UPDATE
traveltrends.biz Blair Speers, founder of Thai-based website HotelTravel.com, has sold his company to Indian OTA MakeMyTrip for US$25m - $US15m cash and US$10m in shares. Speers, a Canadian national who has lived and worked in Phuket for 20 years, founded HotelTravel.com in 1999. It seems MakeMyTrip is trying to diversify away from the ''difficult'' Indian market.
STUMPS on day one of the First test against Australia sees South Africa at 2-255 after winning the toss and batting. Hashim Amla will resume on 90 and Jacques Kallis on 84.
PhuketWATCH Daily Media Wrap
PHUKET: A daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media.
xinhua US President Barack Obama will kick off a four-day Asian tour starting November 17 that will take him to Thailand, Burma and Cambodia, the White House said. His travel to Rangoon marks the first visit ever by a sitting US president as bilateral relations have been warming up following eased US sanctions in response to the undergoing reforms in the Southeast Asian nation.
guardian.co.uk Representatives of ethnic minorities in Burma, long subject to human rights abuses, criticised his decision.
mizzima.com Tourism Transparency, an NGO that advocates responsible tourism to Burma, has published a booklet called ''Dos & Don'ts for Tourists'' - a guidebook targeted at foreign visitors who may be unaware of many of the customs in the Buddhist country. Download a copy here:
http://dosanddontsfortourists.com/index.html
bangkokpost.com The Pheu Thai-led government will pursue national reconciliation and human rights recognition until ''true democracy'' is realised, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told the 5th Bali Democracy Forum in Indonesia.
brecoorder.com Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the US to stop interfering around the world and dismissed its elections as a ''battleground for the capitalists.''
Phuket Update Six teenagers face attempted murder charges after being arrested last month carrying knives and swords in gang fights at Phuket City's Saphan Hin park. Police on Phuket have arrested 220 people over 12 days in a blitz on illegal weapons, drugs and other crimes.
cnn.com Chinese President Hu Jintao, set to begin handing over power to his successor, warned that a failure to deal with corruption could bring down China's ruling Communist Party and the state it controls. Hu was speaking at the party's 18th National Congress in Beijing, a key meeting of top officials that will usher in a new set of leaders of the world's most populous nation.
bangkokpost.com Branching out into the low-cost carrier segment is not on Bangkok Airways' radar as it intends to consolidate its efforts in growing its mainstream premium airline operation.
reuters McDonald's has reported its first monthly drop in global sales in almost a decade as diners turn their backs on the golden arches in favor of its price-conscious competitors.
telegraph.co.uk South Korea's Samsung sold 18m of its Galaxy S3 handsets in the third quarter, compared to Apple's 16.2m sales of its iPhone 4S, according to research from Strategy Analytics.
heraldonline.com Four of the world's leading tourism companies together with GIZ and The Code launch a joint project to combat child sex tourism. TUI Travel; Accor group; Kuoni Group and ITB aim to ensure and inspire action on the issue, through testing and optimisation of the tools put in place in Thailand, as pilot country.
bangkokpost.com Large numbers of tourists have cancelled their trips to Krabi province after a video clip emerged as a sign of protest against provincial authorities who gave bail to a man accused of raping a foreign woman in Ao Nang.
nationmultimedia.com Tourism in Krabi has been shaken by the viral video clip of a song produced by a Dutch father whose 19-year-old daughter was raped this year, Krabi Tourism Association president Ittirat Kinglek said. Khun Ittirit added the important lesson for authorities should teach them that they must always try to solve a case instead of ignoring it.
thephuketinsider.com Anantara is in the process of upgrading the former Bundarika resort which has been renamed the Anantara Phuket Layan Resort.
tsnn.com According to recent media reports, plans to build the US$85 million Phuket International Convention and Exhibition Centre have now been scrapped by the Thai government. The resort destination in southern Thailand was to be the first in the region to receive a large-scale MICE venue.
Phuket World Sports Wrap
nationmultimedia.com Thailand's futsal team coach Victor Hermans is extremely confident of his side's chances of making it to the knockout phase of the Futsal World Cup, rating them 99 percent. The hosts have to wait to learn whether they will advance as one of the best third-placed teams in the 24-team tournament.
perthnow.com Thomas Bjorn has shot a five-under 66 to lead by a stroke with half the field still yet to finish the rain-interrupted first round of the Singapore Open.
bangkokpost.com Hanoi won the right to host the 2019 Asian Games, sparking celebrations among Vietnamese officials who said the decision would unlock millions of dollars in infrastructure investment. There was also an update on the 4th Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand, in 2014.
Phuket Coming Events 2012
From November 1 Futsal World Cup, Bangkok
November 9 IBAP network meeting
November 25 Laguna Phuket Triathlon
November 28 Loy Kratong Day
November 30 AustCham Phuket sundowners social and business networking
December 1 World AIDs Day
December 1-8 King's Cup Regatta
December 5 HM The King's Birthday
December 10 Constitution Day
December 15-20 Patong Carnival
December 16-18 Asia Superyacht Rendezvous, Bang Tao beach
December 25 Christmas Day
Phuket Coming Events 2013
October 5-13 Phuket Vegetarian Festival
Phuket Coming Events 2014
November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket
