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

dailymail.co.uk Sir Terry Leahy has been dragged into a row over claims of unpaid bills at a luxury resort he set up in Thailand, the Daily Mail reveals. The Tesco chief executive, who leaves the supermarket in March, has invested millions of pounds of his personal fortune in the West Sands development on the holiday island of Phuket. But he has been assailed by allegations that a company hired to market the project has not been paid for work done last year.
He bought the 48-acre West Sands site in Phuket with business partner Paul Mercer in 2006. It boasts a 500-metre private beach, 426 properties with ocean views and private pools, a diving centre and the Splash Jungle Water Park. [Private pools, yes. But Thailand's beaches are all public.]

bbc.co.uk Separatist rebels in southern Thailand have killed four soldiers in an audacious attack on an army base. Military officials say up to 40 gunmen overran the camp in Narathiwat in an unusually well-organised raid and made off with more than 50 rifles and about 5000 bullets.

bangkokpost.com Eighteen popular diving sites will be closed for up to 14 months to allow coral damaged by bleaching to recover. Suchart Sirankanokkul, president of the Thai Hotels Association Southern Charter, suggested the government meet with tourism operators in the affected areas to discuss solutions to the problem.

reuters.com Thailand is closing dozens of dive sites to tourists after unusually warm seas caused severe damage to coral reefs in the Andaman Sea, one of the world's top diving and beach resort regions, authorities said.

nationmultimedia.com More than a dozen diving sites in seven national marine parks will be closed today for at least a month as authorities seek ways to arrest coral bleaching, leaving many southern tourism operators fuming.

divernet.com Marine authorities in Thailand have recommended that ten dive sites in national marine parks should be closed so that degraded corals can rejuvenate. Reefs have suffered from bleaching and the authorities are wary of any further damage being caused by diving visitors.

bangkokpost.com Letter: Referring hospital bills left unpaid by foreigners, many apparently did not have health insurance, which is regrettable. Perhaps we need to have a special government health plan which foreigners need to contribute to until the end of their lives. David Nong

bangkokpost.com Airports of Thailand staff have prevented former car park staff from trying to resume the collection of parking fees at Suvarnabhumi airport. Transport Minister Sohpon Zarum quoted AoT president Serirat Prasutanond as saying Parking Management Co executive Thanakrit Jetkittichok turned up at one of the car parks with a lawyer and a group of people and tried to reclaim the fee collection booths.

charismamag.com Burmese soldiers are systematically using forced labor, torture and rape to persecute majority-Christian residents of Chin state in western Burma, according to a report.

reuters.com Traffic jams are now common in Bali, a victim of its own success in pulling in swarms of tourists and using the money to buy cars and turn rice paddies into hotels. A new international airport is expected to open later this year on neighboring Lombok, and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund is leading a bidding race to develop an unspoiled southern coastline of white sand into a world class resort and luxury residential community.

afp Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen defended his son's recent military promotion, a move that has fuelled speculation the young man is being groomed to succeed his father. Hun Manet, 33, is already chief of the ministry of defence's anti-terrorism unit as well as deputy commander of Hun Sen's personal bodyguard unit.

business-news.com As China takes advantage of its free trade agreement with Asean and lower tariffs in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Burma, trade throughout the region will be spurred by its dramatically expanding footprint in Thailand. China City Complex, a 45-billion-baht investment by the Yunnan-based state enterprise Ashima Yunnan Cultural Industry Group, was launched with great fanfare this week.

cnn.com Hundreds of thousands of girls under the age of 18 are sold as sex slaves in the US. In a yearlong investigation, CNN's Amber Lyon reveals the devastating realities of the business of underage sex.

cnn.com Prosecutors in Milan, Italy, are investigating allegations that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi paid for sex with a minor, a case that has stirred scandal, but not in every quarter.

wsj.com National carrier Air New Zealand said it now holds 14.9 percent of Australian carrier Virgin Blue Holdings and the move cost it US$143 million.

dpa Cambodia and Burma have agreed to begin direct flights in a bid to boost tourism. Cambodia's Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said the twice-weekly flights would link Burma's capital Yangon and Cambodia's tourist centre of Siem Reap, home to the Angkor Wat temple complex.

bernama.com Singapore Changi Airport closed 2010 with a record of 42 million passengers. Among sectors with at least half a million passengers, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Mumbai, Penang and Phuket registered the strongest growth, reflecting the addition of capacity on these
routes during the year.

southalltravel.co.uk HSBC International questioned more than 4000 expats based in around 100 countries in order to find the place for expats that offers the best balance of business, family and quality of life. Thailand was named number one, with Canada at number two and Bahrain at number three.

asiaone.com Singapore should welcome new immigrants and help them integrate into Singapore society, said Minister Mentor Lee. In a speech at the 25th anniversary dinner of the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations, he said such integration was possible, although the first generation will take some time to do so.

smh.com.au The University of Canberra has become the first Australian campus to ban the sale of bottled water, setting what environmentalists hope will prove a template for the rest of the country. If successful in encouraging students to refill bottles, the ban is estimated to reduce water bottle sales by 140,000 a year.



January 21 FC Phuket benefit matches for heart-attack player Camara Ahmed are scheduled for 4pm Friday when Phuket, Phang Nga, Surat Thani and Krabi will play, with tickets at 20 baht and 50 baht. On January 23, the winners of the round-robin play off.

Until January 24 Phuket Food festival, Saphan Hin, Phuket City
January 22 QSI International fun run day at Bang Wad Dam, Kathu
January 23 Great Phuket Rubber Duck Race Day, Laguna Phuket
January 24 Villa Royale hosts the Baan Kata Arts Festival Concert
January 25 Muangtong United versus FC Phuket, 6pm. Tickets 50
baht, 100 baht
February 3 Chinese New Year Festival, Phuket
February 8-10Old Phuket Town Festival, food and walking street fest
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi
February 23-26 Phuket Gay Pride Festival, Patong
February 25-26 Phuket International Blues and Rock Festival 2011
February 26-27 Phuket Spicy Soccer 7s, Phuket International Academy
March 14-19 ADFEST 2011 at Movenpick Resort, Phuket
March 27 Earth Hour commemoration on Phuket
April 13-15 Songkran Festival
May New PPAO Hospital to open, Phuket City


Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket