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'Safety Concerns' on Hong Kong Flights; Beach Vendors Defend Prices; Krabi Skim Gang Fears

Thursday, August 14, 2014
UPDATING All Day, Every Day

theage.com.au A pilot has lost control of a passenger plane after his prosthetic arm became detached during landing. The Flybe plane was coming into land at Belfast City Airport from Birmingham in the UK.

en.ria.ru Igor Kochergin, wanted for large-scale fraud and crime-related property deals, was apprehended by Thai police in Pattaya following a request from the Russian department of Interpol and deported to Russia on Thursday.

reuters Police in Ferguson, Missouri, fired tear gas, stun grenades and smoke bombs, to disperse some 350 protesters, the fourth night of racially-charged demonstrations after police shot to death an unarmed black teen.

theguardian.com Groups of protesters, demonstrating over the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown, faced off with armed police in riot and military gear. Pictures taken by photographers and TV camera crews showed police snipers overlooking protesters.

nbcnews.com A Washington Post reporter was one of two journalists arrested and thrown in a booking cell while covering the unrest in a St. Louis suburb roiled by protests over an unarmed teen's death at the hands of police, an arrest the newspaper's executive editor called illegal and unjustified.

bangkokpost.com With military authorities calling for a surrogacy ban, a Bangkok-based fertility expert reveals that she warned Thai, Japanese and Interpol authorities last year that a Japanese man was possibly setting up a baby factory.

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


scmp.com Safety concerns and worries over lax aircraft maintenance forced the grounding of a Hong Kong-backed regional airline that has left hundreds of holidaymakers from the city stranded in Phuket.

bangkokpost.com The passengers flew to Phuket on City Airways and were stranded there when the Department of Civil Aviation refused to certify the plane's maintenance report.

bangkokpost.com Experts say even a quick inspection shows a building fell down and killed three construction workers on Monday because of profound engineering and design faults, and police have made the first four arrests, including construction and engineering staff.

nationmultimedia.com Vendors have been ordered from Hua Hin beaches amid complaints about overcharging. One vendor said shops clearly showed their prices on menus and that their 150 baht ''som tam'' spicy papaya salad normally sold for that at tourist destinations like Pattaya and Phuket.

nytimes.com The Palestinian Health Ministry said that at least five people, including an Associated Press video journalist and his Palestinian translator, were killed as a bomb disposal crew tried to dismantle an unexploded Israeli bomb.

The Ebola Outbreak


nytimes.com A second leading Sierra Leone doctor has succumbed to the Ebola epidemic sweeping across West Africa, dealing another blow to the country's faltering efforts to stem the disease.

Phuket World of People


siberiantimes.com Police say they suspect suicide of 32 year old from Yakutsk despite seven stab wounds to his chest and gashes on his arm. A blood-splattered knife was found beside the corpse and a three page handwritten note discarded in the bathroom bin on the island of Phuket. The man saw a ladyboy ''several'' times in the hotel, where he was staying on holiday, it is believed.

bangkokpost.com There were no traces of a fight in the room, and there was a receipt for the purchase of a knife from a Big C store on August 8. Investigators were looking for the transvestite lover, Mesa Phromkerd, a 38-year-old native of Nakhon Si Thammarat.

bangkokpost.com An ATM-skimming gang has incited fear among residents in Krabi municipality after 40 cardholders had their electronic-card information stolen and used in fraudulent transactions worth more than a million baht.

9to5mac.com Ahead of Apple's new iPhone event on September 9, Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission has approved two new iPhone models for sale in the country.

channelnewsasia.com The Thai military announced that it had completed the drafting of a surrogacy legislation to be considered for approval by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA).

smh.com.au The daughter of Neville Wran, the former premier of the Australian state of NSW, has been charged over the stabbing death of a drug dealer in Sydney.

khabarsoutheastasia.com Volunteers from around the world have helped with facilities, instruction and even dental care at the Good Shepherd school for migrant workers' children on Phuket. Good Shepherd expanded its teaching staff and in January opened its new home in a three-storey building near the port of Rassada.

reuters Thailand's military government is studying a plan to use rotten rice from state stocks to produce ethanol, hoping to make use of grains that have gone bad and help reduce losses from a costly rice-buying scheme, a senior government official said.

smh.com.au The United Nations says the deepening humanitarian emergency in South Sudan is the ''worst in the world'' and warns 50,000 children could die this year unless the aid effort is scaled up.

independent.co.uk US police say Florida man Pedro Bravo, 20, accused of killing his roommate, asked Apple's digital assistant Siri for advice on hiding the body the day the man went missing. Siri responded ''What kind of place are you looking for?'' before offering four options: ''Swamps, reservoirs, metal foundries, dumps''.

reuters France has kept its title as the world's top tourist destination in 2013. The country drew nearly 85 million visitors despite a lackluster economic situation as Chinese interest intensified and North Americans surged back to the country.

Media Release Crystal Lagoons Corp., the patented technology developer of giant crystalline lagoons, continues to expand its presence in South-East Asia with a launch of a 7-hectare project in Hua Hin, Thailand. MahaSamutr, a $450 million luxury real estate project will have the crystal turquoise waters of the lagoon as its centerpiece, and is part of Thailand's leading real estate company PACE Development's flagship community.

smh.com.au As a general rule, only fools and the undead do major shopping at airports. Most of these bright, shiny, discounted things wouldn't be tempting if you weren't trapped like a rat in a maze searching for something stimulating to do.

Around the Asean Region


chicagotribune.com Neighbors had heard the arguments and had seen the police cars outside the Chicago home, but they were still shocked when they heard the news that a 19-year-old woman was being questioned about the beating death of her mother while on vacation on Bali.

Woman in Suitcase Warned Not to Go to Bali
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/woman-whose-body-was-found-suitcase-was-warned-not-go-n179901

ap The suitcase containing Sheila von Wiese-Mack's body was found inside the trunk of a taxi parked in front of the St. Regis Bali Resort in the island's upscale Nusa Dua area. Daughter Heather Mack, and her 21-year-old boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, were arrested in Kuta.

bnionline.net One Rohingya was killed, two were injured, and 15 Rohingya were arrested when more than 100 security personnel entered an internally displaced person (IDP) camps near Sittwe on August 6 ahead of John Kerry's visit to Burma, according to a statement issued by the Burmese Rohingya Organization UK.

dawn.com The current generation seems to believe that preventing genocide around the world is and has always been in the United States' interest. But Washington has always had a dismal record of stopping genocides and ethnic cleansing, and that is unlikely to change.

thanhniennews.com Under new regulations issued by the Thai Immigration Bureau, if Vietnamese citizens who frequently enter Thailand fail to prove that they're visiting Thailand for travel purposes, they will have to apply for visas.

freemalaysiatoday.com The Education Ministry has stepped in to diffuse tensions arising from a teacher inciting others to torch a student for clicking 'Like' for Israel on Facebook.

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Phuket World of Sport


Phuket Update Football teams representing Thailand, Australia, Burma (Myanmar) and Qatar are set to visit Phuket to play a round of friendly international matches in preparation for the Asian Games in Korea later this year. Matches will be played at Surakul Stadium in Phuket City from August 30.

Coming Events on Phuket 2014


August 30 Thailand vs Burma football 6.30pm

September 3 Thailand vs Qatar football 6pm

September 7 Thailand vs Phuket mixed team 4pm

September 7 Qatar vs Australia football 6.30pm

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

Comments

Comments have been disabled for this article.

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ohyea the vendors in Hua Hin too - zero overheads such as rent, electricity etc and just functioning on pure greed. -

Posted by Ciaran on August 14, 2014 09:06

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A good som-tam salad can be had for 10 baht on the street or 15 baht for a take-away from a restaurant in the North-East. One has to wait though as they prepare it fresh every time.

Posted by Pete on August 14, 2014 09:23

Editor Comment:

30 baht in Bangkok, perhaps 35 baht for locals on Phuket. The truth is, it's not a dish that many international tourists choose, so to ask Bangkok tourists visiting Hua Hin for 150 baht is a rip-off to rival Phuket taxi and tuk-tuk fares.

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@Claran - what do you mean 'zero overheads'? In so much, if not all, of Thailand street vendors usually have to pay someone to carry on their business. Nonetheless trying to charge 150 baht for som-tum (with or without kapi and crab) is - as you say - 'pure greed'.

Posted by Kaen Phet on August 14, 2014 11:46

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-Pete- "A good som-tam salad can be had for 10 baht on the street or 15 baht for a take-away from a restaurant in the North-East." =Once could= But today? I think you have not been in Isaan since some time. ;-)

Posted by Alfred on August 14, 2014 13:12

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@Alfred: Sorry but you are totally wrong. I moved from Phuket to Kalasin 3 years ago and still live there. Just about an hour ago my wife bought Som-Tam for four of us (I enjoy it) for the grand sum of 60 baht. Guess you haven't been in Isaan recently.

Posted by Pete on August 14, 2014 14:17

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I could probably be classified as a Som Tam addict and I pay Bt 30 for my "Ring of Fire" catalyst here in Chalong.

I have seen some street vendors charge as much as Bt 60, a price I refuse to pay.

A popular venue near Jimmy's Lighthouse, Tamarind Bar, charges Bt 140 but their food is overpriced anyway.

Posted by ThaiMike on August 14, 2014 14:48

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@Ed

It was "som tam w/crab *meat*" (I assume that BP reported correctly, and it wasn't Som Tam Poo), so it is surely more expensive that simply Som Tam Thai or other regular variation.

Still, benchmarking to fried rice w/crab meat price in very simple setting in Phuket 60THB, and in semi-fine-dining of 100-150THB, the one described in the article should well below 100THB.

But at the same time, 7480THB for 17 seafood dished for 11(or as restaurateur claimed 13 persons), dished surely shared, and they spent whole day on the beach (allegedly) 11-5, doesn't look to be manifest rip-off at all.

400THB(10EUR) for Som Tam with "Grilled Chicken North-Eastern style" in one beach at BangTao, and which doesn't violate zoning laws, it is a rip-off for anyone, even if someone used to Monaco prices, where whole 3-course lunch in Monte-Carlo beach club cost 50EUR incl.tax.

Posted by Sue on August 15, 2014 06:06


Friday April 26, 2024
Horizon Karon Beach Resort & Spa

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