bangkokpost.com Foreigners overstaying their visa in Thailand likely will face bans of up to 10 years starting August 25. All immigration offices have been instructed to promote the new rule ahead of the planned enforcement.

nationmultimedia.com A Phuket reunion nearly 10 years in the making came to fruition last night as Ben and Emily Willgrass surprised their tsunami savior Yupin Sengmuang on the doorstep of her Tri Trang shop.

bbc.com Israeli airstrikes have hit a building housing several media companies in central Gaza. Hamas said that its broadcast outlets, Al-Aqsa TV and Al-Aqsa Radio were targeted. The television station continued to broadcast, however.

bangkokpost.com The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources is set to revise its multi-billion anti-coastal erosion plan and submit it to the new Cabinet by October. About 100km along the Andaman Sea in Phang Nga, Krabi and Phuket is in a critical state.


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



bangkokpost.com National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha is expected to take up the roles of both prime minister and NCPO chief in the new cabinet line-up. Permanent secretary for defence Surasak Kanchanarat has asked the public to understand the need for the National Legislative Assembly, due to convene next month, to be dominated by military officers.

nnt The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) expects the names of members of the National Legislative Assembly to be royally endorsed and publicised within this week, after which the Assembly's first meeting will soon be convened.

bangkokpost.com The military has seized more than 3900 rai of forest reserve land in Nakhon Ratchasima's Sung Noen district from an influential figure who was found to have long occupied the land using illegally obtained title deeds. One suspect was also detained.

abc.net.au A 12-year-old girl was killed and seven people, including two other girls, were wounded in a roadside bomb attack near an army base in Pattani province in Thailand's insurgency-plagued south, police said.

nationmultimedia.com A tourism association on Koh Samet has slapped PTT Global Chemical with a Bt1-billion lawsuit for damages its oil leak caused to the island. About 50,000 litres of the PTT subsidiary's oil leaked into the sea off Rayong province on July 27 last year.

theindependent.co.uk Israel warned its people today they faced a long campaign in the Gaza Strip as more Israelis and Gazans were killed in separate incidents. Earlier the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said that the people who carried out an Israeli attack on a UN school in Gaza in which 16 civilians were killed should be held accountable.



nationmultimedia.com Thai AirAsia has lowered its passenger projection but plans to link Chiang Mai or Phuket with overseas destinations, particularly in China, in order to meet high demand. Chinese tourists are expected to flock to Thailand now that visa fees have been waived for them.

dailyrecord.co.uk A disabled Briton claims he was beaten bloody by Thai prison guards after he was left starving and penniless on a beach. Brain-damaged William Crook says he was flung in jail alongside murderers and terrorists after overstaying his visa. He had been sleeping rough and living out of his suitcase for months after a cash machine swallowed his bank card and he lost his plane ticket home.

nationmultimedia.com Thailand decided to evacuate all of its nationals in war-torn Libya after the fighting intensified and many countries, including the US, relocated their citizens and closed their diplomatic missions.

bangkokpost.com NokScoot executives told Thai authorities that it would inaugurate flights from Bangkok's Don Muang airport to Japan on September 1 without naming the specific city, which is understood to be Narita.

leaprate.com The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and Bank of Thailand (BOT) jointly announced the official launch of the new cross-border payment-versus-payment (PvP) link between Hong Kong's US Dollar real time gross settlement (RTGS) system and Thailand's Thai Baht RTGS system (BAHTNET).

bangkokpost.com Yingluck Shinawatra is facing new charges of abusing power as PM, with the Electoral Commission claiming that publicly funded January trips were campaign stops.

theguardian.com The news and entertainment website BuzzFeed has fired one of its most prominent writers the vrial politics editor, for plagiarism after finding he had copied sentences and phrases ''word for word'' from other sites.

nationmultimedia.com Customs officials arrested a Chinese woman and a man from Vietnam at Suvarnabhumi Airport after they allegedly tried to smuggle elephant tusks and ivory products worth about Bt9 million out of the country, Customs' deputy chief Paisarn Chuenjit said.

qz.com Thailand is one of 13 countries in Asia that trades Asian elephants - most from bordering Myanmar - to fuel its tourism market. And a recent report found widespread abuses in the industry.

ft.com As Mrs Clinton prepares to run for the ultimate prize of the US presidency - with the publication of a worthy book and numerous television appearances - she will be hoping that Americans remember the good bits of the previous Clinton years and forget the icky parts.

afp Hundreds of cannabis clubs are making Barcelona rival Amsterdam as a smoker's haven. Smokers' groups say some 700 such associations have sprung up in Spain due to a legal loophole.

cbc.ca Ditching handshakes in favor of more informal fist bumps could help cut down on the spread of bacteria and illnesses, according to a study. The study in the American Journal of Infection Control found that fist bumps transferred about 90 percent less bacteria than handshakes.

goodfood.com.au Guy Leech, former Iron Man: Last night was barbecue night. We came back from Phuket two days ago and had Japanese takeaway the first night, lamb chops, sausages, vegetables and mashed potatoes last night.



AP Heavy fighting raged Monday around the Malaysia Airlines debris field, once again preventing an international police team charged with securing the site from even getting there.

smh.com.au The delay in recovering the victims from the rebel-controlled Ukrainian war zone means there is a chance the remains of some victims will never be found.



abc.net.au There's been alarming evidence in recent weeks of a new terror threat inspired by fundamentalists ISIS, taking place in Indonesia. In just the past week the jailed spiritual leader of the network responsible for the Bali bombings declared support for the self declared Islamic State.

cambodiadaily.com Oddar Meanchey provincial court charged four men and a woman with human trafficking for attempting to illegally smuggle 51 migrant workers into Thailand, officials said.

afp Despite a stomach-churning 16-minute video posted on YouTube of a mass slaughter that has prompted outrage from animal welfare groups, Bali Animal Husbandry Department chief Putu Sumantra said there were no plans to end a mass cull of dogs in an anti-rabies campaign.

bbc.com Top Gear's Burma Special in which Jeremy Clarkson used a racial slur broke broadcasting rules, Ofcom has said. The show featured a segment showing the hosts looking at a bridge they had built on the River Kwai as a local man walked across it. Clarkson remarked: ''That is a proud moment. But there's a slope on it.''



nationmultimedia.com 130 Thai football referees have followed in the footsteps of politicians by swearing in front of the sacred Emerald Buddha that they will perform their duties with honesty and transparency - a move that is unique in the footballing world. Thanom Porikut, suspended for two months for poor decisions in several games, will be back in action in a friendly between Spanish club Almeria and Phuket FC next week.

afp England cricketer Moeen Ali is facing possible disciplinary action with the International Cricket Council ''investigating'' his decision to wear wristbands in support of Gaza during the ongoing third Test match against India.

afp A gritty South African tail fought off Sri Lanka's spinners to snatch a nerve-jangling draw in the second Test and seal a historic 1-0 series win. The series victory propelled South Africa to the top of world Test ranking ahead of Australia and also ended their 21-year-old jinx on the island.



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



February 13-15 Phuket Yacht Show