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

bangkokpost.com The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship is pleading for understanding from businesses at Ratchaprasong in Bangkok as the group holds a rally Thursday to mark one year since the crackdown by government forces on red shirt supporters.

washingtonpost.com Nobody has been charged in Kamolkate's death. Cases like this -and the fact that only government opponents have so far faced prosecution - have strengthened a sense that justice in Thailand is one-sided, a malleable tool favoring the Bangkok-based elite over the powerless, mostly rural poor.

andrew-drummond.com Police in Bangkok promised ''transparency'' in an investigation into a massive fraud committed on an Irish businessman on the holiday island of Phuket - recently dubbed the island of greed by local expatriates and tourists. As a gang thought to be comprised of police, lawyers, and local ''businessmen'' tried to hang on to their newly acquired assets and cash, investigating officers from the Thai mainland were turned away by local police, who insisted they handle their own investigation.

Phuket Update Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha admitted to a misspent youth in pool halls until 4am some evenings in launching the media campaign on Wednesday for the Phuket Snooker Championships, to be held at the Royal Paradise Hotel in Patong from June 6-11. Admission is free.

Dates of November 1-6 have been set for Phuket's annual womens' beach volleyball tourney on the sand at Karon.

afp The maid who says she was sexually assaulted by Dominique Strauss-Kahn will strongly deny to jurors any assertions that she willingly had sex with the IMF chief, her attorney said. "I think that when the jury hears her testimony and sees her in person, and finally she can come public with this and tell her story, I think that (they will find) their claims of consensual sex or encounters are not true," attorney Jeff Shapiro told NBC television.

nationmultimedia.com Schools nationwide in Thailand reopened for the new semester, making Bangkok traffic a nightmare and making authorities heighten security in the deep South.

afp A former policeman fell to his death from a 16th floor hotel window ledge as he tried to evade a raid by Malaysia's Islamic morality police, officials said. District police chief Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman told AFP the 49-year old man was with a 40-year old woman, who was not his wife, when the incident occurred.

bangkokpost.com Orient Thai Airlines has quietly begun renewing its fleet to support expansion of its scheduled and chartered services. The privately owned Thai carrier has purchased three Boeing 737-300s from a foreign airline and more recently leased a Boeing 767-300ER from Los Angeles-based Air Lease Corporation.

Phuket Update Four elephants were transported from Krabi to the island of Racha off Phuket for a low-key four-day fashion shoot for a French style magazine. Producers said they were delighted with the results and hoped to come back to shoot some more fashion in the region. The elephants were shot, but unharmed by the experience.

stuff.co.nz A 40-year-old New Zealander returning from a holiday in Thailand was found at Christchurch International Airport with pseudoephedrine in the heels of his shoes, Customs said. The substance is used to make methamphetamine.

wsj.com Genting Singapore has been fined a total of S$530,000 for four breaches of the island nation's Casino Control Act and related regulations, the Casino Regulatory Authority said in a written statement on its website.

thephuketinsider.com While Phuket's Splash Jungle has gotten mixed reviews, the Pattaya Ramayana Waterpark project will benefit from a far larger catchment of tourists and the close proximity to urban Bangkok's large population base.

opp.org.uk The Phuket real estate market is maturing, with the resale property sector becoming far better established according to the Phuket Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce, which recently met to discuss current market trends in markets like Phuket, Bali, Samui, Pattaya and Hua Hin.

ibtimes.com Casa de la Flora Resort is located in a secluded ambiance near Phuket, Thailand. There are no words to describe the surroundings and anyone who has ever been in a place like this could tell you that it left him or her breathless.



Until May 22 Phuket's nightly village fair of local products, food and entertainment, Saphan Hin, Phuket City
June 1 New PPAO Hospital to open, Phuket City
June 6-11 Phuket Snooker Championships, Patong
June 10-11 Traditional Baba wedding festival, Phuket City
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 1-6 Women's Beach Volleyball Series at Karon on 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