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

bangkokpost.com The Phuket and Samui high-end property markets will enjoy continuous foreign investment in the coming years, says Warnes Associates Co, a structural engineering consultancy. Vanich Nopnirapath, director and a partner, said that even though the residential supply on both holiday islands was now abundant, foreign demand would continue to push forward expansion of property developments, particularly in the luxury segment.

yonhapnews.cokr Bowing to public pressure, President Lee Myung-bak decided to replace his defence minister, accused of mishandling the reaction to North Korea's deadly artillery attack this week. The minister publicly expressed his intention to step down in May after North Korea was found to have torpedoed a 1200-ton South Korean warship, the Cheonan, killing 46 sailors.

foxnews.com Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano hinted this week that the body scanners and "enhanced" pat-downs that have caused a ruckus at airports across the US could be coming to a train station, port or subway near you. In an interview aired Monday, Napolitano said terrorists will continue to seek vulnerabilities in transportation systems.

thephuketinsider.com Niche markets continue to be all the rage these days and now a new online travel site is tapping into the Muslim travel sector. Tagging itself as 'Halal Friendly Travel' the Crescent Rating site deals with all elements of travel including hotels, destinations, tours, healthcare, airports and of course restaurants.

scmp.com Prostitutes on the tourist island of Bali say they are being unjustly blamed for the spread of Aids into the mainstream community, after a recent report said as many as one in four sex workers there had HIV.

nytimes.com Cambodia's police came under criticism for a failure of crowd management and for an inadequate and incompetent response to the water festival crowd crush in which more than 350 people died. One officer said only half the officially reported number of police officers were actually deployed. Seriously injured survivors reported being dumped into vehicles with the dead.

xinhuanet.com Indonesia's Chairman of National Agency for Disaster Management Samsul Maarif told a parliamentary hearing that a flash flood in West Papua province has claimed 173, an earthquake and tsunami in West Sumatra province have took 509 lives while volcano eruption of Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces claimed 322 lives.

businessweek.com Malaysia Airlines returned to profit in the third quarter and budget carrier AirAsia's earnings more than doubled to a record high as travel increased amid the region's economic recovery. AirAsia announced a record quarterly profit $105.5 million, up 152 percent from a year earlier.

wsj.com Thai AirAsia carried 1.36 million passengers, an 8.8 percent increase. Indonesia AirAsia carried 8.3 percent more passengers to reach a total of 1.08 million and its load factor rose four percentage points to 81 percent from 77 percent a year earlier.

nationmultimedia.com A prisoner died from a gunshot wound during a violent protest by about 200 male inmates of Lop Buri Prison, in which a canteen and a prisoners' barracks were set ablaze. Two other inmates and a prison guard were injured. The riot was eventually brought under control.

heraldsun.com.au Jetstar has sacked a pilot who spoke out about safety concerns in a move that could result in industrial action over the summer holiday period. First Officer Joe Eakins, 31, criticised cost-cutting at Jetstar and the plan to hire air crews based in Singapore "on wages well below their Australian-based colleagues" and what effect this would have on passenger safety.

reuters.com The trunks sported by Singapore's men's water polo team at the Asian Games are causing red faces in the conservative city-state. The trunks display the Singaporean flag's white crescent moon in what has been described as an inappropriate fashion.

theage.com.au The collapse of a five-star resort project near Melbourne has cost investors tens of millions of dollars. Documents obtained by The Age reveal that Victoria's Premier John Brumby last year wrote to Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare encouraging him to invest in the proposed Hilton in the Vines luxury resort, in the Yarra Valley.

daijiworld.com Phuket is a great destination to relax and unwind.Though we were soaking wet in the rain, we admit, we still enjoyed the place. We took the tour to Phi Phi island which was superb but later we realised that we had been ripped off by our hotel manager. A local store would have given us the same tour at half price.

bernama.com The feasibility study on high speed bullet train connecting Malaysia and Singapore will be carried out starting January next year, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala.

smartcompany.com.au Dear Aunty B, My problem is not about how I dress but how my staff dresses! I have a couple of young blokes who wear t-shirts in the office and sometimes even singlets. One wore a beer singlet the other day! When I asked him where he got it in a rather pointed way he happily told me Phuket. I told them to smarten up but all they did was go out and buy new t-shirts.



THE Phuket International Soccer 7s kick off on November 27 at the FIFA Phuket Tsunami Football Center with 40 teams, including the famous Footy Japan and Team Bondi from Australia that won the finals in last year's tournament. An Awards Party wil be held at Taipan as usual (free buffet food), then After Tournament Parties at Seduction Beach Club with DJ Nakadia on November 27.

November 26-28 Phuket Honda Racing Fest at Saphan Hin, Phuket City
November 28 Laguna Phuket triathlon
December 1 World Aids Day
December 4-11 Phuket King's Cup Regatta
December 5 Laguna Ironman 70.3 title
December 3-5 North Phuket Culinary Arts Festival, Mai Khao resorts
December 15-20 Patong Carnival
December 16-18 2010 Asia Superyacht Rendezvous
December 17 US Consular outreach service on Phuket
December 30-January 9 Phuket Red Cross fair, Saphan Hin park, Phuket City
2011
January 6-9 PIMEX boat show, Royal Phuket Marina
January 22 QSI International fun run day at Bang Wad Dam, Kathu
January 23 The Great Phuket Rubber Duck Race Day, Laguna Phuket
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi