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Election Fears Growing for Thailand; Tourism Teflon Coated; Jumbo Hits Office; Phuket People

Tuesday, December 24, 2013
UPDATING All Day, Every Day

telegraph.co.uk Alan Turing, the wartime codebreaker, has been granted a posthumous pardon by the Queen for his criminal conviction for homosexuality. Dr Turing, who helped Britain to win World War II, killed himself after receiving the conviction in 1952.

PhuketWATCH Daily Media Wrap

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

nationmultimedia.com Despite the rising temperature of political conflicts, international hotel chains remain confident that Thailand's tourism industry will bounce back quickly from any damage. Lothar Pehl, senior vice-president for operations of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Asia Pacific, said Thai tourism will rebound very quickly because the industry is well established.

traveldailynews.com Matthew Varley, COO of Wego: ''With the drop in the Australian dollar towards the end of this year, you might expect that Australians may lean towards more domestic travel. However, popular short haul destinations such as Phuket, Bali, Fiji and New Zealand still resonate and may develop even further, appreciated as good value for money international choices''.

AP The Indonesian government has warned a district chief after he forced an eastern airport to close temporarily because he failed to get a ticket on a fully booked flight, officials said. Officers blocked the flight for more than two hours by parking their vehicles on the runway.

bloomberg A British Airways jumbo jet carrying 202 passengers and crew has sliced into an office building at Johannesburg's main airport after following the wrong taxiway prior to take-off for London, injuring four people on the ground.

afp Thai authorities defused a makeshift car bomb found near a police station on the popular tourist island of Phuket, an official said. The device was found on Sunday after the authorities searched a suspicious vehicle left in the car park of a police station.

mwcnews.net Police on the Thai resort island of Phuket have found an apparent improvised explosive device in a pickup truck parked for two weeks near their station.

aljazeera.com Police are not certain who left the explosive-laden pickup truck near the police station in the popular tourist area.

nationmultimedia.com Sunday's vehicle-bomb attacks in Songkhla have placed the spotlight on the recent discovery of a suspicious pickup truck in a favorite tourist destination, Phuket.

wsj.com Is Thailand heading for civil war? The question may seem overly dramatic, but the decision of the opposition Democrat Party to boycott the Feb. 2 general election makes resolution of the struggle between the royalist Democrats and supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra nearly impossible.

bangkokpost.com The father of Singha beer heiress and core anti-government protest leader Chitpas Bhirombhakdi announced his daughter will change her surname, to allow her to continue political activities without further hurting the family business. Last week, four petrol bombs were hurled into the grounds of Ms Chitpas's family home.

firstpost.com The mostly city-dwelling demonstrators say Yingluck's removal is necessary to purge the country of corruption and money politics. They view Yingluck as a puppet of her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup and is living in self-imposed exile overseas after being convicted for corruption.

euronews.com Anti-government protesters in Bangkok blocked access to an election registration centre in an attempt to prevent candidates signing up for February's snap election. Despite this, some parties managed to register including caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's ruling party.

bangkokpost.com At least 34 parties will run in the election, but only nine were able to register with the Election Commission on the first day because the venue was blocked by protesters, and the others - all small parties - running to file complaints with police

Phuket People


AAP A veteran Australian journalist is facing up to five years in a Thai jail in what human rights activists claim is an attempt to curtail press freedom. Alan Morison, editor of news website Phuketwan, has told AAP that he and fellow journalist Chutima Sidasathian were confronted with defamation allegations by Thai police last week.

cnn.com Human Rights Watch has condemned the move, warning the charges threaten press freedom in Thailand.

herald-sun.com.au "We were shocked and surprised when we were sued by the Royal Thai Navy, especially given that all we did was carry a paragraph from Reuters," Mr Morison told AAP from his home on Phuket. The pair have now been told to report back to police on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed Canberra was aware of the case. ''Embassy officials in Bangkok are providing consular assistance to an Australian man who has been called to give a statement before police on 24 December,'' she told AAP.

radioaustralia.net.au Sunai Phasuk, senior researcher, Human Rights Watch Thailand: ''That is the lowest of the low, trafficking of refugees. The latest development is that we also have an allegation that Immigration officials are taking Rohingya out of the immigration lock-up, and handed them over to traffickers and take commission fees from that practice.''

karennews.org As the Rohingya boatpeople continue to land in neighboring countries and news of their tragedy and horror at sea shocks the world, the Burmese government will continue to bear condemnation and criticism from human rights organisations and the international community.

smh.com.au Mr Morison said he believed the suit may stem from a simple mistranslation of his website's English-language article into Thai. And the incident won't send him packing. ''I've been here for [more than] 10 years,'' he said. ''Phuket is a paradise for tourists and it's even more of a paradise for journalists.''

smh.com.au The UN says it will investigate human rights violations and crimes against humanity in South Sudan, and those responsible will face the consequences.

balidiscovery.com The reemergence of rabies cases in several areas of Bali in 2013 meant efforts to completely eradicate the disease have failed. Bali can only declare itself rabies-free if there is no single case of rabies in humans or animals within a two-year period.

bbc.co.uk Both jailed members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot have been released from jail under an amnesty law. Both have dismissed the amnesty as a publicity stunt ahead of February's Winter Olympics, which is in Russia.

nst.com.my No Malaysians were involved in the bomb blast in Danok which injured 24 people, said Malaysian Consul in Thailand, Mohd Rozaimi Harun. He confirmed the list of the injured showed the two initially believed to be Malaysians, were actually from Myanmar.

bloomberg Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the world's most popular assault rifle, the AK-47, a simple and durable weapon of war used by tens of millions in about 100 countries, has died. He was 94.

livetradingnews.com Since its opening on Phuket in 1988, the Thai beach resort of Amanpuri has established a reputation for personal service, fine cuisine and cruising, all of which complement the natural beauty of its tropical island surroundings.

Phuket World Sports Wrap


afp Arsenal missed their chance to return to the top of the Premier League after being held to a bruising 0-0 draw by title rivals Chelsea in a spiteful London derby.

Phuket Coming Events 2013

December 26 Commemoration of 2004 Asian Tsunami
Phuket Coming Events 2014

January 9-12 Phuket International Boat Show, Royal Phuket Marina
March BMW Golf Cup International World Finals 2013 at Blue Canyon Country Club
September 24-October 2 Vegetarian Festival, Phuket
November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket

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