afp Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi will be released just days after Burma's first election in two decades, officials said on Thursday. The Nobel Peace laureate, who has been detained for most of the last 20 years since winning the country's last general election, will be freed when her current term of house arrest expires on November 13, the unnamed sources said.


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

dpa A Thai court ruled Stuart Scott Crawford, 44, should be extradited to Britain as a prime suspect in the 2008 murder of his landlord in Sutton, near London. His arrest was on the orders of new Immigration Police Bureau chief Police Lieutenant General Wuthi Liptapallop, who has launched a crackdown on foreigners facing arrest warrants abroad and in Thailand. [News is awaited on an application to extradite Briton Lee Aldhouse to face a murder charge on Phuket.]

Phuketwan Update New Phuket Governor Tree Ackaradecha will take over tomorrow. After four years on Phuket, the former vice governor says he knows where the problems lie. He said Phuket needs to develop sustainable tourism, with an emphasise on nature and culture. Security and safety were also important, and tourists shouldn't be ripped off, he said. He said he was happy to continue Governor Wichai's infrastructure and light rail projects.

bangkokpost.com Thailand's tourism industry will grow by less than eight percent next year as negative factors including slower economic growth, politics and the social divide will persist, says the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Promotions intended to restore confidence may have an impact on tour prices, while tourists, who face external negative factors, will shorten stays and cut spending.

Phuketwan Update Patong Mayor Pian Keesin said the quest for a Patong tunnel will continue. He was speaking at a meeting at Patong Municipality HQ. He said there were 400 to 500 accidents on the winding hill road every year. The cost a preliminary study will be $39 million baht.



Frequent Phuket visitor and leading Australian businessman and philanthropist Bill Wavish held a surprise birthday party at Phuket's Surin beach this week for wife Von and daughter Jordan, who were led to the beachfront gathering of 70 friends and relatives by an elephant. Mr Wavish's next project is to see his Sydney Kings basketball team become regular winners.

Phuketwan Update The Transport Department has improved its offices for driving licence tests in Phuket City and now has available internet booking at phuket.dlt.go.th About 400 people a day come for licence tests. Now there is an English version.

smh.com.au When travellers go to an Accor site to look at a hotel's facilities and prices (Accor brands include Novotel, Sofitel and Mercure), they will be encouraged to click on the TripAdvisor icon to read other travellers' reviews. However, hundreds of hotels and restaurants in Britain and the US are preparing to take legal action against TripAdvisor over what they say are unfair and false reviews posted on the site.

bangkokpost.com Veera Prateepchaikul writes: There is no point in Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban contesting the October 30 by-election in Surat Thani if the sole purpose is for him to become an MP. The real objective is to put him in a position where he can fill the shoes of PM Abhisit Vejjajiva in the event the Democrat Party is dissolved and all or some of the executive board are banned from politics for five years by the Constitution Court.

wsj.com European police are searching for a suspected terror hit team believed to be in Europe and possibly planning a shooting spree in an urban center, according to a senior European intelligence official. The investigation is driven by US intelligence and is focusing on a man of unknown age thought to be from North Africa known only as ''Mauritani,'' the official said.

themalaysianinsider.com A local tsunami alert was issued and later lifted after a magnitude 7.2 quake struck off Papua, eastern Indonesia early this morning. The US Geological Survey reported a strong 6.6 tremor followed by the stronger second quake, which hit at 2.11am. The latter was only 12.3km deep and centred 109 km northwest of Dobo, in the Aru Islands, very close to the first quake.

reuters Three people have been jailed for a London scam targetting tourists. A woman would pose as a tourist and ask a genuine visitor for directions or to take a photo for her. Other gang members posing as police officers would demand details of the tourists' identity and credit cards, and the woman would comply and encourage the tourists to do so.

smh.com.au The Australian dollar continued to rise overnight, climbing to another fresh two-year high of 97.3 US cents as it consolidated recent strong gains. And for the first time in six years, it was on equal footing with the Canadian dollar, widely referred to as the loonie because of the imprint of a loon on the dollar coin.

afp Australian, British and US rock bands including The Smashing Pumpkins and Stereophonics have been urged to withdraw from a music festival in Indonesia because of its tobacco sponsorship. Anti-tobacco activists and health experts from Australia, the US and Wales have expressed concern.

zacks.com Krispy Kreme Doughnut Inc. announced that its first franchise-owned store has been launched in Thailand and 20 more stores are expected to open in the country by 2015. Krispy Kreme currently retains a Zacks #1 Rank, which translates into a short-term Strong Buy rating.

guardian.co.uk Shocking evidence of conditions akin to slavery on trawlers that provide fish for European dinner tables has been found in an investigation off the coast of west Africa. Forced labor and human rights abuses involving African crews have been uncovered on trawlers fishing illegally for the European market by investigators for an environmental campaign group.

bernama.com In a move to strengthen the ban on undesirable websites, the Singapore Government will direct internet service providers to provide internet filters to local users. The government is currently banning 100 websites which include those that contain pornographic content, sites which incite racial and religious intolerance, and those which promote terrorism and extremism.



October 1-3 Asian Hospitality and Travel Show, Hafale, Phuket City
October 8-16 Vegetarian Festival, Phuket
October 12 Qatar begins daily flights to Phuket
November 2-7 Phuket womens' beach volleyball, Karon beach
November 5 Phuket Charity Pro Am Golf, Blue Canyon
November 19 AustCham at the new Westin Hotel at Koh Sireh from 3pm. E: harry@ladypie.com Tel: 081 2731740
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