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

The Nation The Tourism Authority of Thailand plans to improve conditions at 5000 local destinations after finding only 10 percent of them were attracting domestic visitors. Chairman Weerasak Kowsurat said only 500 of the destinations were drawing local tourists, among them Chiang Mai, Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin and Bangkok. ''In Japan, Hakone is a good example of success in domestic tourism. That city has a population of only 150,000 but welcomes nearly 20 million visitors a year, more than 19 million of them Japanese. I would like to see something like that in Thailand.'' Thousands of unspoiled attractions are ready to be developed and promoted.

news.scotsman.com Eight teenagers devoted to the computer game Slayer planned to take their lives together last month, but most backed out after watching two of them jump to their deaths. Singapore's New Paper reported that one boy had convinced the others they had to die to become ''slayers''.

macworld.co.uk Apple has introduced the new iPod nano, the best selling iPod in the company's range, which adds a video camera, microphone and speaker. The popularity of video sharing sites such as YouTube and the success of the Flip mini digital camcorders convinced Apple to add a camera.

telegraph.co.uk Honolulu city council has gone back to the drawing board after a proposal to ban smelly people from its buses proved unworkable. The Hawaiian council had considered making it illegal to have ''odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system''. Had it passed into law, anyone convicted of being smelly could have been fined up to $500 and given a six-month jail term.

telegraph.co.uk Research by the Post Office this week confirms the trend of Britons increasingly to book breaks to long-haul destinations. Britons have returned to Kenya in growing numbers. Cut-price packages to Bali and Thailand have resulted in the sales of the relevant currencies increase by 54 percent and 26 percent respectively this summer. This week the travel operator Hayes & Jarvis was offering two weeks in a beachfront hotel in Cha-am, Thailand, for 549 pounds including return flight.

Associated Press Beatlemania is back with the rollout of the Fab Four's remastered CDs and first-ever video game, reaching out to a whole new generation decades after their parents and grandparents first succumbed. The Beatles returned to the top of the charts in Britain. Fans flocked to get their hands on the long-awaited sonic masterpieces, with lines snaking outside record stores in London and Liverpool.

cnn.com Cosmetic adverts in Asia are targeting men with blunt campaigns aimed at skin color that one lawmaker labels racist. ''Basically I think it's completely racist and highly objectionable,'' says Brinda Karat, a member of India's Parliament who has made formal complaints about the advertisements to Indian authorities. She says the ads, now aimed at men rather than women, are simply playing on a social stigma that already exists in India.

themanitoban.com Priya Tandon writes: What I witnessed in Patong Beach was disgusting, but more than that, it was sad. It opened my eyes to the issue of prostitution among Thai youth and the way the socio-economic situation in Thailand pushes more women to consider sexual tourism as employment. At one point, I even saw a prostitute who was wearing overalls and had braces, just as you would see a young teen enjoying playing outside with her friends. It made me question how common or easy it is for young Thai girls to fall into the world of sex tourism and prostitution.

bbc.co.uk Six Malaysian Muslims have been charged with sedition for parading the severed head of a cow through the streets of Shah Alam in Selangor state last month. The men were protesting against the building of a Hindu temple near a mosque in the area. The case has stoked tensions between Malaysia's Muslim majority and the Indian, mainly Hindu, minority to whom cows are considered sacred.

smh.com.au A jetliner from the beach resort of Cancun was briefly hijacked as it landed in Mexico City. The hijackers released all passengers shortly before federal police stormed the plane, and the crew emerged unharmed moments later. Police, who did not fire a single shot, led as many as eight handcuffed men away from the plane, which was isolated at the end of a runway in an area designed for emergencies.

Reuters Richard David Mitchell, 61, has been arraigned on sex tourism charges in Hawaii, after being deported from Cambodia. According to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint, witnesses reported seeing Mitchell engaging in sex acts with a female child on the curbside of a street in Phnom Penh.

ipsnews.net Despite fresh international criticism of Beijing's backing for the Burmese junta, China sees its alliance as a matter of simple economic expediency and is determined to forge ahead with controversial joint dual oil and gas pipelines that will ensure greater energy security for its robust economy. This month sees the first digs on the mammoth infrastructure project that will connect China's northwestern province of Yunnan with Burma's western coast.

wsj.com Mitsubishi Motors is hiring 1300 workers in Thailand, the latest sign of a global automotive recovery, coming a day after Toyota said it was adding 800 employees in Japan. Mitsubishi, Japan's fifth-biggest auto maker, said it is hiring the workers for its two assembly plants and one engine plant in Thailand.

abc.net.au Indonesian authorities are surprised and bemused by Australia's announcement that Australian Federal Police are opening up a war crimes investigation into the killings of five Australia-based newsmen in East Timor in 1975. Indonesia's Foreign Ministry says the investigation could become a hurdle in the bilateral relationship. The five were killed in October 1975 by Indonesian special forces.


British Tourist Hires Car in Patong, Vanishes
Latest Police are concerned for the safety of a British visitor who hired a car on Phuket and then vanished mysteriously, leaving the vehicle in Phang Nga Town. Blood was found on a seat.
British Tourist Hires Car in Patong, Vanishes

Chedi Phuket Goes DIY: Name Change Next?
Latest A 'divorce' after 14 years leaves the owners of the Chedi managing their own highly regarded resort . . . and there's a broad hint that the name might go eventually, too.
Chedi Phuket Goes DIY: Name Change Next?

Enviro Crackdown on All Phuket Marinas, Piers
Latest Phuket's new environmental review panel is to look at all existing and planned piers and marinas to assess the impact on marine life. The governor's aim: a better balance with nature.
Enviro Crackdown on All Phuket Marinas, Piers

State of Play of 37 Phuket Development Projects
Latest The Phuket Governor's special review committee considered a total of 37 projects when it met for the second time. Here are the projects and what happened to them.
State of Play of 37 Phuket Development Projects

Phuket Flight, Passenger Numbers Hint at Recovery
Latest Phuket arrivals and departures pick up in August and promise to improve still further. All that needs to happen now for a recovery is for visitors to bring their bankrolls.
Phuket Flight, Passenger Numbers Hint at Recovery

Court Rules Out Vote Buying: Paiboon Jets Back
Latest Phuket's most senior elected official is now free to begin work again after a court rejected allegations of vote buying. Paiboon Upatising is expected back at work immediately.
Court Rules Out Vote Buying: Paiboon Jets Back

British TV Captures Gun in Phuket Jet-Ski Standoff
Photo Album Phuket's jet ski scams are about to be highlighted on British television in a series on tourist police that shows a gun being used to intimidate royal marines.
British TV Captures Gun in Phuket Jet-Ski Standoff