Updating All Day, Every Day
theguardian.com The fiercest fighting of the 13-day war in Gaza has erupted as Israel dramatically widened its ground offensive, sending tanks and troops into urban areas and causing thousands of civilians to flee. Images of the corpses of women and children were posted on Facebook as hospitals were overwhelmed with the dead, injured and those seeking sanctuary from the onslaught.
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.
Today's Top News Items
Phuket Update As forecast by Phuketwan (Phuket Tourist Attacks Sure to Spark Crackdown on 'Very Bad Boys') police have announced a 10pm curfew for all minors on the island. The new stay-home ruling follows a series of knife attacks by youths on tourists and residents, including a stabbing that cost Italian journalist Antonio Papaleo his spleen. Parents could also face charges.
scmp.com At least 43 people were killed when a van carrying flammable liquid rammed into the back of a coach and exploded on a busy expressway in China's Hunan province.
nationmultimedia.com Besides the case involving Billy, an Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission panel is to investigate the 2013 case in which southern police were accused of conspiring with Burmese (Myanmar) accomplices to lure Rohingya people for human trafficking.
huffingtonpost.co.uk Nineteen migrants have reportedly suffocated while making a desperate attempt to cross the Mediterranean for a better life in Europe. The migrants are thought to have choked on fumes from an old engine in their overcrowded boat, while they were confined below deck as the boat made for Italy from North Africa, Italian news agency Ansa reported.
Asian Sentinel A substantial population of Russians are constantly in the papers in Thailand for crashing cars, spinning con games or being involved in violent bar fights. The government is clearly fed up and is seeking to prevent people from working illegally and to decrease crime. The crackdown will undoubtedly affect businesses built around visa run services.
Phuket World of People
bangkokpost.com Yupin Sengmuang, who runs a small roadside restaurant in Phuket, received an honorary plaque and a certificate from the provincial governor for helping British victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami a decade ago. Ben Willgrass and his sister Emma are due on Phuket today.
telegraph.co.uk Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip could be escalated into an effort to destroy Hamas's entire arsenal of rockets, an official warned as the Palestinian death toll climbed to 333.
bangkokpost.com Looking forward to fighting Thai jail inmates is Phuket muay thai fighter Dave Leduc, 22, from Canada. Leduc, hungry for ringside fame and with a 9-1 record, says the audience will be different from the mostly Australian crowds filling Phuket's arenas.
Prison Fighters Prize Future Over Freedom
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/421369/prison-fighters-prize-future-over-freedom
dpa Two tour buses and a minibus collided on the A4 highway in Dresden, eastern Germany, leaving nine people dead and more than 40 wounded.
AP Critics and journalists raised concerns about the Thai military government's latest move to tighten its grip on the media by banning them from criticizing the junta's operations and threatening to immediately suspend the broadcast or publication of content that defies the order.
nationmultimedia.com The NCPO prohibits dissemination of false information or state confidential information in any form. The order also prohibits publicity of Information that is deemed an insult to the monarchy or any person, a threat to national security and incitement to use violence that can cause fear, as well as mobilisation of people for an anti-NCPO activity.
bangkokpost.com Coup spokesman Winthai Suwaree said the National Council for Peace and Order added no new measures in an attempt to seek ''cooperation'' from the media in the announcement issued on Friday night. The latest announcement combined the directives outlined in its No. 14 and 18 announcements to make it more concise and cover individuals, Col Winthai added.
bangkokpost.com A report shedding light on payments made to reporters and news organisations raises serious questions about the influence of big business on the media. The report raises serious questions about the blurred lines between editorial and advertising, and the cosy relationship between media outlets and big business.
Cash for No Comment
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/421368/cash-for-no-comment
The Shooting Down on Flight MH17
reuters Ukraine accused Russia and pro-Moscow rebels of destroying evidence to cover up their guilt in the shooting down of a Malaysian airliner that has accelerated a showdown between the Kremlin and Western powers.
smh.com.au Reports of looting are now emerging from the crash site of MH17 as bodies remain strewn across the area more than 24 hours after the disaster. Adviser to the Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs, Anton Gerashchenko has reported that ''terrorists'' have begun collecting valuables belonging to the victims of the tragedy.
bloomberg A prominent Aids researcher and five others headed to a medical meeting in Australia were confirmed killed in the crash of a Malaysia Airlines flight.
cbc.ca Sanjid Singh, a flight steward who wouldn't otherwise have been on the ill-fated journey, ended up on MH17 after swapping a shift with a colleague, the Malaysian Insider reported.
cbc.ca An Australian couple just missed being on MH17 - even though they had been booked on it twice, and ended up changing their plans both times, the Age, an Australian newspaper out of Melbourne, reported.
Around the Asean Region
dvb.no Kyaw Min Khine, the owner of Bi Mon Te Nay weekly news journal, his wife Dr Ei Ei San, and the newspaper's office manager, Yin Min Htun, were arrested on 16 July by Thai police in Mae Sot, according to the journal's chief reporter Thein Min Aung.
channelnewsasia.com Jakarta governor Joko Widodo is expected to be declared the winner of Indonesia's disputed presidential election this week but his rival, ex-general Prabowo Subianto, is likely to mount a legal challenge that will prolong the political deadlock.
reuters After getting a drubbing on social media for making statements deemed ''insensitive'' after the downing of flight MH17, Singapore Airlines (SIA) issued a public apology and expressed solidarity with families affected by the air tragedy.
scmp.com Burma's opposition has gathered millions of signatures in support of changes to a constitution that bars its leader Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president, in a show of strength ahead of elections next year.
channelnewsasia.com A 15-member committee comprising animal lovers, parliamentarians, and grassroots leader have come up with guidelines on what the basic standard of animal welfare in Singapore should be.
Phuket World of Sport
scotsman.com The official whose job it is to engrave the winner's name on the Claret Jug could be forgiven for getting started. Rory McIlroy did not just extend control at Royal Liverpool, he took a grip of the 143rd Open Championship with a six shot lead and one day to play.
news.com.au Ten years ago, Rory McIlroy's dad put down a $180 bet at 500/1 odds that his son would become a British Open champ before 26. Rory, 25, now holds a six-shot lead into the final round.
espn.co.uk Liverpool are set to complete the signing of striker Loic Remy in the next few days after agreeing an eight million pound fee with Queens Park Rangers.
Coming Events on Phuket 2014
Until July 20 Phuket Race Week yachting, Cape Panwa
August 11 Special holiday for Queen's Birthday
August 12 Queen's Birthday
September 24-October 2 Vegetarian Festival, Phuket
October 23 Chulalongkorn Memorial Day
November 6 Loy Kratong
November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket
December 5 King's Birthday
December 10 Constitution Day
December 25 Christmas Day
December 26 10th Anniversary, 2004 Tsunami
December 31 New Year's Eve
Coming Events on Phuket 2015
February 13-15 Phuket Yacht Show
@ThaiMike
Yes, it's true that "black boxes", of course, can't be source of information what exactly hit the plane and from where, only where it took place in the air.
But it was already established , first by heat signature that it was missile, then that is was SA-11 aka SAM BUK, then that it was launched from "rebels" controlled territory, and, by interpreting circumstantial and other indirect evidence, it was Russia as a state who provided BUK itself and staff to operate it on that territory at that time.
RUSSIAN LOCKERBIE
So, here we go: mainstream media, incl. The New Republic magazine published an article exactly calling MH17 as Putin's Lockerbie:
"The Malaysia Airlines Disaster Is Vladimir Putin's Lockerbie Bombing"
http://goo.gl/Vwez4U
and has been endorsed by European politics incl.those at the level of head of states.
"DIFFERENT DEFINITION OF TRUTH"
You along with @Manowar , looking forward for "investigation to be completed, facts being established" etc., take an apparent self-cheating stance, as there is hardly any valuable forensics has been left on the ground, as "rebels" along with local population moved , removed, looted and maraudered parts of wreckage and bodies (reported by the NYTimes, Reuters, CNN, The Guardian etc.) - all under control of "rebels" - who are Russian intelligence , state security and military officials ; moreover bodies were left on the site uncovered , under the rain, then part of bodies were removed by "rebels" to undisclosed location , and it is possible that relatives will not even get remains of their loved ones.
This all is a barbarism of unimaginable unspeakable proportion , not acceptable in civilized world; NL and Malaysian leadership were unable to grasp the scope and how profound this barbarism is, expressing false hopes that wreckage and site stay untouched for a forensics collection and body recovering - at the time when the described acts of barbarism already have taken a place.
Such barbarism is a huge crime alone and that was accomplished by "rebels".
When British RussiaToday anchor resigned yesterday not willing to participate in false reporting by RTvery precisely described itself: "Sara First has resigned... declared that she chooses the truth; apparently we have different definitions of truth".
So, what can be esrablishef by investigation based on forensics that "rebels" will kindly agree to provide can't be nothing else as true in accordance to the "different definition of true".
You, obviously, will get know these results from Russia Today, since you expect Russia as a state to contribute to the investigation.
RUSSIA IS A STATE SPONSORING TERRORISM; INVADERS a.k.a. "REBELS"
Ukraine is filing with UN a motion to declare Donetsk and the second one "independent republic" as a terrorist organization.
One this is successfully accepted, and once Russian state involvement is firmly established - and about the latter we are either already there or almost there - then Russia will become nothing else as a state that sponsors terrorism!
Indiscriminate firing of SAM BUK into skies, having a target , but not knowing exactly what the target is (actually, being unable to identify the target), is falling under terrorism definition, and thus is tantamount to Lockerbie.
All "Rebels" commanders are not only Russian citizens(and there is no single commander who is not!) , but also officers of Russian state intelligence , state security , special forces or military . One should be very naive (or have vested interests) to tell that "rebels" are "self-defense forces of local population fighting Ukrainan state fascism and unlawful junta".
CITIZENS WHO ELECT TERRORIST REGIMES SHOULG GET NEGATIVE INTERNATIONAL FEEDBACK
Adolf Hitler came to office in a perfectly democratic way, and enjoyed wide support by masses.
Same about Mr.Putin coming into a power in a democratic way, albeit with some election irregularities,and who clearly enjoys overwhelming support by a majority of Russian citzens.
If Russia is a state sponsoring terrorism, then Mr.Putin is leading such terrorism state, and Russian voters voted for terrorism state policy.
Unless citizens will get feedback on their choice of regime that appeared to be state terrorism , they will never learn.
In place of MH17 there easily could be Thai Airways plane, traveling from Paris to Bangkok - as well as 300 other flight per day, incl.probably the one, mentioned by @Logic.
Shouldn't the Kingdom, acting at least out of solidarity with its ASEAN neighbor Malaysia, urgently change visa-free regime Russian citizens , and apply more extensive visa issuance formalities like US applies to travelers from hot spots(Iran,Afganistan etc.), at least
Yes, this would greatly reduce tourist revenue from Russian market , and statistics shows they are really good spenders, against common belief of opposite.
Now it is a green season, and it is very appropriate tine to underscore such measures.
Then it is very likely that in the absence of Russian mass tourism to Thailand, more Europeans will come and fill the place, and it is obviously a sentiment shared among both Thai public , tourists and expats.
Posted by Sue on July 20, 2014 15:27