UPDATING All Day, Every Day
nnt Thepkrasatree road in the world-renowned resort town of Phuket has been reopened after being closed for seven hours by protesters Wednesday.
Phuket Update Slipping to its first loss at home this year, Phuket FC was knocked out of the FA Cup 4-3 by Ayuthaya FC, even though Phuket's rivals had been reduced to 10 men. It's Phuket's second loss in a row. Some fans were believed to have been caught up in last night's protest.
bangkokpost.com Elite forces from the 9th Infantry are joining the hunt and the wife of a Karen environmental activist is demanding officials step up efforts, as fears grow that ''Billy'' was abducted in another disappearance case.
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
bangkokpost.com Violence has stepped up after red-shirt writer Kamol Duangpasuk, known as Mainueng Kor Kuntee, was shot dead in Bangkok and two gunmen sprayed bullets into a community radio station in Pathum Thani.
nationmultimedia.com Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva could not attend the meeting with Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday because three intelligence sources had warned him he might be putting his life in danger.
news.vice.com It has been two years since I last set foot in Thailand, a country that I was lucky to call home for eight years working as a documentary filmmaker. This time, it feels very different, as if something awful is about to happen at any moment.
nationmultimedia.com The Board of Trade of Thailand and the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) hope the country will get a fully functioning government as soon possible in order to drive economic growth. The current vacuum has left the economy in the doldrums.
Latest on Lost Flight MH370
dailymail.com Unidentified sheet metal that washed ashore in Australia and is being examined for any link to the lost Malaysian plane is unlikely to have come from the jet, an official revealed.
hollywoodlife.com US lawyers are allowed to approach the issue of the missing plane in U.S. courtrooms after 45 days - so it is definitely an important day for families of loved ones on the disappeared flight.
Phuket World of People
nst.com.my Singaporean superbiker Esa Badri, 53, died failing to take a corner on a Malaysian highway at about 1.50am. He was in a convoy travelling from Krabi. Esa's wife was seriously injured. [It's not reported whether the two had been at Phuket Bike Week.]
sbs.com.au The Royal Thai Navy has rejected pleas by an Australian journalist to drop charges against him over an online website report alleging the involvement of naval personnel in human trafficking in Southern Thailand, calling the case an issue of ''national security''.
bangkokpost.com The Royal Thai Navy has shunned a plea from two Phuketwan online journalists to drop a defamation suit brought against them. The navy said it is also considering filing another lawsuit against Reuters.
bangkokpost.com Vichit Police Station Capt Somkid Pornchan, assigned by his superintendent as an investigator on the case, said the Reuters procedure has been undertaken differently from the Phuketwan case since Reuters was a foreign entity and the Office of Attorney General has assigned a Phuket prosecutor as co-investigator.
theaustralian.com.au [Phuket journalist Alan] Morison has claimed the case is aimed at shutting down the Phuketwan website over its reporting on the issue of the trafficking of Rohingya.
smh.com.au More than half of the people I work with have suffered torture and/or trauma before seeking asylum in Australia by boat. They are then detained indefinitely, without having committed a crime, in conditions unduly harsh for even the most despicable murderer or pedophile; conditions that lead about a third of asylum seekers to attempt self-harm and/or suicide during their time in detention.
theage.com.au The Guantanamo Bay of the Pacific: Australia's national shame.
More News from the Region and the World
afp Armed pirates boarded a Singapore-managed oil tanker in the Strait of Malacca, kidnapping three Indonesian crew and stealing some of the vessel's shipment of diesel fuel, the International Maritime Bureau said.
voanews.com Thailand's police agency says security around locations frequented by Israeli tourists has been increased, although government officials deny published reports that as many as nine people linked to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah may still be at large in in the country.
scmp.com Teenage heartthrob Justin Bieber said sorry and insisted he loved Japan and China after he stepped into a bitter fight over history by visiting a controversial war shrine in Japan. when he posted on Instagram two pictures of himself visiting Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine.
cnn.com South Korean authorities searched the offices of the company that owns the sunken ferry Sewol. prosecutors confirmed to CNN, broadening a criminal investigation that has already ensnared 11 members of the ill-fated ship's crew.
dpa Thousands of ethnic Rohingya in Burma's western state of Rakhine accepted being labelled Bengalis in a national census, officials said. Many Rohingya, who live mainly in eastern Bangladesh and the western Myanmar state of Rakhine, say they consider themselves distinct from Bengalis, and that the term, widely used in Myanmar to refer to them, is derogatory.
abcnews.go.com Prince Charles's brother-in-law Mark Shand has died following a head injury from a fall in New York. He was 62.
Phuket World of Sport
reuters Bayern Munich could not contain Real Madrid's quicksilver counter-attacks, captain Philipp Lahm said after the European champions lost 1-0 in their Champions League semi-final, first leg.
dailymail.co.uk Jose Mourinho has been given the go-ahead by Chelsea's board to pick a second-string team at Liverpool on Sunday, after accepting that the club's title hopes are over.
afp Rafael Nadal began his bid for a record ninth title at the Barcelona Open with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 defeat of journeyman Albert Ramos with his chances also boosted as four-time finalist David Ferrer crashed out.
Phuket Coming Events 2014
TESCO LOTUS is to relaunch its first Phuket supermarket on May 1 after a major remake that has upgraded facilities and added new stores and parking to the complex. The supermarket is in Samkong, Phuket City, on the bypass road.
April 20-27 Phuket Pride Week
April 26 Vote for mayor in Patong, alcohol sales banned in election area from 6pm April 25 to midnight April 26
April 30 US Embassy Outreach, Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort, 8am-noon.
May 24 Visakha Bucha Day
July 11 Arsanha Bucha Day
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
