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

csmonitor.com Santa's in Burma! Now the Taj Mahal. Pakistan is next. Eager youngsters (and the young at heart) can track the jolly guy online in many formats with the help of Google Maps, Google Earth, Facebook, Twitter, and the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The Google Maps version gives realtime updates of where Santa was last spotted, including a countdown to where he's going next.

smh.com Elizabeth Farrelly writes: Christianity, some say, caused the crash. Not traditional Christianity, in which next-life success depends on this-life frugality, but the new so-called prosperity gospel, whose spirituality comes wrapped in worldly expectations like prunes in bacon. In view of the over-consumption monster now blocking humanity's path,with its three snarling heads of climate crisis, financial crisis and obesity crisis, all with their big googly eyes right on us. It is worth asking: how much does Jesus have to answer for?

cnn.com An unidentified person tried to reach Pope Benedict XVI during the start of midnight Mass on Thursday but was intercepted by security, the Vatican said. Pope Benedict XVI fell but was helped to his feet by his aides and the service was resumed, spokesman Federico Lombardi told CNN. The disruption began when a person tried to touch the pope as he was walking down the main aisle of St. Peter's Basilica, he said.

nationmultimedia.com Some 900 legal airport taxis at Suvarnabhumi International Airport were refusing to pick up passengers, protesting a reported plan by Airports of Thailand to change the 50 baht surcharge on taxi fares of arriving travellers. Earlier, the Consumer Protection Board had asked the Parliament's Standing Committee for Commerce and Intellectual Property for the surcharge to be cancelled as unfair to passengers.Cabbies claim 5000 taxis on standby each had to wait two hours on average for a fare.

afp Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has accused neighboring Thailand of preparing a coup against his government as the war of words between the nations worsened. Hun Sen said he had seen a secret Thai government document outlining the plan to mount a coup, which he said he had passed to Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni to show the ''bad character of our neighbouring leaders''.

xinhua.com Thailand's economic situation is the most worried issue for the country's people next year, according to a poll by Bangkok University, Thai News Agency reported. Some 39.7 percent of the total 1123 respondents in Bangkok are concerned that the country's economy will not recover, the poll said. Second largest worry is the country's political problem, according to the poll.

heraldsun.com.au A leading human rights group said today it was ''appalled'' by the Thai government's plans to send more than 4000 ethnic Hmong back to communist Laos, where many fear persecution. Amnesty International called on Thailand to prevent the expulsion of the group held in northern Phetchabun province, as premier Abhisit Vejjajiva confirmed it would go ahead ''at the most appropriate time'' despite international protests.

scmp.com Search-and-rescue teams combed the waters of Manila Bay for at least 27 people missing after a passenger ferry collided with a fishing boat, the coast guard said. Forty-six passengers and crew of a wooden-hulled ferry were plucked alive from the water arrived before noon.

cnn.com Five more defendants were sentenced to death for their roles in summer riots that killed around 200 people in western China, officials said.The five sentenced to death were among 22 defendants that went on trial this week by the Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi, according to a local government statement.

bbc.co.uk India has tightened rules for long-term tourist visas, barring visitors from returning within two months of leaving. Under previous rules, tourists on long-term visas had to leave the country every 180 days. Many simply paid brief visits to neighbouring countries. Some countries have protested against the new rules, with the US saying they are being applied inconsistently.

reuters.com The UN General Assembly condemned wide-ranging human rights violations in Burma in a resolution adopted early on Thursday. The resolution, voted through by 86-23 with 39 abstentions, ''strongly condemns the ongoing systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Myanmar.'' It also called on Burma's military rulers to immediately release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, as well as freeing more than 2000 other prisoners.

mizzima.com The Burmese military junta's decision to purchase armament from Russia may have been triggered by their fear of budget constraints under the new government to be elected in 2010, an analyst said. Win Min, a Burmese analyst based in Chiang Mai said the junta's decision to purchase MiG 29 Fulcrum D fighter jets from Russia at a time when they should be busy preparing for next year's elections, could be driven by its fear of budget constraints under the new government that will largely restrict them in their wild pursuit of weapons.

cnngo.com Alan Morison writes: To put it simply, the world's generosity in restoring Phuket after the tsunami, in returning as tourists, and in making the island an internationally renowned destination, has not been matched by Phuket. It has been met with greed. Phuket today is not so much an island of lost souls as an island of lost opportunities.

bangkokpost.com Five years after the tsunami, Thawat Niranatwarodom, managing director of Khao Lak Bay Front Resort, says: ''Khao Lak tourists are not those escaping from Phuket. They really intend to visit here. They love the serenity and tranquillity in Khao Lak, which Phuket cannot offer them.''. He regrets the social changes fuelled by the aid flowing into Phang Nga, which has led people from other provinces to relocate there to benefit fraudulently from recovery funds.

nytimes.com Intensifying a crackdown on dissent in advance of a Communist Party Congress, Vietnam has charged a prominent American-educated human rights lawyer and at least two associates with the capital crime of subversion. The lawyer, Le Cong Dinh, 41, was arrested in June along with four other prodemocracy campaigners and accused of meeting others on Phuket to plot the downfall of the Vietnam government. The arrests have drawn condemnation from Western governments.

independent.co.uk Facebook is the most popular social networking site in 100 out of 127 countries, reaching over 350 million users across the planet. Some regions that have not been taken over include Russia and Kazakhstan (where social network V Kontakte dominates), China (where social network QQ is the market leader), Mongolia, Thailand, Peru, Romania and Portugal (where Hi5 is the dominant social network), and in Brazil and Estonia (where Orkut is the leading social network).

Bernama Burma has been making efforts in combating human trafficking, claiming that it has rescued over 1000 trafficked victims in since 2005 when the country's anti-human trafficking law was introduced, China's Xinhua news agency reported Thursday. More than 1100 traffickers were also exposed in connection with 400 cases of its kind, according to the Home Ministry's Central Committee for combating human trafficking.

nst.com.my A convicted people trafficker who used false promises to lure two Thai women to work as prostitutes in Australia has lost an appeal against his sentence, the Brisbane Courier Mail reported. In the Brisbane District Court last year, Keith William Dobie, 49, was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to people trafficking.

timesofindia.com According to information, the tourism industry has witnessed a boom this year compared to 2008, as many people had cancelled their trips due to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. However, this year, people want to make the most of it and usher in the new year with a bang.

latimes.com The classic Indian Chief motorcycle, prized for its fanciful fenders and an American heritage different from its much bigger rival, Harley-Davidson, is back and finally ready to roll in California. Although motorcycle sales are down nationwide, the Chief is already a sought-after ride in 16 other states where it has been on sale since early this year.



December 25 Full-scale evacuation drill at Phuket International airport, following air crash drill and airport invasion drill earlier this year. Timing of the highly-visual drill one day before the fifth anniversary of the tsunami should attract national and international media interest. Part of the ongoing promotion that Phuket is a safe destination.

December 26 Memorial services on Phuket and in Phang Nga and Krabi for the fifth anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami. On Phuket, the Governor reads a message from the PM at 10am and then pauses for a minutes' silence at 10.10am at Loma Park, Patong.

December 27 Walking street Local Life fair in Thalang Road, Old Phuket Town, from 6pm-11.30pm. The unsightly overhead lines, hanging from poles, have been buried. Local food and free street performances. Tourists especially welcome.

December 28 The Aleenta Resort, a short drive off Phuket across the sarasin Bridge, is releasing two turtles equipped with GPS as part of a fund-raising dinner on Monday, December 28. The bbq beach dinner, preceded by a visit at 3pm to the nearby turtle sanctuary, costs 1500 baht and includes a 200 baht donation. There's a free shuttle from Stereo Lab at Surin on Phuket at 4.30pm, returning at midnight. Details: Andreas 076 580333 or rmphuket@aleenta.com

December 31 Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation holds turtle release to celebrate the New Year and to raise funds for the care of sea turtles. Donations of 2000 baht to release each of 50 turtles will go to the hatchery program. Contact Khun Aim on 086 689 2230 or e: info@maikhaoturtlefoundation.com