AUSTRALIAN bowler Ashton Agar, 19, scored 98 on debut as the last man in to figure in a record final wicket partnership of 163 to take Australia to 280 and a lead of 65 over England. It was a performance unprecedented in Test history.


PHUKET: The daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. Beware of inconsistent imitations.

Phuket Update Phuket FC's dreams of FA Cup success evaporated with a 5-0 hammering by Premier League titans Muantong United in last night's away game. The loss capped a bad week with the Phuket club being fined 10,000 baht because fans threw objects at a referee.

nnt The Ministry of Public Health has launched a pilot project in nine provinces to promote food safety in schools and nurseries and to push Thailand to become Asean's leader in food standards. The Public Health Ministry's food safety project has been piloted in nine provinces,including Phuket.

bangkokpost.com The embattled jet-setting monk, widely known as Luang Pu Nen Kham, bought 22 Mercedes-Benz cars between 2009 and 2011, Department of Special Investigation director-general Tarit Pengdith said, encouraging suspicions he was laundering money.

nationmultimedia.com Two Thai women rescued from a Hong Kong brothel have told investigators they were lured by the promise of 90,000 baht-a-month jobs as masseuses. The brothel owner told them they wouldn't be released until they had serviced 200 customers to repay travel expenses.

abcnews.go.com Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International released its Global Corruption Barometer 2013, a worldwide survey of 114,000 people. Seventy-one percent in Thailand thought police were corrupt, with 68 percent believing political parties were corrupt.

nationmultimedia.com For many wealthy politicians and officials now, corruption boils down to simple greed and never knowing how much is enough. Vasit Dejkunchorn, a former deputy national police chief, has called these greedy politicians "kleptocrats" and warned that, if nothing is done to rein them in, they might eventually turn Thailand into a kleptocracy - a country ruled by thieves.

bangkokpost.comThe first day of Ramadan was free of violence across the entire deep South, a hopeful sign that a tacit ceasefire could be taking hold, despite the BRN demand that the government withdraw all military forces from the region.

ap A Thai court approved the extradition of a 67-year-old British charity organiser wanted by Cambodian authorities on a rape charge. David John Fletcher, who ran a charity for children in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, was convicted in absentia for the rape of a 17-year-old Cambodian girl. He was sentenced in May 2011 to 10 years in prison.

irrawaddy.org The UN welcomed the release of 42 child-soldiers by Burma's armed forces, but urged the country's military to discharge all remaining underage soldiers serving in its ranks.

abcnews.go.com UN chief Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is warning Burma that it must end Buddhist attacks on minority Muslims if it wants to be seen as a credible nation. Sectarian violence against Rohingya has killed hundreds in the past year.

voanews.com Indonesia is pressing Burma's government to grant legal status to the country's Muslim Rohingya. As more Rohingya seek asylum in Indonesia and elsewhere abroad, Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa says Burma needs to take action to end inter-communal violence.

bbc.co.uk Sixty people are now thought to be dead or missing after a freight train carrying crude oil derailed and blew up in Quebec, Canadian police say.

ibtimes.co.uk KFC has called off its lawyers after learning that a chicken shop in Thailand that created a Colonel Hitler logo had either shut down or had never existed in the first place.

bloomberg.com AirAsia X, a spin-off from Tony Fernandes' AirAsia, is adding more aircraft as it seeks to fend off rising competition from Singapore Airlines' long-distance budget unit Scoot that started flying last year.

thisissussex.co.uk Gatwick Airport welcomed the first regular-service of a long-range aircraft which is 60 percent quieter than other planes. Passengers can now fly on the Thomson 787 Dreamliner to Cancun and Orlando, Florida. Scheduled services to Phuket will be launched later in the year.



smh.com.au England was bundled out for 215 in the First Test by a young attack bursting with nervous energy. The Australians were 4-75 at stumps, with Steve Smith unbeaten on 38 after using his feet to get after Graeme Swann, and Phillip Hughes seven not out.

channelnewsasia.com The alleged gang-rape of a female official by three handball players has rocked Malaysia's sports community. Sieh Koh Chi, secretary-general of the Olympic Council of Malaysia, told AFP he was ''shocked'' by the incident on July 3 at the Malaysia Games, a competition between the country's different states.



July 17-21 Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek

July 22 Arsarnha Bucha Day

August 12 HM The Queen's Birthday

October 5-13 Phuket Vegetarian Festival

October 23 Chulalongkorn Memorial Day

October 29-November 3 Womens' volleyball, Karon beach

November 17 Loy Kratong Day

November 24-December 1 Challenge Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest. Laguna Phuket

December 5 HM The King's birthday



January 9-12 Phuket International Boat Show, Royal Phuket Marina

November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket