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

ftnnews.com Centara Hotels & Resorts has signed a contract to manage the first property under the new Centra brand, the Centra Ashlee Hotel Patong, on Phuket. The new hotel will open in the end of 2010 and brings the total number of properties under Centara management in Phuket to six. Gerd Steeb, president of Centara Hotels & Resorts, said: ''Other hotels under the Centra brand will be announced very shortly.''

Associated Press Cambodia has suspended all flights to its two international airports due to heavy rain and strong winds. The suspension at the airports in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap started at 10 am Monday. [Severe storms are forecast for Phuket until Wednesday.]

Phuketwan Update Phuket Public Health officials have renewed a safety caution to possessed warriors taking part in the Vegetarian Festival, noting that 73 were treated at Phuket hospitals during last year's nine-day event, and four of the cases were categorised as ''serious.''

wsj.com Thailand's Ministry of Finance plans to propose resurrecting a withholding tax on foreign investors on the interest and capital gains made from their investment in the local bond market as part of a package of measures to curb the baht's rapid appreciation, Deputy Finance Minister Pradit Phataraprasit said.

monstersandcritics.com The UN Children's Fund urged the Thai government to crack down on child pornography, which is widely available in Bangkok. ''The sale of such material is a blatant and serious violation of children's rights, and it must not be tolerated for another day,'' said Tomoo Hozumi, the UNICEF representative in Thailand.


telegraph.co.uk Tripadvisor's online reviews now shape the way we plan our holidays but as Charles Starmer-Smith discovers, they are not always what they seem. In fact, all that is required to upload these travel "truths" is an anonymous username and email address (which can easily be faked).
Earlier this year, I uploaded a fictitious nine-bedroom guesthouse - the 111 Hotel - using the address of the Telegraph Media Group and a picture of the office canteen. I added a couple of "over-the-top" reviews (with blatant hyperbole and five-star ratings).
After 10 days of my constant tinkering it was finally spotted - but it was time enough for it to be rated in London's top 70 guesthouses (out of more than 300) and time enough for an unsuspecting traveller to be potentially duped into parting with a deposit or turning up at an address to be met by someone whose intentions would be unclear.

aap Bali police have spent a second day questioning an Australian man who is facing death for drug importation. Michael Sacatides, 43, was arrested at Bali airport on October 1 after customs officers found 1.7kg of methamphetamine, or ice. The kickboxing trainer arrived on a flight from Thailand, where he lives.

bangkokpost.com Thailand and Burma have agreed to jointly develop a deep-sea port at Dawei on Burma's Andaman Sea coast as a new economic zone, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says. The agreement was reached in talks between Mr Abhisit and his Burmese counterpart, Thein Sein, in Naypyidaw during Mr Abhisit's one-day visit.

dtinews.vn For some reason, those people drawn to a city such as Hanoi, are returning in small numbers. It is estimated by the 'Economist' that Thailand has a 50 percent return rate from visitors. In comparison, Hanoi is only credited with five percent of visitors ever coming back.

xinhua The Australian government is continuing to warn its citizens planning to attend a commemoration service in Bali on Tuesday to mark the eighth anniversary of the first Bali bombing of the "very high threat of terrorist attack". "We continue to receive credible information that terrorists could be planning attacks in Indonesia which could take place at any time," it said. The 2002 Bali bombing in Kuta left 202 dead, including 88 Australians.

abc.net.au Survivors of the first Bali bombing have unveiled a new study showing the benefits of building a peace park on the site of the Sari Club, which bore the brunt of the blasts. The owner of the site is planning a new nightclub.

rthk.org.hk Burma's military government is believed to be planning to release about 11,000 prisoners before next month's general election. According to the Agence France-Presse news agency, prisoners who are due to complete their sentences soon will also be freed to allow them to vote in the country's first election in 20 years. It's not clear, though, whether the people released will include about 2000 jailed political activists.

heraldsun.com.au Australian opera singer Dame Joan Sutherland, known as La Stupenda, has died at her home in Switzerland after a long illness, aged 83. New Zealand diva Dame Kiri Te Kanawa said Dame Joan could never be equalled: "She's totally unique and you will never ever hear another voice like that."

smh.com.au To get to Khao Lak, we turn right at Phuket Airport. The Sarojin shuns the standard buffet breakfast. Waiters rove with baskets of croissants, banana breads and brioche. Tall flutes of sparking wine are complimentary - another of the resort's points of difference. Most hotels will arrange transfers for the one-hour trip to Khao Lak. Taxis cost about 1500 baht ($51) and the bus is 700 baht. [Ed: Actually if you turn right, you end up in Phuket City. Try turning left.]

afp Singapore billionaire Peter Lim is to make a renewed bid for ailing English Premier League giants Liverpool by offering to buy the club for more money than the Americans preferred by the club's board the BBC claimed.

telegraph.co.uk The most spoken language in the world, Mandarin, is fast replacing Japanese as the Asian language of business. In recent years, China has started adopting a modified script referred to as the Simplified Chinese script, which facilitates easier writing.



ABOUT 150 inmates at the crowded Phuket Prison have joined the Vegetarian Festival and are having their meals brought each day from the Jui Tui Shrine in Phuket City.

October 12 Qatar begins regular flights to Phuket
Until October 16 Vegetarian Festival, Phuket
November 2-7 Phuket womens' beach volleyball, Karon beach
November 5 Phuket Charity Pro Am Golf, Blue Canyon
November 6 Charity golf at Tab Lamu, near Khao Lak: Call Sam on 089 875 1995 E: sam@khaolakappeal.com
November 19 AustCham at the new Westin Hotel at Koh Sireh from 3pm. E: harry@ladypie.com Tel: 081 2731740
November 21 Loy Kratong Festival
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