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


The Nation To scrutinise foreign businesses, the Phuket revenue office is checking tax payments, while the Treasury is scrutinising ownership of condominium space. Immigration police are checking visa and residence status. A fact-finding effort is underway in Phuket to compile information about local businesses in which Thai people are hired by foreigners as their nominees - a practice considered suspicious and possibly illegal. The Nation also quotes Phang Nga Tourism Association president Krit Srifa as saying that more than 100 small hotels and resorts in Phang Nga are up for sale, while many in the area and other parts of the South have already closed down following the lack of visitors. Marketing Association of Thailand president Somboon Prasit-jutrakul says Thailand's tourism industry had already declined more than 70 percent year on year. He said it would be very difficult for the industry to recover, because there were so many negative factors, including political unrest.

Xinhua The Federation of Thai Tourism Industries says it supports the government plan to impose the International Security Act because it could prevent unrest and generate confidence among foreign tourists. The FTTI statement was referring to the weekly cabinet meeting, which has approved in principle for hosting a special cabinet meeting to consider imposing the Act whenever the anti-government group holds a mass anti-government rally.

aljazeera.net A French climber known as ''Spiderman'' for his rope-less ascents of the world's tallest buildings has successfully climbed Malaysia's Petronas Towers after two previous attempts were cut short. Alain Robert began climbing Tower 2 of the 88-storey buildings before dawn on Tuesday and took just over two hours to fulfil a long-held dream to reach the top. He was detained after he unfurled a Malaysian flag when he reached the very tip of the tower's pinnacle, 451.9m above the ground.

businessweek.com China's main stock measure edged up as investors hunted bargains amid unease about possible government curbs on liquidity. Shanghai's rebound was ''merely a technical correction'' after the benchmark plunged 6.7 percent Monday to its lowest level in three months on liquidity jitters, said Wen Lijun, an analyst for Nanjing Securities. Investors were alarmed by news reports that Chinese bank lending fell about 40 percent from July's level, which was a sharp decline from June.

nytimes.com President Obama is holding his first White House dinner celebrating the Muslim holiday of Ramadan as part of his effort to rebuild American relations with the Islamic world after years of strain. The dinner follows in the tradition of former President George W. Bush, who held eight Ramadan dinners in office to stress that America's war with violent extremists was not a war with Islam. Mr Obama, while adopting a similar message of respect for the religion of Islam, has none of the baggage of his predecessor and some distinctive advantages that aides hope give him credibility.

ocregister.com Mark Steyn on Edward Kennedy: You can't make an omelet without breaking chicks, right? I don't know how many lives the senator changed - he certainly changed Mary Jo's - but you're struck less by the precise arithmetic than by the basic equation: How many changed lives justify leaving a human being struggling for breath for up to five hours pressed up against the window in a small, shrinking air pocket in Teddy's Oldsmobile?

smh.com.au Google's Gmail web-based email service has been restored for millions of users worldwide after an outage lasting at least six hours, the company says. ''We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support,'' the company said. The outage caused a stir on micro-blogging site Twitter overnight. Gmail is one of the most popular web-based mail services in the world.

thenews.com.pk Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone fears an FIA probe into Fernando Alonso's victory in Singapore earlier this year could result in Renault walking away from the sport. An investigation was announced last week after allegations that Alonso's then teammate Nelson Piquet crashed on lap 14 in order to give the Spaniard a better chance to win. Ecclestone claims Renault boss Flavio Briatore is fuming about the investigation, which is likely to involve detailed analysis of all the technical data on the team's participation in the race, including pit-wall communications.

AFP Malaysian Muslims are now permitted to attend a concert by US hip-hop band Black Eyed Peas, organisers say, reversing an earlier stand which saw Muslims banned from the event. The Malaysian website for the September 25 event, sponsored by the Guinness brewery, had specified it was ''restricted to non-Muslims aged 18 and above,'' triggering controversy in the multicultural nation. Muslim Malays, who dominate Malaysia's population, are not allowed to drink alcohol while members of the Chinese and Indians minorities are not subject to such restrictions.


Phuket Wins 2 Billion Baht Budget for 'Super Centre'
Latest Good things come to those who wait and after two decades, Phuket seems assured now of a conference and sports centre that will drive the island's development.
Phuket Wins 2 Billion Baht Budget for 'Super Centre'

Jet Phuket Takes Off for 6.3m Visitors Record
Phuket's Economy Forecasts are that Phuket will reach a record 6.3 million arrivals and departures this year, which means the boom is rapidly overtaking the gloom.
Jet Phuket Takes Off for 6.3m Visitors Record

Researcher Pursues '100pc Truth' on Ownership
Latest An academic whose research created a newspaper storm is actually as concerned about Phuket tourism and the environment as she is about property.
Researcher Pursues '100pc Truth' on Ownership

Drowned Russian Tourist Found on Karon Beach
Latest The body of the latest drowning victim has been found at Karon. Beach safety is essential at seaside resorts these days. The tragedy is that these needless deaths can be prevented.
Drowned Russian Tourist Found on Karon Beach

China Visitor Bucks Jetski Bid for 50,000 Baht
UPDATE Phuket's governor tells tourist horror stories of jetski operators in Patong and makes it plain that the era of the scams and ripoffs is coming to a close.
China Visitor Bucks Jetski Bid for 50,000 Baht