.com Thailand on Monday accused ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra of offending the country's monarchy, stepping up pressure on the fugitive tycoon as he prepares for a provocative trip to neighboring Cambodia. The Thai government also said it was preparing a formal extradition request for Thaksin, who was toppled in a 2006 coup, when he visits Phnom Penh this week in his new capacity as economics adviser to the Cambodian leadership.

bangkokpost.com The government has denounced ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra for offending the monarchy in an interview with the online edition of The Times of London. Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya condemned the remarks as offensive and inappropriate. Khun Kasit was a spokesman for foreign affairs for the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy before he was appointed a minister.

xinhua.com Asean said on Monday that conflict between Thailand and Cambodia has triggered anxiety in the organisation. ''This is not just a border dispute anymore because it has caused anxiety in Asean and could affect the image and profile of the body,'' the Secretary-General of Asean Surin Pitsuwan told ambassadors for the organisation in Jakarta.

alibaba.com Thai hotel and restaurant company Minor International PCL is aiming for 2010 net profit growth of more than 20 percent, expecting tourism to recover in tandem with the global economy, a top executive said. The company now expected its net profit to fall 25-30 percent this year, falling below its target, as it had cut room rates to shore up occupancy in a slow market, finance chief Pratana Mongkolkul told Reuters. ''If the economy recovers, the flu outbreak eases and politics is stable, we will grow,'' she said.

reuters.com Despite living six to eight years longer than men, women lack essential health care throughout their lives, particularly as teenagers and elderly people, the World Health Organization said on Monday. In a report, the WHO said that women around the world are ''denied a chance to develop their full human potential'' because many critical medical needs are ignored.

Associated Press German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev crossed a former fortified border on Monday to cheers of ''Gorby! Gorby!'' as a throng of grateful Germans recalled the night 20 years ago that the Berlin Wall gave way to their desire for freedom and unity.

asiatraveltips.com Scandinavian Airlines has reduced ticket prices between Bangkok and Scandinavia, with economy class prices now 20 percent lower. The airline has also taken the welcome initiative to include all taxes and surcharges in its quoted ticket prices. Inclusive round-trip economy class flights from Bangkok to Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark now start at 38,000 baht compared to 49,500 baht before November 9.

aviationrecord.com Fast-growing Dubai-based airline Emirates is to add an extra daily service to Sydney and Bangkok and more flights to Jakarta and Manila. Starting December 2009, Emirates will introduce a fourth daily service to Bangkok, a third daily service to Sydney, two additional flights to Manila and one additional service to Jakarta.

bloomberg.com Indonesia's economic growth may have accelerated for the first time in more than a year as lower interest rates and a strife-free election stoked spending. Southeast Asia's largest economy expanded 4.2 percent in the three months to September 30 from a year earlier after growing 4 percent in the second quarter, according to the median forecast of 17 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

scmp.com Forget bootleg DVDs and counterfeit watches, authorities in Beijing have identified an urgent target to clamp down on: T-shirts featuring US President Barack Obama dressed as a red guard. The T-shirts, which had been a popular item in markets and souvenir stalls, have disappeared from the capital's streets just days ahead of the president's first visit to China.

etravelblackboardasia.com Starwood and its new destination sensation brand, AloftSM Hotels, have announced the opening of Aloft Abu Dhabi, the first Aloft hotel to open in the Middle East. Featuring loft-like guest rooms, a buzzing bar scene in the open lobby, an urban-inspired grab-and go cafe and industrial design elements throughout, Aloft delivers urban-influenced, modern and vibrant design and an energetic guest experience at an affordable price point.

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