Phuketwan MediaWATCH
A daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media.
Associated Press King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has been hospitalised more than two months, will make a public appearance to celebrate his 82nd birthday this weekend but will not deliver a traditional annual speech, the palace said. The royal statement provided no update on the medical condition of HM The King, whose health has been a matter of nationwide concern since he was admitted to a Bangkok hospital September 19.
nationmultimedia.com As campaigners called for better prevention strategies to mark World Aids Day, it was revealed that Phuket, followed by Chanthaburi and Ranong, had the highest number of people with HIV/Aids. Dr Pongsawat Rattanasaeng, public health chief in Phuket, reported that the province had 6648 people with HIV/Aids mostly aged between 25 and 39, and 1767 of them had died. Phuket was a tourist destination with more than 7000 sex workers, he said.
dailyfinance.com Somali pirates have seized a US-bound tanker carrying $20 million worth of crude oil and taken it to a pirate harbor along the barren desert coast of central Somalia in one of the most audacious pirate strikes ever, US naval officials said. ''She's a big ol' girl, almost a quarter million tons. They're not speedy, they sit low in the water ... so a determined pirate like this one can be successful,'' Rear Adm. Peter Hudson said in Kenya, according to the AP.
abcnews.com A Los Angeles cocktail waitress claims she had a nearly three-year fling with golf superstar Tiger Woods, according to US Weekly magazine. Jaimee Grubbs, 24, told the magazine that she began having an affair with Woods in April 2007 and has since had 20 sexual encounters with the golfer. The article, published on the magazine's Web site, said that Grubbs claims to have more than ''300 racy texts from Woods'' as well as photos.
smh.com Tiger Woods will be fined $164 for an accident in which he drove his car into a tree after a rumored spat with his wife. The golfing superstar will also have four points taken off his licence, but will face no criminal charges, said Florida Highway Patrol troop commander, Major Cindy Williams.
bangkokpost.com One year on, Thailand has continued to pay massively for the PAD's embarrassing airports invasion: 210 billion baht in losses; the country's GDP has continued to slide ever since the airport seizure compounded by the global economic recession. The act severely dented the Kingdom's tourist-friendly image. Even today many foreign visitors are still haunted by their 10-day traumatic experience in Thailand.
voanews.com The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, says she regrets Switzerland's ban on building minarets and calls the move a thoroughly unfortunate step. Her spokesman, Rupert Colville, says the high commissioner believes this action risks putting the country on a collision course with its international human-rights obligations.
informationweek.com If 2009 has a ''zeitgeist,'' or spirit of the times, the leading contender for the title is deceased pop star Michael Jackson, who topped Bing, Google and Yahoo lists of top searches for the year. ''Michael Jackson'' is the only search term to appear on all three search engine's top 10 lists, and at the top of the three lists no less.
guardian.co.uk Thailand's former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh ignited a furore when he proposed that the separatist campaign in southern provinces might be solved politically, with a form of self-rule. Recent developments surrounding Afghanistan's elections have highlighted the shortcomings of using military force alone to resolve a civil war. This precedent offers an important lesson. As Aristotle put it, ''politics is the master science in the realm of action''.
bloomberg.com Singapore Airlines Ltd. cut Chief Executive Officer Chew Choon Seng's salary by 20 percent and parked planes in response to a global travel slump. It didn't touch the $8 million it spends annually on wine and Dom Perignon champagne for first-class passengers. Luring travelers back into premium seats is key for Chew to end a run of two consecutive quarterly losses, the airline's worst streak in at least seven years. First-class and business- class passengers account for about 40 percent of sales.
nydailynews.com Some like it pot. A never-before-seen home movie of Marilyn Monroe smoking a joint at a friend's house in New Jersey 50 years ago is up for sale. The silent film was shot by an unidentified friend of the iconic movie star and had been sitting in an attic for years.
voanews.com While the burning of fossil fuels is considered the main contribution to global warming from humans, tropical deforestation also plays a significant role. Climate experts say it may account for 20 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental activists say to reduce global warming the international community should pay countries such as Indonesia, Brazil and Congo to protect tropical forests.
afp US police have killed a man alleged to have shot dead four police officers in the north-western state of Washington, an area sheriff's department spokesman says. Pierce County Sheriff's Office spokesman Ed Troyer said the suspect, convicted felon Maurice Clemmons, was shot dead by police in a suburb of Seattle.
nytimes.com The threat of Dubai's billion-dollar debt default is casting a shadow here in Malaysia, the would-be global center of the fast-growing Islamic finance industry. But if Islamic finance keeps growing, Malaysia's comprehensive system of products and regulation may enable it to become a significant trading center.
usa.mediamonitors.com The Rohingyas are passing through the darkest phase of their long history in Arakan where they have been living for centuries. Every sensible Rohingya could feel that they have been pushed to the brink of destruction and just needed a final push to fall in the abyss of no return. The Burmese rulers are achieving what they want. They want the Rohingyas educationally backward, economically crippled, socially disunited, politically liquidated and numerically negligible.
