A new daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective. Reports from national and international media, with translations into English from Thai.

abcnews.go.com Michael Jackson, self-anointed King of Pop who revolutionised music but whose legacy was marred by allegations of child molestation and bizarre behavior, died after suffering a heart attack on Thursday. He was 50. The Los Angeles Fire Department was called to Jackson's residence. Paramedics performed CPR on Jackson, who was not breathing. . Chris Connelly, an ABC News contributor, and one of the last people to interview Jackson, said that the pop star had been ''determined to convey that he had greater things ahead of him.''

foxnews.com Farrah Fawcett, the multiple Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated American actress best known for her role in the 1970s television series Charlie's Angels, died in a Santa Monica hospital. She was 62. Long-time partner Ryan O'Neal told People magazine: ''She's gone. She now belongs to the ages . . . I loved her with all my heart. I will miss her so very, very much. She was in and out of consciousness. I talked to her all through the night. I told her how very much I loved her. She's in a better place now.'' Fawcett has been battling cancer.


nytimes.com Elizabeth Becker writes: When Thai protesters wanted to change their government they took over the airport to keep out tourists, which brought the economy to a halt and victory to the protesters. Tourism and travel is much more than the shiny brochures promising paradise for $2500 a week, airfare not included. It is now one of the dominant global industries, capable of lifting a nation out of poverty or condemning its children to the exploitation of sex tourism. One out of every 12 people around the world is employed by the industry which also creates $3 billion in business every day. At the same time, tourism and travel is responsible for 5.3 percent of the world's carbon emissions and the degradation of nearly every tropical beach not protected by the state.

afp Thailand's election commission has approved a new political party set up by the yellow shirt protest movement which blockaded Bangkok's airports last year. Calling themselves the New Politics Party, the group formerly known as the People's Alliance for Democracy had posted its papers with the Election Commission three weeks ago after three years of street-level activism. The party must now find 5000 members and set up four regional offices within one year. The ardent royalist group helped topple prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra with mass rallies in 2006 and reformed with tens of thousands of yellow-clad supporters last year to protest against his allies in government.

bbc.com Burma has denied any link with a North Korean ship in the South China Sea. US officials have said they believe the Kang Nam could be heading to Burma, carrying weapons in defiance of a UN embargo.Now the Burmese government has issued a statement denying that the Kang Nam is heading there, although it also said it was expecting another North Korean ship to arrive with a cargo of rice this weekend. Burma is believed to have bought conventional weapons from North Korea in the past few years and is also to believed be getting help in building a sophisticated complex of tunnels and bunkers for its military rulers.

economist.com One is an ageing North Korean cargo tub with more than one previous owner and a record of weapons trafficking. The other, shadowing the Kang Nam as it chugs slowly round China's coast on its way, it is believed, to a port in Myanmar via the Malacca Strait, is an American guided-missile destroyer, bristling with up-to-date radars and weaponry. But it is to be hoped that the captain of the USS McCampbell, reportedly taking over the tracking from a sister ship, the USS John McCain, has at least one old-fashioned bit of naval kit on board: a bullhorn.

thestar.com.my Malaysian health officials are looking for those who came into contact with a 29-year-old woman from Sungai Petani, who is the 86th H1N1 patient in the country. The woman was among 10 people who had gone to Phuket for five days before returning to Penang the same day.

latimes.com At least one million Americans have now contracted the H1N1 influenza, according to mathematical models prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while data from the field indicates that the virus is continuing to spread even though the normal flu season is over. Nearly 28,000 laboratory-confirmed US cases of the virus, also known as swine flu, have been reported, almost half of the more than 56,000 cases reported to the World Health Organisation. But a flu surveillance official with CDC, said many times that number have been infected. Although one million seems a high number, 15 million to 60 million Americans are infected by influenza during a normal flu season.


Warmongering Precedes Phuket's Next Big Event
Latest Will they or won't they? They world watches as North Korea and the US face off over nuclear weapons, with talks on Phuket next month offering a chance at peaceful dialogue.
Warmongering Precedes Phuket's Next Big Event

First Phuket Fashion Week Parade: Photo Special
Photo Album Phuket finally saw what the fuss was about when the models took to the long catwalk at Jungceylon. It was just the kind of event the new Patong needs.
First Phuket Fashion Week Parade: Photo Special

Patong Tourist Drowns Despite Swim Warning
Breaking News A tourist on Patong beach drowned on Wednesday evening despite warnings not to go into the water. The man was from Turkey.
Patong Tourist Drowns Despite Swim Warning

Supermodel Spat as Fashion Week Prices Plunge
Latest Ticket prices to Phuket Fashion Week and Music Festival have been slashed after a group of Thai supermodels had their performances cancelled unexpectedly.
Supermodel Spat as Fashion Week Prices Plunge

Patong Bars Get Set for US Navy, and Holy Day
Latest Thousands of sailors have already booked some Patong bars and clubs for activities when a group of US warships dock this week. But bars will close in July for a Buddhist holy day.
Patong Bars Get Set for US Navy, and Holy Day

Phuket Fashion Week: Preview Party Special
Photo Album Many of Thailand's top models are on Phuket for Fashion Week . . . and the after show parties. At the preview party, there was plenty of evidence that good times lie ahead.
Phuket Fashion Week: Preview Party Special


MediaWATCH: Addicts' Changing Drugs World
News Digest Goodbye opium and cannabis, hello ya bah; Bali fears Aussie fly; how to book an Internet holiday; New flying Finns to Phuket; Iran and Thailand; Latest on Burma, China, Malaysia
MediaWATCH: Addicts' Changing Drugs World

MediaWATCH: 'Sham Marriages' on US Menu
News Digest Sham marriages could be bought through a US restaurant proprietor, authorities say; Arab buyers have been reused Thai land; Kang Nam sails on Burma sells itself.
MediaWATCH: 'Sham Marriages' on US Menu

MediaWATCH: Swine Flu Toll Leaps in 100 countries
News Digest Thailand may consider Shariah law in the South: Swine Flu toll surges; Aussie to go free; Rail strike latest; PM's promise on foreign investment; Brinkmanship on the Kang Nam.
MediaWATCH: Swine Flu Toll Leaps in 100 countries

MediaWATCH: Phuket Eyes Nuclear Sea Drama
News Digest Phuket observers look on as North Korea and the US face off over Burma nuclear weapons; Thaksin bounce in byelection; Why Brits won't travel; swastika alert; pilots pay cut.
MediaWATCH: Phuket Eyes Nuclear Sea Drama