PHUKET: The daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. Phuketwan closes on December 31.



bangkokpost.com Two foreigners have been arrested with 115 fake ATM cards allegedly used to withdraw about 15 million baht in cash in Chiang Mai. Provincial Police Region 5 police captured Canadian-Bulgarian Ivan Todorov and Bulgarian Pavel Petrov at a hotel on Sunday night.

brecorder.com Thailand's cabinet approved a plan to set up an infrastructure fund worth 100 billion baht as the military government ramps up investment projects to help boost a sputtering economy.

nationmultimedia.com The Thai Frozen Foods Association brushed aside an Associated Press report on the use of forced and child labor in shrimp plants exporting to the US market. Poj Aramwattananont, president of the association, said shrimp plants in Samut Sakhon no longer employed children or illegal foreign workers.



bangkokpost.com Given Pol Maj-Gen Paween's dedication and achievements in the Rohingya trafficking investigation it is very unfair and also insulting for Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha to question his patriotism simply because he told the truth about his work to the foreign media and reportedly sought asylum in Australia for fear of his life. The question of patriotism should be directed at the human traffickers, the cheats and the corrupters who steal from the country and its people; not at an honest cop like Pol Maj-Gen Paween, who deserves much better treatment from the government and the Royal Thai Police Office.

Letter The more high-ranking the person committing the crime, the less likely they are to admit their complicity and the more they feel compelled to tarnish and dismiss the whistle-blower as a simple traitor, perhaps in the hope of turning the spotlight away from them.



Phuket Update Swiss man Andre Steinemann, 39, was detained at Phuket International Airport over two rounds of ammunition and a firearm magazine found in a bag.

theguardian.com A factory worker in Thailand who is facing up to 37 years in jail for insulting the military rulers is also being investigated for mocking the king's dog.

nationmultimedia.com The Supreme Court handed down a life sentence to the leader of red-shirt arsonists who set fire to Ubon Ratchathani City Hall during the crackdown on red shirts in May 2010. The court believed Pichet Thabuddha, was the leader of 13 arsonists.

smh.com.au More than 180 passengers on a cruise ship that docked in Sydney on Wednesday have been struck down with gastro during their holiday voyage, health authorities say. Royal Caribbean has been contacted for comment.

nytimes.com Experts from the Krakow University of Science and Technology said that, contrary to 70 years of local folklore, there is no trace of any armored Nazi train filled with looted treasureburied near Walbrzych in southwestern Poland.

smh.com.au Gregory Robert Jones, 41, from the Sydney suburb of Camperdown, died after sustaining stomach injuries from a boat propeller while trying to assist a man who had fallen off the Tidung Express as it was about to dock at the wharf at Pelangi Island, one of the Thousand Islands off Jakarta's northern coast.

bbc.com A 1937 letter from Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong to then-Labour Party leader Clement Attlee has sold at auction for $918,000. In the letter, Mao asks Attlee for ''practical assistance'' in battling Japanese troops who had invaded China.



channelnewsasia.com Indonesia's economy took a US$16-billion hit this year from forest fires that cloaked Southeast Asia in haze, more than double the sum spent on rebuilding Aceh after the 2004 tsunami, the World Bank said.



Phuket Update Philippines-based Sunrise Events and Thailand-based SportMaster will deliver an Ironman 70.3 competition in Phuket on November 27, 2016. -

smh.com.au A sad story just got sadder, with Jonah Lomu revealed in death at 40 as down at the heel, when in life he gave the impression of being well-heeled. Perhaps the best known rugby player the world has seen, Lomu was handed a short life and money-sapping medical ailments.



December 25 Christmas Day

December 26 2004 Tsunami memorial ceremonies

December 26-January 5 Red Cross Fair, Saphan Hin, Phuket City



January 7-10 Phuket International Boat Show