bangkokpost.com The government will monitor the movements of US embassy representatives who are reportedly seeking to meet red-shirt leaders in the Northeast, army chief Udomdej Sitabutr says.

thetimes.co.uk CIA terror suspects were interrogated on the British overseas territory of Diego Garcia, an official in the Bush administration claimed.

afp More than a dozen Thai government officials - including senior policemen and a navy officer - are being prosecuted for human trafficking, junta officials said as they vowed ''zero tolerance'' of the trade.


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 The prime minister insists on using his own formula to lead the country out of the political darkness despite opinions from "friendly nations".

bangkokpost.com A Japanese businessman who reportedly fathered 12 babies with Thai surrogates has been granted paternal rights over three of the babies by the Central Juvenile and Family Court.



theguardian.com Defiant editor Alan Morison to return to face Thai navy defamation case: ''If bullies in uniform can silence reporters, then you don't have a democracy,'' says Phuketwan editor charged for covering the plight of Rohingya asylum seekers.

reuters Thailand identified fewer victims of human trafficking last year than in 2013 and convicted fewer perpetrators of the crime, according to a government report aimed at lifting the country from a U.S. list of the world's worst offenders.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/30/us-thailand-trafficking-idUSKBN0L31DZ20150130

ibtimes.co.uk Despite pledges by Thailand's military junta to combat human trafficking, the volunteers say the influx of illegal migrants is growing, many of them Rohingya Muslims from western Myanmar, and little is being done to stop the gangs that transport and abuse them.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/thailand-armed-vigilantes-tackle-human-trafficking-bangladeshis-rohingya-muslims-1485892

hrw.org Asylum seekers, including ethnic Rohingya from Burma and ethnic Uighurs from China, who are arrested often face long periods of detention until they are accepted for resettlement or agree to be repatriated at their own expense. Child migrants, asylum seekers, and other migrants are regularly held indefinitely in squalid immigration facilities and police lock-ups.



walesonline.co.uk The circumstances surrounding the death of a Welsh backpacker found hanged in a guest house in Thailand remains unclear, an inquest has ruled. Jack Davies, 21, from Llanelli, died in Ko Phi Phi near Phuket on August 24 last year after three years of travelling.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/death-welsh-backpacker-jack-davies-8549103

afp Three French tourists have been arrested by Cambodian authorities for taking nude photos of each other inside the country's famed Angkor temple complex, officials said.

bangkokpost.com Disgraced former CIB chief Pongpat Chayapan and five other policemen have been sentenced to 12 years in prison, commuted by half because they confessed to charges of lese majeste and involvement in illegal casinos.

nationmultimedia.com The allure of owning an English soccer team is a powerful temptation for some of Thailand's super wealthy, as businessman Dejphon Chansiri's takeover of second-tier Sheffield Wednesday has demonstrated. Dejphon's acquisition of the English Championship club came less than six months after a Thai consortium led by Khunying Sasima Srivikorn took over control of the Sheffield-based outfit's league rivals, Reading.

theguardian.com Thailand's junta has forced a German foundation to cancel a prominent forum on media restrictions imposed since the military toppled an elected government last May. The move is the latest sign of defensiveness by the army.

nytimes.com An explosion ripped through a Shia mosque in southern Pakistan during weekly prayers, killing more than 40 people and wounding at least 50 in an apparent suicide attack, hospital officials said. The bombing, in Shikarpur, about 480km north of Karachi, was the worst sectarian attack in months.

independent.co.uk Eugene de Kock, mastermind of South Africa's Apartheid death squads, will walk free in secret after being granted parole - having spent less time incarcerated than Nelson Mandela.

scmp.com Mainland education authorities have pledged to redouble efforts to limit the use of foreign textbooks in universities to stem infiltration of ''Western values''.

reuters Greece's new nationalist defense minister prompted Greece's perennial rival Turkey to scramble jets just days after he took office, by flying over uninhabited islets off the Turkish coast that nearly triggered a war in 1996.

independent.co.uk In Thailand, backpackers have been warned that the authorities may demand urine samples from travellers in spot-checks to detect drug taking.

skift.com There's now a decent chance that flying half way around the world for medical procedures or surgeries will be cheaper than driving across town to a local hospital in the US, along with it being just as safe.



Try Phuketwan's Asean Today daily:
http://phuketwan.com/tourism/burma-rights-car-crash-singapore-restricts-alcohol-sale-naked-tourists-arrested-21799/



smh.com.au The world's best two players, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, will continue their longstanding rivalry in the Australian Open final on Saturday.

theage.com.au Novak Djokovic was again extended by the troublesome Stan Wawrinka, but this time he survived the insurrection to reach his fifth Australian Open final, where he faces his longstanding peer and rival Andy Murray.

mirror.co.uk Tiger Woods played the worst round of his entire career at the Phoenix Open, shooting eleven OVER par in the second round. The American had a double bogey and a triple bogey in consecutive holes, finishing the back nine in 44 shots and leaving himself 10 over par for the tournament.



bangkokpost.com A five-day Songkran holiday in April is hardly enough. The cabinet has added an extra holiday on May 4, to make a second five-day holiday, for tourism.

January 30 US consular outreach, Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort

February 26-28 Phuket Old Town festival

March 1-15 Heroines festival

March 4-8 Bay Regatta

Apeil 11-13 Phuket Bike Week

April 17-19 Songkran Festival