A WATER TRUCK ran out of control onto a pavement in Karon about 9am today, demolishing a clothing sales stall but injuring no-one. Police said the driver encountered a problem with gears. It happened in Wiset Road, near the Diamond Cottage Resort and Spa.


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

bangkokpost.com Local administrative organisations top the list of state agencies embezzling public funds, a government report says. The report, by the Office of the Permanent Secretary under the PM's Office, looked into alleged irregularities in the use of state budgets for the 2009 fiscal year, and found a total of 335 graft cases where the amount embezzled came to 1.75 billion baht. The office was able to conclude its investigations into 67 cases and retrieve 17 million baht. Thirty-three staff were dismissed and 30 had their salaries cut.

afp.com Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner jet has taken to the skies for the first time, in a critical milestone for the problem-plagued aircraft seen as key to the future of the US aerospace giant. The first flight of the revolutionary new ''green'' passenger jet comes after more than two years of production problems. The Dreamliner is capable of flying long-haul routes using up to 20 percent less fuel.

cnn.com Philippines authorities have started evacuating about 50,000 people living around the active Mayon volcano after it oozed fiery lava and belched clouds of ash. A large-scale eruption was forecast as imminent.

nationmultimedia.com The biggest weapons seized on a Soviet cargo plane detained at Don Mueang airport are multiple rocket launchers and two dozen 240mm unguided rockets, high-ranking security sources said. Total value of weapons found in 145 large boxes that weigh nearly 40 tonnes all up was estimated at around 600 million baht, the sources said.

reuters Israel demanded Britain change its law after reports that ex-foreign minister Tzipi Livni would have risked arrest on war crimes charges over last year's Gaza offensive, had she not canceled a visit to London. The legal jeopardy faced by Israeli politicians and military officers could damage Britain's efforts to play a role in Middle East peacemaking, Israel's Foreign Ministry said after British media reported a magistrate had issued an arrest warrant for Livni at the behest of lawyers acting for Palestinians in Gaza.

guardian.co.uk A leading sports injury specialist whose clients include Tiger Woods and hundreds of other top-flight professional athletes is under criminal investigation by the FBI on suspicion of supplying athletes with performance-enhancing drugs, it emerged today. Anthony Galea's medicine bag was seized at the Canadian border in October, and found to contain human growth hormone and Actovegin, a drug derived from calf's blood. Using or selling Actovegin is illegal in the US.

nypost.com Shamed golfer Tiger Woods is terrified that his wife is going to divorce him over his sexcapades and make his life miserable by moving to Sweden with their two young kids, a source close to Woods' camp told The Post. Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, is refusing to speak to him, the source said. The only thing that she said to her hubby was that he had better get into therapy,or else.

independent.co.uk Senior British Airways managers have warned they are in a ''fight to the death'' with unions over plans for an unprecedented 12-day strike by cabin crew which threatens to wreck the Christmas travel plans of one million passengers. Virgin Atlantic, easyJet and Ryanair are set to make a fortune at the expense of BA after unions chose the nuclear option announcing a walkout from 22 December to 2 January following a 9-1 vote in favour of industrial action.

christiannewswire.com More than 36,000 Christians representing more than 1700 churches across Thailand are prepared to implement My Hope, a successful outreach project of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, this week. Evangelistic meetings will be taking place in homes, churches schools and various other venues all over the country from December 17-19.

thehindubusinessline.com Going aggressive in India, Malaysia-based low cost International carrier AirAsia plans to secure landing rights facilities to 15 destinations in the country in the next 12 months, a top executive of the airline said. ''India is on our aggressive expansion plans in the coming 12 months,'' Kathleen Tan, Regional Head, Commercial, AirAsia, told reporters today at a function to mark the launch of the airline's Kochi Kuala Lumpur direct service.

irrawaddy.org Thailand will open four more trade checkpoints on its border with Burma next year, including one that was closed in 2007 after Thai border security guards were kidnapped by an armed group allied to the Burmese junta. The Nation newspaper reported that the four checkpoints will be at Huay Ton Nun in Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province; Ban Nam Khao and Three Pagodas Pass in Kanchanburi Province; and Dan Singkhon in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. At present there are three border trade checkpoints linking Thailand and Burma.

ftnnews.com Centara Hotels and Resorts has announced the December 22 grand opening of its second overseas property, the Moksha Himalaya Spa Resort, which is located at Himachai Pradesh in India. The new opening follows the launch of Centara's first venture overseas, the Centara Grand Island Resort and Spa in the Maldives, which opened on December 1. Centara has three resorts on Phuket with a fourth under construction.

telegraph.co.ukMembers of a criminal network have been convicted of masterminding a global fake golf club scam on eBay. From Thailand, or their homes in Britain, they arranged for the fake goods to be sent to eBay customers in Ireland, Australia, the US, Germany, Italy, France, Canada, the Netherlands, Brazil and New Zealand. The gang sold counterfeit Qantas passes to business class lounges. Sentencing will take place next month.

boston.com Singapore retail sales fell for a 13th consecutive month in October, but the drop was smaller than the previous month amid an economy poised to grow for a third quarter. Retail sales fell 4.4 percent from a year earlier after dropping 12 percent in September and 4.7 percent in August, the statistics department said. Some retailers are beginning to see sales pick up ahead of the year-end holiday season.

xinhua.com Asean has seen dramatic changes in the status of women over the last decades, a Singapore official said. Speaking at the Asean Women Leaders Forum, Singapore's Lim Hwee Hua said that with more career and educational opportunities opening up, more women in the region are now better educated and are holding on to managerial and professional positions in the workforce.

reuters.com Communities devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami have ''built back better'' and lessons were learned for future disaster recovery, said Bill Clinton, who served as UN special envoy for tsunami rebuilding. The former US president told Reuters that the disaster drew a huge international response with some $13.5 billion pledged worldwide to fund recovery, but a report on recovery efforts presented to the UN in April found a need to deliver aid fast outweighed equity.

Phuketwan Update A Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation beach cleanup with JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa on December 12 picked up 270 kilos of garbage from two kilometres of sand and 58 kilos of fishing nets from coral reefs and nearby water.