smh.com.au Graphic photos of bodies in pools of blood in the compound where Osama bin Laden was shot dead by US special forces have been posted at reuters.com.


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

bangkokpost.com Authorities have vowed to crack down on illegal tour operators in response to a rapid rise in the number of fraudulent booking operations online. In a related development, a survey of 1200 international tourists in April found that 84.7 percent were not worried about local political problems and 70 percent would visit Thailand again.

wyee4.com Custody battle father Sam Horton, who received a sentence of 10 years in the US for falsifying a passport document, denies that he told three-year-old daughter Zoie her mother was dead after they moved to Phuket. "I am not the monster people want to think I am. Ask any person that knew me before Thailand and in Thailand."

abc.net.au Police investigating a murder in Australia nine years ago have made a breakthrough with the extradition of Anthony Carl Prestidge from Thailand. It is alleged Mr Prestidge, arrested for minor Immigration breaches, fled after murdering his brother-in-law Andy Ball in Perth in 2002.

independent.co.uk Barack Obama has made a "categorical" ruling against releasing pictures of Osama bin Laden's body, the White House spokesman said. CIA director Leon Panetta revealing that Bin Laden had a 500 euro note and two telephone numbers sewn into his clothing, suggesting he had been prepared to flee in an emergency.

scmp.com The White House is defiantly standing by the legality and ethics of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden after it was forced to reveal that the terrorist mastermind was unarmed when he was shot dead in his bedroom.

asiasentinel.com There have been no credible examples of terror attacks beyond Thailand's four southernmost provinces, despite the proximity of such resorts as Phuket and Samui and their western tourists. Whatever the motivation for such reticence, there is no indication Philippine or Thai Islamic insurgents will seek softer targets in response to bin Laden's death.

globalpost.com Islamic hardliners in Indonesia labeled Osama bin Laden a martyr and Barack Obama a terrorist. But the majority of Indonesian Muslims disagree with the characterisation of bin Laden as a hero. On the streets of Jakarta, people said bin Laden's death is positive.

dailytimes.com.pk Indonesian police and military forces held a joint counter-terror exercise ahead of this week's two-day summit of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Jakarta.

bbc.co.uk Border crossings between Thailand and Cambodia, closed during recent fighting, have been reopened amid signs that tensions may be easing. A tentative truce appears to have held since Monday night, and tens of thousands of villagers displaced by the fighting are gradually returning home.

smh.com.au Sea levels will rise higher and faster than the UN predicted just four years ago, a major international study has found. The new data suggests that, on average, the seas will rise by up to 1.6 metres by the year 2100 - a finding that has serious implications for governments grappling with coastal planning.

reuters.com Billionaire Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Corp disappointed investors with a lower-than-expected quarterly profit at its Singapore casino-resort, sending the company's shares down 10 percent. Sands posted first-quarter earnings below Wall Street forecasts and said lower-than-normal casino table game winnings hit its Singapore revenue by about $30 million and its Las Vegas revenue by about $45 million.

eturbonews.com Although the flooding has now subsided in Krabi, room rates are down 25.48 percent in May and will take time to recover. The Tourism Council of Thailand has estimated 2.5 billion baht in tourism revenue has been lost. Many destinations in the area were untouched by the disaster and tourists are being encouraged back.

shropshirestar.com Britons banking on bargain holidays are heading down Mexico way, according to a survey. Currency sales for traditional holiday hotspots such as the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and Thailand have fallen.

nytimes.com Jackie Cooper, the pug-nosed kid who became Americas Boy in tear-jerker films of the Great Depression then survived Hollywoods notorious graveyard of child stardom and flourished as an adult in television and modern pictures, has died in Los Angeles. He was 88. He never knew his father, a musician who one night said he was going out for cigarettes and never came back.

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May 5 Coronation Day public holiday
May 13 Royal Ploughing Day public holiday
May New PPAO Hospital to open, Phuket City
May 17 Visakha Bucha Day public holiday
June 12 Laguna Phuket International Marathon
June 17 Phuket Property Dot Com Pro Am Invitational, Laguna
June 23-26 Phuket Fun Fly paragliding, Nai Harn
July 3 Phuket Navy League US Independence Day fair at Headstart International School
July 15 Asarnha Bucha Day public holiday
July 20-24 Six Senses Phuket Raceweek
August 12 HM The Queen's Birthday public holiday
October Vegetarian Festival, Phuket
November 26-27 9th Phuket International Soccer 7s
November 27 Laguna Phuket Triathlon
December 3-4 6th Andaman International Soccer 7s
December 4 Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship, Laguna


March 18-28 National Youth Games, Phuket

November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket