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

bbc.co.uk Holidaymakers could be fined thousands of pounds - or even jailed - for buying fake designer goods when abroad, copyright lawyers are warning. Authorities in France and Italy are not just targeting those who produce and sell fakes but also those who buy them. In France, the maximum fine is 300,000 euro or three years in jail. The British government has decided against criminalising consumers. Instead it has launched an information campaign aimed at people using markets and boot sales.


wsj.com As the counterfeit trade booms, companies are rolling out massive campaigns to get people to stop buying fakes. But the messages they use are often off the mark. Companies have tried everything from threatening prosecution to linking phony products with organised crime. But marketers often don't pay attention to what actually drives people in particular markets to buy counterfeits and what messages will actually work to curb demand of fake goods. A better approach might be to stress that the phony goods, such as fake cigarettes, are funding terrorism or, in the case of counterfeit pharmaceuticals, are actually killing people.

Bangkok Post Officials of the Department of Special Investigation rescued eight young Vietnamese women from forced prostitution at a karaoke shop in a hotel in Betong district of Yala province. DSI deputy director-general Narat Sawetanant said the women were confined on the second floor of the karaoke shop and were forced into prostitution. The raid at the hotel in Yala was launched at the request of Vietnamese police who had approached their Thai counterparts through the Vietnamese embassy in Thailand.

worldscreen.com The fall schedule on Bravo UK will be led by the new eight-part documentary series Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand, launching on the male-skewing channel on September 7. Slated in a 10 pm slot, the original commission promises unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Thailand's tourist police force - those charged with policing Westerners unfamiliar with the country's customs and laws. The show follows three specially recruited British expats who are part of the force. The show, filmed in tourist hotspots like Phuket, Bangkok, Pattaya and Chang Mai, features previously unseen rescue scenes following the crash of a Bangkok Airways crash in Koh Samui, as well as other incidents involving tourists in Thailand.

Bernama Senior Malaysia tourism officials are now in India to woo more tourists from the burgeoning affluent middle class population. A high-level delegation, led by Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Ng Yen Yen, is convincing dozens of Indian travel agents that Malaysia is a competitive tropical holiday destination in Southeast Asia, unparallel to any of its neighbours. More Indians, made rich by the decades-long economic success are travelling abroad for leisure, something that was only exclusive to the nova rich in the past.

latimes.com Activists in the US, as well as Thailand and other developing countries, have accused the Obama administration of blocking greater access to affordable drugs in a bid to win the pharmaceutical companies' support for its healthcare overhaul. Organisations such as Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam International - an anti-poverty group - said they had hoped President Obama would join them in the fight to make generic drugs available to combat disease in impoverished countries. But ''it appears that Obama appointees are continuing to work from the playbook of the last administration,'' said Oxfam policy adviser Rohit Malpani.

wsj.com The lavish banquets hosted by companies to woo Muslim clients as they break their fasts during Ramadan are the latest institution to fall victim to the financial crisis in Dubai. Companies are scaling back the events, called iftar receptions, seen as important opportunities to network with business partners against the backdrop of some of the city's most luxurious hotels. Demand for Ramadan tents - the typical setting for iftars - is showing signs of decline, while hotels are recording lower corporate bookings as companies aim to conserve cash amid a property and economic slump in the emirate.


Phuket Romances its Way onto Movie Screens
Latest Phuket, in real life all comedy, drama, action and romance, has finally been made into a movie. ''It's very small but it's big,'' says the leading man. Yes, that's Phuket.
Phuket Romances its Way onto Movie Screens

Phuket Prepares for Just One Kind of Disaster
Latest Phuketwan goes to a tsunami drill and meets the deputy PM, a pleasant experience except for the nagging thought that it shouldn't be this easy. Not carrying an unchecked backpack . . .
Phuket Prepares for Just One Kind of Disaster

Pacific Blue, Jetstar Open to Australia, Singapore
Latest Two low cost flight providers produce new flights and offer bargains between Australia and Phuket and Singapore and Phuket. Could it be War in the Air? Passengers hope so.
Pacific Blue, Jetstar Open to Australia, Singapore

Phuket's Beaches Fail the Five-Star Enviro Test
Latest A new star rating system for Thailand's beaches leaves the best on Phuket lagging a little. There's one local island with a five star beach, but it's not Phuket.
Phuket's Beaches Fail the Five-Star Enviro Test

Phuket Still Has Chance of Gaining Extra Police
Photo Album Word has begun on a perimeter wall that will eventually surround the new Region 8 Police Headquarters, in Mai Khao. Local Phuket squatters have been asked to move.
Phuket Still Has Chance of Gaining Extra Police

Final Word on Phuket and Asean Due Monday: PM
Latest The prospects of Phuket hosting the October Asean summit of 16 national leaders has seen more swings and roundabouts than a carousel. A final decision is due on Monday.
Final Word on Phuket and Asean Due Monday: PM


MediaWATCH: Thai Economy Looks Promising
News Digest Thailand outlook brightens; Lockerbie terror victims divided; Obama attack plan; US mortgage disaster; Rescued Rohingya made fresh promises; Model seeks public flogging.
MediaWATCH: Thai Economy Looks Promising

MediaWATCH: US Anger at Bomber Set to Flare
News Digest Looming freedom for a Lockerbie bomber; World recovery begins; Indonesia terror arrests; Haze hard to see; Rohingya protest; Consumers more confident.
MediaWATCH: US Anger at Bomber Set to Flare