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

PHUKET police are hunting bag snatchers who struck five times in Phuket City on Wednesday evening. Phuket City police chief Wanchai Eakpornpich believes it's likely that the series of thefts was carried out by the same men, who target women.
One victim lost 30,000 baht in cash when her bag was snatched. Several of the victims were hurt, but none seriously.
8.30pm A solo thief snatches a bag from a woman on a motorcycle outside the boxing stadium in Phuket City's Saphan Hin park. . She falls off and suffers grazes. He escapes with 200 baht and a mobile telephone.
8.40pm Outside Satree Phuket School two thieves make off with 1600 baht, an ATM card and a mobile phone.
8.58pm At the old Phuket City night market near Phuket Royal City Hotel a woman on the footpath is knocked down and loses her shoulder bag.
9.30pm At the Phuket market in Naka Road two thieves on a bike snatch a bag containing 30,000 baht, a mobile and an ATM card.
11.30pm Thieves on a motorcycle outside the new Planet nightclub leave a woman shaken and minus 800 baht and two telephones.

straitstimes.com Thailand recalled its ambassador to Phnom Penh, a day after Cambodian Premier Hun Sen appointed fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra a special adviser on economic affairs. Just hours later, Cambodia responded by pulling its ambassador out of Thailand.

xinhua.com Ties between Cambodia and Thailand have been difficult since July 2008 amid an ongoing border conflict over land surrounding an11th century temple which has claimed several lives. The withdrawal of ambassadors was the most severe diplomatic actions thus far in ongoing tensions between the two countries which will only result in a further worsening of the relations between them.

The Nation Having been ousted by a military coup, convicted for a crime he refuses to accept and seen his own political movement neutralised one after another, Thaksin can be forgiven for trying to embarrass his opponents who are holding the reins of power. But everything has its boundary - and Thaksin has crossed it.

cnn.com Eleven people plus a gunman were dead and 31 wounded after the gunman opened fire Thursday on a soldier-processing center at Fort Hood, Texas, officials said. The slain gunman was identified as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, a law enforcement source told CNN. Licensed in Virginia, Hasan was a psychiatrist.

Phuketwan Update Bangaronrat Chinaprayoon has been appointed Tourism Authority of Thailand director for Phuket and the region, replacing Sethaphan Buddhani, who is bound for Mumbai to open a new TAT office. Khun Bangaronrat has been based in Bangkok.

latimes.com Pandemic H1N1 influenza is now in virtually every country in the world, and health officials are bracing for an upsurge in cases as winter sets in, World Health Organisation officials said. ''At WHO, we remain concerned about the pattern we are seeing, particularly because a sizable number of people do develop serious complications and death,'' said Dr Keiji Fukuda, a special adviser. The most recent figures available show that at least 5700 people worldwide have died from swine flu, with 4175 of those in the Americas.

scmp.com Can Pirates of the Caribbean compete with the parting of the Red Sea in China's theme park popularity stakes? Hong Kong businessman Leung Moon-lam and a group of fellow Christians are planning to build a 4.5 billion yuan (HK$5.1 billion) Bible and Chinese culture theme park on a 2.3 square kilometre site in Tieling, Liaoning province. With the world focused on the construction of a Disney theme park in Shanghai, Leung and his fellow Harmony World developers say Mickey Mouse does not have to be the only choice for mainlanders.

time.com As Asia searches for a new growth engine to replace the economically sputtering US, and as the US looks increasingly to Asia for consumers to sell to and governments to borrow from, the question hovering over next week's Apec summit in Singapore is, Can the leaders of the world's fastest-growing region find a new economic model that works for both East and West? The anxiety over Apec's economic future has rejuvenated an idea once dismissed as unwieldy and unrealistic: the knitting together of a free-trade zone, similar to the European Union, straddling the Asia-Pacific region.

globalsecuritynewswire.com A Japanese court handed a Tokyo businessman a suspended two-year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to sending equipment to Burma that could be used in the development of nuclear weapons, Kyodo News reported. The court also fined the trading firm headed by Keiko Ri, 41, more than $65,000 for failing to obtain government approval last year before exporting three grinding devices that could be used in producing uranium enrichment centrifuges.

voanews.com Gambling is legal in the Asian city-state of Singapore, but residents there are about to be bombarded with media messages warning them against becoming addicted to games of chance. The National Council On Problem Gambling was set up in Singapore after casino gambling was legalised in 2005. At that time, the government acknowledged the potential social costs of gambling and agreed to take steps to address the issue.

afp A Malaysian prince on Thursday won a defamation suit against his estranged teenage model wife and mother-in-law for alleging he had sexually abused his spouse, his lawyer said. Tengku Temenggong Mohammad Fakhry, the prince of northern Kelantan state, won by default after the two women failed to file a defence, his lawyer Mohamad Haaziq Pillay told AFP. ''The prince is extremely happy and he said justice has prevailed.''

smh.com.au A long dispute between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin empire and his Australian offshoot, Virgin Blue, over the use of the Virgin name is nearing an end. The two have been in '''negotiations''' for nearly two years about whether Virgin Blue has the rights to slap the V Australia brand, the name of its trans-Pacific airline, on a wide variety of goods. Virgin Blue wants to be able to use the name for everything from magazines and financial services to entertainment and mobile phones.

nytimes.com After mounting pressure from the public and the news media, two senior law enforcement officials suspected of trying to undermine Indonesia's respected anti-corruption agency were forced to resign Thursday. The resignations of top officials in the national police and attorney general's office, two of Indonesia's most powerful, though corrupt, institutions, amounted to a positive step in the country's fight against graft, advocates of government accountability said.

citmagazine.com Centara Hotels & Resorts plans to triple its portfolio of properties over the next five years in markets including Thailand, the Middle East, India, China and Asia Pacific. The Bangkok-based company, which currently operates 23 hotels and resorts, is aiming to expand to 65 properties within five years. Centara president Gerd Steeb said: "Following the successful opening of the Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya, our intention is to open other theme hotels, and we currently have Hua Hin and Phuket under consideration.''

wsj.com Starbucks Corp.'s fiscal fourth-quarter profit soared as the coffee retailer continued its turnaround and exceeded its targets for cost reductions. That strength led the firm to raise its earnings guidance for the new year, saying it now expects per-share growth of 15 percent to 20 percent from the 80 cents posted in the latest year, up two percentage points.

impactpub.com.au Accor is to debut its All Seasons brand in Britain following the addition of the Southwark Rose hotel near London Bridge. The hotel will be rebranded All Seasons London Southwark Rose. The All Seasons brand, which originated in Australia, has now expanded to more than 70 hotels in seven countries including New Zealand, France, Germany, Thailand and Indonesia.

enews.mcot.net Following the plan by public and private agencies to enlarge Phuket International Airport, Thailand's second largest airport after Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi, for passenger comfort and improved facilities, the airline business is showing every sign of going well, especially when a number of air carriers are moving forward with their proactive marketing strategies for the upcoming tourism season of the Andaman coastline. The bright prospect of domestic airline business expansion may not only buck the trend of the current economic downturn, but it also reflects the potential of the tourism and travel industry in this Andaman coastal resort island which may help prop up the country's economy in the future.


Places to Go As well as the unmissable rubber duck race for charity at Laguna this Saturday, on Sunday there's a Jazz Brunch at The Mangosteen Resort and Spa in Rawai from 11.30am to 3pm, with singer Bonnie Anderson there to keep everyone cool. (Entrance free, brunch 499 baht, use of the pool after live performance.) And that probably leaves just enough time to get to Karon for the final of the women's beach volleyball.