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

Reuters Japan's next leader Yukio Hatoyama, fresh from a historic election win, faced the task on Monday of forming a government to tackle challenges such as reviving the economy and steering a new course with close ally Washington. Sunday's victory by the Democratic Party of Japan ends a half-century of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party and breaks a deadlock in parliament, ushering in a government that has promised to focus spending on consumers, cut wasteful budget outlays and reduce the power of bureaucrats.

nytimes.com Voters set aside doubts about the untested Democrats, a broad coalition of former socialists and ruling party defectors who campaigned with promises to ease Japan's growing social inequalities and change the way the country is governed. However, the victory is widely seen as less of an embrace of the opposition than a resounding rejection of the conservative incumbents, whom voters blame for this former economic superpower???s stubborn decline and increasingly cloudy future.

AFP Swine flu spreads four times faster than other viruses and 40 percent of the fatalities are young adults in good health, the world's top health official says. ''This virus travels at an unbelievable, almost unheard of speed,'' World Health Organisation Director General Margaret Chan told France's Le Monde daily. ''In six weeks it travels the same distance that other viruses take six months to cover,'' Chan said. ''Sixty per cent of the deaths cover those who have underlying health problems,'' Chan said. ''This means that 40 percent of the fatalities concern young adults - in good health - who die of a viral fever in five to seven days.''

gulf-daily-news.com A contestant on a Pakistani reality TV show drowned while performing a challenge for the program in Thailand on August 21, a spokeswoman for the show's sponsor, Unilever Pakistan, says. Saad Khan, 32, was swimming across the lake in Bangkok while wearing a 7kg backpack when he called out for help then disappeared underwater. Police could not be contacted yesterday to say if their investigation had been completed.

Bangkok Post The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship is expected to put off its anti-government protests until the next round of Asean meetings in October, say senior Democrat Party members. Party spokesman Buranaj Smutharaks said the postponement of Sunday's gathering might indicate the pro-Thaksin red shirt group would try to embarrass the government during the Asean summit, scheduled for October 23 to 25, in the resort areas of Cha-am/Hua Hin.

bbc.co.uk English holidaymakers are turning to drink on their breaks with the average adult consuming eight alcoholic drinks a day, a survey suggests. That equates to 80 drinks over the course of the average holiday, or well over 200 units of alcohol. More than a quarter said they ended up drinking three times more than normal. But 70 percent of the 3500 adults questioned by the Department of Health said they plan to make September the ''new January'' by cutting back.

afp An ''overloaded'' cargo vessel sank on a river in South Kalamantan on Borneo island, killing 19 people with 20 still missing, an official says. ''There's no passenger list but we estimate there could be about 150 people on board. Nineteen people died and 116 are saved. Those still missing are feared dead,'' said a search and rescue chief.

Reuters The United Arab Emirates has seized a cargo of North Korean weapons being shipped to Iran, which would have violated a UN embargo on arms exports from the communist state, Western diplomats say. The weapons seized on August 14 included rocket launchers, detonators, munitions and ammunition for rocket-propelled grenades, they said. The ship, called the ANL-Australia, was Australian-owned and flying a Bahamas flag.

nytimes.com A court in Pakistan on Friday directed the government to lift any remaining restrictions on the movements of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the rogue scientist who confessed to having run an illicit global nuclear proliferation network. The ruling is likely to create a new irritant with the Obama administration, which had said it was ''xceedingly concerned'' about Mr Khan and whether the restrictions that remained on him were sufficient. He was placed under house arrest in 2004 after a tearful public apology in which he confessed to selling nuclear technology to several countries, possibly including Iran, Libya and North Korea.

jakarta post After 10 years of independence in East Timor (Timor Leste) only the elite have enjoyed its benefits, says a legislator, with the rest of the population largely living in poverty. ''Every year large portions of the budget remain unspent,'' adds Arsenio Bano says. ''This is all because of KKN or corruption, collusion and nepotism - the same bane cited by Indonesians under the past New Order government. ''Corruption is everywhere,'' said Bano, who is of the Fretilin faction, the main party of the former freedom movement.

philstar.com Malaysia's National Day celebrations have been soured by new racial troubles as minority ethnic Chinese and Indians fear Muslim Malay nationalists are gaining power. In a rare overt display of the tensions, dozens of Muslims paraded Friday with the bloodied head of a cow, a sacred animal in Hinduism, to protest the proposed construction of a Hindu temple in their neighborhood. The intolerance cast a shadow over Malaysia's nation-building efforts as it celebrates 52 years of independence from British rule on Monday.

straitstimes.com Burma's junta-run television announced on Sunday that 26 state security personnel and eight ethnic rebel fighters had been killed in three days of clashes near the Chinese border. The broadcast ended a news blackout on the unrest between the army and rebel Kokang forces in the country's remote north-east. According to the UN the fighting has sent up to 30,000 refugees fleeing into China.

smh.com.au Paul Hansford writes: Travelling in Thailand, I can wholeheartedly recommend a great new accessory: the blonde-haired, blue-eyed baby, or BHBEB. My wife and I have one and can state that having him with us in Bangkok was an especially agreeable experience. First, they are a great way to meet people. Walking through the thoroughfares of Bangkok, we were greeted by shouts of, ''Hello, pretty baby'' and ''Lovely baby blue eyes.'' I was quite enjoying the attention until I realised they were hailing the BHBEB instead of me.

afp Next time you stay in a luxury resort, buy a loaf of bread, open a bank account, sit on a massage chair, grab a sushi or sip a beer anywhere in Asia, check the company's country of origin. Chances are you are dealing with a brand based in Singapore, the affluent city-state that has broken beyond its compact size to become a regional economic powerhouse. Singapore Airlines has long been an iconic brand, but newer names like resort and spa operator Banyan Tree have established themselves as top-tier players in the region, and their ambitions go even further.

smh.com.au Road safety experts warn that a GPS can increase the risk of having an accident because they distract the driver from the road. A study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that reaching for an electronic device, such as a GPS, increased the risk of collision about six times. A study by the University of Utah showed that distraction from in-vehicle technology could be the equivalent of driving with a blood alcohol level of .08.

aapIt's been revealed that Hambali, the terrorist mastermind believed to be behind the Bali bombings, is set to escape justice for his role in the 2002 attacks that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Although he will face other counts, senior US officials have told a newspaper that military prosecutors lack the evidence to charge the Indonesian terror suspect over the bombings of the Sari Club and Paddy's Bar on October 12, 2002.

bbc.co.uk News Corporation's James Murdoch has said that a ''dominant'' BBC threatens independent journalism in Britain. The chairman of the media giant in Europe, which owns the Times and Sun, also blamed the British government for regulating the media ''with relish''. ''The expansion of state-sponsored journalism is a threat to the plurality and independence of news provision,'' Mr Murdoch said.

treatmentabroad.net Bangkok Hospital Phuket in Thailand is delighted to announce it has attained Joint Commission International (JCI) Accreditation. The international hospital provides a wide range of medical services and is a leading medical tourism destination. The hospital says,''In response to the ever increasing number of patients seeking medical care outside of their home countries, it has become essential for hospitals to undergo rigorous screening to ensure they meet international standards for health care services. The current leading body for such accreditation is Joint Commission International, a US-based organisation widely seen as the gold standard for top-level health care service providers worldwide. Achieving JCI is not only an internal milestone, but also one for Thailand as a centre of medical excellence. It officially recognises that the practices of our doctors, nurses, medical assistants and the management team at Bangkok Hospital Phuket meet or exceed the standards of medical facilities in the US.''

voanews.com A Thailand-based activist group says migrant workers from Burma are significantly worse off than they were a year ago. The group is urging the Thai government to extend legal protections and social safety nets to migrant workers. The Migrant Assistance Program Foundation, known as MAP, says the global economic downturn has hit migrants from Burma particularly hard. Soe Lin Aung says the group is also asking the Thai government to stop threatening to deport illegal migrants, which he said would help build a more inclusive society.

asiaone.com The novelty of being the world's first Formula One night race saw the inaugural SingTel Singapore Grand Prix attract 100,000 spectators last September. But ticket sales in the past few months have struggled to get into high gear, though momentum is expected to increase in the lead-up to the September 25-27 event at the Marina Bay street circuit.

wsj.com Elizabeth Bernstein writes: Like many people, I'm experiencing Facebook Fatigue. I'm tired of loved ones - you know who you are - who claim they are too busy to pick up the phone, or even write a decent email, yet spend hours on social-media sites, uploading photos of their children or parties, forwarding inane quizzes, posting quirky, sometimes nonsensical one-liners or tweeting their latest whereabouts. ''Online, people can't see the yawn,'' says Patricia Wallace, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth and author of 'The Psychology of the Internet.'

latimes.com Time Warner Cable Inc. will begin testing a system that lets TV subscribers watch cable shows on the Internet at no extra cost. The firm said it had signed on a dozen programmers. Time Warner Cable follows Comcast Corp., its larger rival, in letting a test group of subscribers watch shows online.


Phuket Drownings: Russian Vanishes at Karon
Updating Report The spate of needless drownings continues on Phuket with Karon officials hunting for the body of a Russian holidaymaker last seen in the surf at popular Karon beach.
Phuket Drownings: Russian Vanishes at Karon

How Phuket Turns its Back . . . and Tourists Die
Photo Album A turtle without a flipper survived. A Russian tourist drowned. Another day in paradise. Phuket's drownings can only be stopped by the community taking responsibility.
How Phuket Turns its Back . . . and Tourists Die

Look Who's Back! It's That Phuket Preecha Man
Photo Album He said he'd make a comeback and he has. Dr Preecha Ruangjan is on Phuket and looking to make an impression with the goods he has brought from his new northern home.
Look Who's Back! It's That Phuket Preecha Man

Wet Phuket Delivers Double Dousing in August
Latest Statistics from the Bureau of Meteorology confirm that parts of Phuket are twice as wet as they were last year in August. But that depends whether it's north, south, or east Phuket.
Wet Phuket Delivers Double Dousing in August

Holey Patong Hill! Phuket Springs Summer Leak
Readers' Photos We're over August but August is not over yet, especially when it comes to floods on Phuket. The rain will keep on tumbling . . . but the hope is September will be dry.
Holey Patong Hill! Phuket Springs Summer Leak

Governor's New Committee To Check All Projects
Latest The Governor of Phuket has announced a new layer of scrutiny for all development projects and says environmental reviews will be tougher from now on. New laws could follow.
Governor's New Committee To Check All Projects