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

PHUKET had its first resurgent political protest yesterday when about 200 demonstrators delivered a letter at the Provincial Hall after a street parade around Phuket City.
The protest, reminiscent of those of the Peoples' Alliance for Democracy before the fall of the Thaksin sucessor governments late last year, was by a group calling itself the Network of the People of Phuket Who Love Thailand, Religion and The King.
The letter called on the national government to take action over the appointment of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra as economic adviser to the Hun Sen Government in Cambodia.
As all recent political protests on Phuket have been, it was a peaceful affair.

smh.com.au The Philippines is proposing the adoption of a single visa policy for 10 South-East Asian nations, saying it would benefit trade and tourism. Philippine Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said he wants a single visa for citizens of countries not belonging to Asean. The proposal will be discussed at a three-day meeting of regional immigration heads from Monday in Manila.

foodbizdaily.com Sir Terry Leahy, CEO of Britain's Tesco retailing group, had a meeting with the Thai PM to discuss the draft of a new retail law. The draft was submitted on November 12 and Cabinet will review the draft on November 17. Sir Terry voiced his concern that because world and regional economies have changed, any new retail laws should employ both traditional and modern business models to aid retail survival. Sir Terry emphasised that Tesco and its Thai hypermarket unit, Tesco Lotus, are in Thailand to stay. The group has done a lot for social development projects and for education.

cnn.com This year's Leonid meteor shower will peak on Tuesday, forecasters say, producing mild but pretty sparks over the US and a more intense outburst over Asia. ''We're predicting 20 to 30 meteors per hour over the Americas and as many as 200 to 300 per hour over Asia,'' said Bill Cooke, of NASA's meteoroid environment office. The Leonid shower is made of bits of debris from the Tempel-Tuttle comet, which streaks through Earth's inner solar system every 33 years.

triathlon.competitor.com World Triathlon Corporation and Laguna Resorts and Hotels announce the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship to be held on December 5, 2010. The race, set at Laguna Phuket Resort on Phuket, will be the culmination of WTC's new Asia-Pacific Ironman 70.3 Event Series. The Laguna Phuket Resort is expected to be the permanent home of this Championship. Murphy Reinschreiber, WTC's managing director of Asia-Pacific,said: ''The resort serves as a destination with broad appeal to athletes in all of our markets, including Australia, Singapore, Japan, the US and Europe, and it is a proven and storied triathlon venue.''

bloomberg.com CIMB Group Holdings Bhd., Malaysia's second-largest bank, will be the first company to take advantage of new rules allowing overseas listings on Thailand's exchange. CIMB plans to sell as many as 35 million shares to the public in the listing, according to a joint statement by the company and the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

dailytimes.com.pk Russia is to build up its navy over the coming decade, President Dmitry Medvedev announced on Monday, as he visited a Russian guided missile cruiser in Singapore. Speaking to sailors on board the Russian Pacific Fleet's Varyag, Medvedev said around half of Russia's military hardware would have to be renewed by 2020.

reuters.com Sales of uncompleted private homes in Singapore plunged 29 percent in October from September, falling below the 1000 unit level for the first time since January as government measures to cool the property market took effect.

the australian.com.au The Australian Navy has intercepted another boatload of 41 suspected asylum-seekers near Ashmore Islands as tensions rise between Australia and Indonesia over the influx. It is he fourth boat to arrive in four days amid speculation of a diplomatic snub behind the Indonesian President's decision to cancel a visit to Australia on Sunday at short notice blaming ''scheduling difficulties''.

asiatraveltips.com Pacific Blue has launched direct flights between Perth in Australia and Phuket in southern Thailand. The new route is Virgin Blue Airlines Group's first foray into the Thailand market, with the new Pacific Blue flights to provide West Australian travellers with another choice of international destination alongside the airline's existing flights from Perth to Bali.

theage.com.auIn a computer data processing error that would have cost a fortune to honor, the Virgin Blue group offered free lounge memberships and upgrade to ''gold'' status to more than a million of its loyalty program members, only to rescind the offer within two hours.

crikey.com.au Hard on the heels of its loss in the first six months of its financial year, Singapore Airlines finds signs of life in the October operating statistics. It's sober reading for those who depend on air transport, with passenger numbers substantially below the levels of a year earlier. There are encouraging signs that the decline in demand may have bottomed out.

smartcompany.com.au Qantas Airways will slash a number of first and business class seats across its long-haul fleet due to a drop in demand, chief executive Alan Joyce has announced. ''We have too many premium class seats on many aircraft,'' he said. Joyce did not specify how many seats would be cut, but said the Qantas model would be designed to emulate Singapore Airlines.

philly.com A New Jersey man has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison for traveling to Thailand to have sex with boys. Wayne Nelson Corliss pleaded guilty last year. The actor who often played Santa Claus at children's parties was arrested in May 2008 when investigators discovered images of Corliss having sex with a child on someone else's computer.