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

cnn.com Three men have been found guilty of plotting to blow up planes on flights between Britain and North America. Abdullah Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanwir Hussain could be sentenced in Britain as early as Thursday. It was the second trial of the men arrested in 2006 on suspicion of plotting to blow up planes with liquid explosives. The alleged plot led to new limits on the amount of liquids passengers can take through security at airports.

afp Airlines are stowing pillows and blankets, and rolling out the disinfectant wipes to discourage transmission of the H1N1 virus, all the while stressing planes are as ''safe'' as trains or schools. William Schaffner, head of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University medical school, said: ''I'm not sure that the companies can do very much.''

Press Association A Scots grandmother attacked by a pair of street robbers in Bangkok has died in hospital, her family has said. Lydia Riach, from Inverness, suffered wounds to her head when she fell to the ground during the motorcycle mugging on August 29.

Bangkok Post The slump in Thailand's tourism industry has resulted in at least 22 hotels in Bangkok worth a combined 17 billion baht being offered for sale, according to Patima Jeerapaet, managing director of the property consultant Colliers International Thailand. One of the properties on the block is valued at around three billion baht while the average price is 800 million. Sizes and locations vary but include some in the inner city and by the Chao Phraya River.

bloomberg.com Singapore Air, which gets about 40 percent of its revenue from premium travelers, has slashed fares to stimulate demand. Passenger yield, or average revenue per seat, tumbled 18 percent to 10.2 Singapore cents a kilometer in the three months ended in June, the steepest quarterly drop in at least six years. Passenger numbers fell 14 percent in July, the ninth consecutive month of decline and the longest losing streak since at least 1991.

bbc.co.uk Samoa has become the first country since the 1970s to change the side of the road on which cars are driven. At 6am local time sirens sounded and drivers were told to move from the right side to the left. The government brought about the change to bring Samoa into line with other South Pacific nations. A two-day holiday was declared.

guardian.co.uk Sam Wollaston writes: Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand (Bravo) is about silly Brits who get into trouble in paradise, and end up in prison or paying enormous sums of money to stay out of prison. And all because they smoked a spliff or crashed a jetski, or didn't crash a jetski but the jetski man said they crashed a jetski and now he's got his heavies in. Awful for the people involved, obviously. But quite entertaing for us - so much more so than those Wish You Were Here-style travel shows. Who cares about people having a nice time?

surfline.com ''If I wasn't in the contest I wouldn't have paddled out for some of those heats. In all my years of surfing here in Phuket I've never surfed in conditions like this. It was really hard work but I'm glad I did it,'' said Decha 'Day' Sittidej after his heat on Saturday morning. The weekend Island Crown surf title competition was stopped three times when howling winds brought torrents of rain that blasted the beach at Kata for several minutes.

telegraph.co.uk A newly-discovered spider has been named after rock star David Bowie, in an effort to raise awareness about the number of arachnid species threatened with extinction. The Heteropoda davidbowie is distinguished by its large size and yellow hair, and is only found in parts of Malaysia. Bowie was apparently selected for the honour because of his musical contribution to arachnid world - the 1972 concept album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

reuters.com South Korea protested to North Korea on Monday about a sudden release of water into a river flowing across their border that swept away six people in the South in a flash flood a day earlier. The incident could cast a chill over ties that have warmed between the rivals in the past month with North Korea reaching out to the South to restore business and tourism ventures severed for about a year due to political bickering.

brighthand.com Apple has scheduled a media event for September 9 where it will almost certainly release a new version of the iPod touch. It's possible the much-rumored Apple tablet will also be unveiled at that same time. This device is expected to be the first is this series with a camera and include the basic video editing software that debuted with the iPhone 3GS. In addition, it's rumored to be the first iPod touch with a microphone, allowing it to easily be converted into a Wi-Fi phone.


British TV Captures Gun in Phuket Jet-Ski Standoff
Photo Album Phuket's jet ski scams are about to be highlighted on British television in a series on tourist police that shows a gun being used to intimidate royal marines.
British TV Captures Gun in Phuket Jet-Ski Standoff

Phuket Worker Suffers Heightened Mondayitis
Dramatic Photos A Phuket airport worker decides to settle his differences with his colleagues . . . by climbing a power pole and threatening to jump. And that's where he spent the morning.
Phuket Worker Suffers Heightened Mondayitis

Phuket Airport 'Crash' To Stir Tragic Memories
Latest A simulated air crash is to occur on Phuket just a day before the anniversary of the 2007 One Two Go crash, prompting recollections of the disaster and its aftermath.
Phuket Airport 'Crash' To Stir Tragic Memories

MediaWATCH: Sharks at Beaches, Bangkok Airport
News Digest Great white sharks close US beaches; Arrests fail to deter Bangkok airport predators; Indonesia arrests beggar givers; Singapore Airlines No. 1; Ferry sinking concerns.
MediaWATCH: Sharks at Beaches, Bangkok Airport

Phuket Surfing Series 2009: Photo Special
Photo Special A beach party and presentation bring the Quiksilver Thailand Surf Series 2009 to a successful conclusion at the Kata Beach Resort and Spa.
Phuket Surfing Series 2009: Photo Special

Don't Be Unfair to Phuket Expats, Thais Are Told
Latest Backing for more overseas investment on Phuket has come from the powerful Thai military with a rear admiral who also has tourism connections revealing statistics on cash sources.
Don't Be Unfair to Phuket Expats, Thais Are Told