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I Was Bashed: Red Aussie; Killers Close Schools; Phuket Nightlife D-Day; Team Phuket Sails to China
By Phuketwan Reporters Wednesday, September 8, 2010
An Australian man deported from Thailand after supporting red shirt protesters says he was beaten in prison and feared the Thai government would plant drugs on him. Conor Purcell arrived in Sydney today after more than three months in prison.
A daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media.
Phuketwan Update Royal Thai Navy officers hope to take advantage of a break in Phuket's stormy monsoon weather today to raise a sunken transporter containing 25,000 litres of diesel fuel. Fears are held that unless the converted trawler is brought to the surface, the danger of environmental damage in Phuket's tourist diving and marine protection zone will increase with time and bad weather. [Updates at Phuketwan today.]
monstersand critics.com Suspected separatists shot dead two teachers in Thailand's violence-wracked southern province of Narathiwat, prompting authorities to close 465 schools [for three days]. Unidentified assailants shot Wirach Phetprom, 54, and his wife, Khomkam, 52, as the couple were riding a motorcycle to school in the Rangae district, 750 kilometres south of Bangkok.
Phuketwan Update Phuket Vice Governor Niwit Aroonrat is to chair a meeting today in Phuket City to discuss options for establishing a special entertainment zone on Phuket. The venue has been changed to the Phuket Merlin at 1.30pm.
guardian.co.uk The BBC is locked in talks with the British government over drastic cuts to the World Service budget which could force it to withdraw from Burma and several other countries.
Phuketwan Update Team Phuket King's Cup, made up of former national representatives and sailors with experience in the SEA Games, is to enter the 2010 China Cup International Regatta (October 29-1 November) in Daya Bay, Shenzhen. The Phuket team will be led by Commodore of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, Kevin Whitcraft, who said: ''We're looking forward to some highly competitive One Design racing.''
nationmultimedia.com PM Abhisit Vejjajiva and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen will meet on the sidelines of the Asean-US summit in New York. All 10 leaders of Asean plus Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan are to meet with US President Barack Obama on September 24.
theage.com.au [Australian PM] Julia Gillard has cobbled together the magic 76 number to save her hide, but the long-awaited national election result will make good decisions difficult to deliver.
aap A former hotel manager who spent the last fours years in an Indonesian jail for sexually abusing teenage boys on Lombok island, near Bali, is being deported to Australia. Donald John Storen, 61, was in Indonesian immigration department custody in Bali awaiting a Wednesday morning flight to Perth.
afp A Cambodian court jailed a 63-year-old Norwegian man for 18 months on charges of paying for sex with a teenage boy in Siem Reap, the country's northwestern tourist hub. Sletten Rolf was arrested in January for soliciting paid sex with a 16-year-old boy in 2009.
Associated Press An Indonesian volcano shot a towering cloud of black ash kilometres high, dusting villages 25 kilometers away in its most powerful eruption since awakening last week from four centuries of dormancy. Some witnesses at the foot of Mount Sinabung reported seeing an orange glow - presumably magma - in cracks along the volcano's slopes for the first time.
afp China said it is investigating the qualifications of the nation's commercial pilots after revelations that more than 200 of them had falsified their resumes. The probe comes after 42 people died on August 24 when a Brazilian-made regional jet flown by Henan Airlines crashed at a small airport in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province.
abc.net.au An Australian man who was jailed for participating in anti-government protests in Bangkok earlier this year has been deported from Thailand. Conor Purcell has left Bangkok on a Malaysian Airlines flight for Sydney. The Irish-Australian was arrested in May for breaching state of emergency laws.
latimes.com More than a million people went on strike and into the streets of France to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy's proposal to raise the legal retirement age. The strike, deemed a success by unions, was seen as a serious attempt to curtail Sarkozy's major proposal to bump the retirement age from 60 to 62.
telegraph.co.uk Air travel between the UK and France is likely to be disrupted, while a number of rail services could also be delayed or cancelled.
wsj.com Four months after their marathon Bangkok street protests ended in a bloody crackdown, Thailand's anti-government red shirt protesters are testing the limits of what political and military leaders will allow, with a large fund-raising concert over the weekend in this bawdy seaside resort and another rally planned for the capital.
saudigazette.com.sa Not only is it outrageous that such a promotion was granted to a police officer under indictment, it is equally outrageous that Thai Deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban, who chairs the Police Commission, claimed Pol Lt Gen Somkid had been cleared by the commission of any wrongdoing connected to the disappearance. If he has been cleared by such an illustrious body as the Police Commission, the obvious question is: then why was he indicted?
The Thai-Saudi relationship has long been fraught with tension as many Thais have resented the presence of moneyed Saudis on vacation in Thailand, and Saudi authorities have often questioned the seriousness of Thai authorities charged with protecting Saudis from crimes in Thailand and prosecuting those which do occur.
bworldonline.com Differentiating the Mazda2 and the Fiesta visually is just as easy as differentiating Phuket from Ibiza. Unlike the Med, the Andaman Sea can churn out catastrophes of Biblical proportion, as a tsunami once did a few years ago. Memorials are not exactly thick on the ground, though. The locals prefer to move on. We were the eighth of the ten batches of Asia-Pacific motoring press that Ford was flying into Phuket, so it must have been routine for our maroon and yellow highway patrol escort to lead our convoy with sirens wailing.
vancouversun.com Another ship bearing Tamils fleeing Sri Lanka might be departing for Canada. In Singapore, a terrorism expert also claims a group of Tamils are gathered in Thailand waiting for a ship to collect them and bring them to Canada.
aviationrecord.com AirAsia is offering flights [from Australia] to Kuala Lumpur from as low as $149* one way and 20 percent off fares to some of the hottest spots in Asia, including Phuket. The Red Spot Sale runs until September 13, with one way economy fares to Kuala Lumpur from the Gold Coast and Perth starting from $149*, and Melbourne from $199*. The travel period is September 14 to November 15.
asiaone.com A Malaysian man has been charged with trafficking and exploiting 63 Indonesian women who were brought into Malaysia to work as domestic helpers. Lee In Chiew, 49, a businessman and former teacher, was charged for trafficking and ''exploiting them by using threats and force,'' said his lawyer.
September 8 Phuket Vice Governor heading meeting on Phuket's entertainment zones, Merlin Hotel, Phuket City, 1.30pm
Until September 9 Ramadan
September 10 International Business Association of Phuket presents a joint association networking meeting (BCCT, Navy League Phuket and SKAL)
September 11 Phuket Surf Lifesaving Carnival, Loma Park, Patong
September 13 Phuket Tsunami Evacuation Drill, Loma Park, Patong, 10.30am
September 16-17 Celebration of the 114th birthday of Luang Pu Supha at the Chalong temple named in his honor
September 18 Rip Curl Hunt for Young Surfers, Surin beach
September 22-26 Quiksilver 2010 Surf Competition, Kata beach
September 25 International Reef Cleanup Day, Phuket. More: Roger Chubb 087 628 2805 E: scubawoj@gmail.com
October 1-3 Asian Hospitality and Travel Show, Central Festival Phuket Convention and Exhibition Center, Phuket City
October 8-16 Vegetarian Festival, Phuket
November 2-7 Phuket womens' beach volleyball, Karon beach
November 5 Phuket Charity Pro Am Golf, Blue Canyon
November 28 Laguna Phuket triathlon
December 4-11 Phuket King's Cup Regatta
December 5 Laguna Ironman title
2011
January 6-9 PIMEX boat show, Royal Phuket Marina
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi
Long-Stay Tourist Dies in Phuket Balcony Plunge
Latest A Thai woman is being questioned by police in Patong after her European husband, a long stay tourist, plunged to his death from the fourth floor of an apartment block.
Long-Stay Tourist Dies in Phuket Balcony Plunge
Phuket Tuk-Tuk Wins Big Baht Race Against Crime
PHOTO ALBUM A snatch and ride thief who allegedly made off with 170,000 baht and headed for Phuket's bus station was taken for a ride by a tuk tuk . . . to his new destination, a police station.
Phuket Tuk-Tuk Wins Big Baht Race Against Crime
Phuket Volunteer a Victim in High-Speed Pole Wrap
Latest A young man who became the latest victim of Phuket's dangerous wet weather roads was a seasoned volunteer who attended crash scenes to rescue the injured and recover the dead.
Phuket Volunteer a Victim in High-Speed Pole Wrap
Phuket Passenger Surge: High Hopes for High Season
Latest Figures for August air passengers reflect Phuket's strong comeback from last year's downturn and this year's Bangkok upheaval. Downturn and upheaval are nowhere to be seen now.
Phuket Passenger Surge: High Hopes for High Season
Aussies Gain a Government; Phuket Merc Tripper Held for Drugs; MBK Holds Phuket Property Bank; Phuket Events
Phuket News UPDATE Aussies gain a government; Merc driver nabbed in drugs sting; Pirates strike again; Saudis question police appointment; Dangers of flying greater in developing countries.
Aussies Gain a Government; Phuket Merc Tripper Held for Drugs; MBK Holds Phuket Property Bank; Phuket Events
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