news.sky.com The Conservatives will be the largest party after the General Election, according to an exit poll carried out for the major broadcasters. The poll put the Conservatives on 316 seats, Labour on 239, the Scottish National Party on 58, the Liberal Democrats on 10 and UKIP on two.

AP Four tourists have become the first Chinese blacklisted by the China National Tourism Administration. They include a woman who poured hot instant noodles onto an AirAsia flight attendant and her travelling companion. Their behavior necessitated the flight returning to Bangkok.

rbth.com With the economy showing signs of recovery and the rouble stabilising, Russian tourists are once again expected to throng Phuket. The Thai island is a home away from home for many Russians, and has a thriving expat community from Russia, estimated to number around 30,000.
http://tinyurl.com/kg98joe

Thailand Update Australia's Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, is making a surprise visit to Bangkok today to launch the New Colombo Plan, which involves Australian university undergraduates interacting throughout the region.

aap Regional security, counter-terrorism, people smuggling and human trafficking will also be on the agenda when Ms Bishop meets her ministerial counterpart as well as the prime minister, General Prayuth Chan-ocha.

independent.co.uk A mother is launching a legal battle for possession of her dead daughter's frozen eggs so that she can become pregnant with her own grandchild.


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



afp Thai authorities issued 10 more arrest warrants against people suspected of human trafficking, as part of a blitz on camps used by people-smugglers sparked by the discovery of dozens of migrant remains.

bangkokpost.com Police found 30 new graves at an old, unused Muslim burial ground inside an abandoned detention camp for illegal Rohingya migrants in Hat Yai district, Songkhla.

thestar.com.my The former president of the Rohingya club in Thailand involved in helping refugees, Abdul Kalam, alleged that Malaysia is home to some 80 percent of the holding camps where young Rohingya and Bangladeshi ''slaves'' brought in by human traffickers are kept.

nationmultimedia.com Thailand is seeking talks with the countries involved in the transnational crime of human trafficking - including Malaysia and Myanmar - Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said. Thailand, he said, was just a transit point.

bangkokpost.com Editorial: Thailand must smash trafficking rings and punish corrupt officials. The world is waiting for the Prayuth government to do it.



bangkokpost.com Thailand posted a marginal gain in the World Economic Forum's bi-annual tourism-competitiveness report, but its tourist ''safety and security'' score was one of the worst.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/tourism/554371/poor-safety-record-limits-thailand-in-world-tourism-rankings

nationmultimedia.com Close on the heels of Wednesday's 4.6-magnitude undersea quake that jolted the southern provinces of Phang Nga, Phuket and Krabi, another undersea earthquake of magnitude 4.7 occurred.

Krabi Update Ao Nang hotel employee Isahark Thammajit, 26, is thought to have dozed off at the wheel and been killed in a head-on collision with a 10-wheeled truck in Krabi. The truck driver fled the scene.

indianexpress.com A Jet Airways flight from Bangkok to New Delhi was forced to make an emergency landing at the Indira Gandhi Airport (IGI) airport in the early hours after its commander fell ill mid-air, forcing the co-pilot to take the controls.

time.com The recent discovery of mass graves in southern Thailand comes as a new report reveals that a record-breaking 38 million people around the world today have been displaced within their own countries by conflict or violence. The number is the equivalent to the combined populations of London, New York City and Beijing, and signals ''our complete failure to protect innocent civilians,'' says Jan Egeland, secretary general at the Norwegian Refugee Council.

wsj.com While Gen. Prayuth is still a popular figure in many households for his bluff soldier's humor, Thailand's economy, once one of the fastest-growing in the world, is stumbling badly. Add to that the absence of a timetable for Thailand's return to democracy and the relief many Thais felt when he took over has given way to apprehension.

afp Ireland's growing weight problem is linked to a range of causes including generations of over-eating following historic poverty, experts say, after a study indicated it would become one of Europe's fattest nations. World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics indicated that, on current trends, 89 per cent of Irish men are likely to be overweight by 2030 and 48 percent obese.

theguardian.com.au A Japanese zoo is rethinking the name of a baby monkey called Charlotte following complaints it was disrespectful to Britain's newborn princess. Mount Takasaki Wild Monkey Park announced the name after it came top in a traditional public vote.



Try Phuketwan's Asean Today daily:
http://phuketwan.com/tourism/asean-today-cambodia-backs-china-queries-tier-status-jackie-chan-opposes-drugs-dong-devalued-22415/



afp Spanish football stars from teams including Barcelona and Real Madrid threatened to go on strike from May 16 to demand fairer distribution of riches from television broadcast rights.

mirror.co.uk Freshly crowned Premier League champions Chelsea have announced that they will play a game in Thailand during their post-season tour. The Blues played in Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium in July 2013 in what was the first match of Jose Mourinho's second spell at Stamford Bridge and will face Thailand All-Stars on May 30.



June 20-21 Baba wedding at Old Phuket Town

July 14-16 Trial of Phuketwan journalists at Phuket Provincial Court

July 15-19 Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek