A daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media.

nationmultimedia.com Thousands of red shirts gathered on Sunday in Ayutthaya and Bangkok to protest the government crackdown in April and May. [The report did not provide a number for protesters.]

reuters.com By 5 pm, witnesses estimated a crowd of some 10,000 had assembled in the town, 76 km north of Bangkok, for the group's third big rally since September 19 and the latest sign of its revival since a military crackdown in May.

straitstimes.com Thailand's PM is due in the Constitutional Court on Monday as his Democrat Party faces a corruption case that could lead to its dissolution and cause fresh upheaval in the deeply divided kingdom.

smh.com.au Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan says the stronger Australian dollar should be left unchecked. Some experts expect the Aussie dollar to be worth $US1.10 within a month.

guardian.co.uk Chancellor Angela Merkel has declared the death of multiculturalism in Germany, saying that it had "failed utterly," in what has been interpreted as a startling shift from her previous views. The German leader said it had been an illusion to think that Germans and foreign workers could "live happily side by side".

telegraph.co.uk Mrs Merkel's comments came just days after a new poll showed a third of all Germans viewed immigrants as welfare cheats. Mindful of the German legacy of the Second World War and atonement for racial policies that cost millions their lives, German politicians since 1945 have tended only to speak in broad positive terms of "multikulti" society.

ft.com Sepp Blatter, President of Fifa, soccer's world governing body, faces pressure to take swift action following allegations in a British newspaper that two officials offered their votes to determine the secret ballot to decide host nations of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in return for cash.

independent.co.uk Undercover reporters filmed Amos Adamu from Nigeria suggesting that an $800,000 payment to build four football pitches, paid directly to him, could swing his vote. Another from Tahiti intimated that his vote - or one of his preferences - might be influenced in exchange for funding a football academy in New Zealand.

timeslive.co.za South Africa ranked next to last on the list of 35 countries in a survey of order and security - beating only conflict-ridden Liberia. Six percent of respondents in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban in 2009 reported a murder in their household in the past five years, and 25 percent reported a burglary in the past three years.

thephuketinsider.com Mounting pressure from increased competition by low cost carriers has seen Thai Airways International decrease domestic airfares through to March next year.

thestar.com Canadian officials say Ottawa has ratcheted up its cooperation with Thailand and other ''transit'' countries to prevent human smugglers from sending boatloads of migrants to Canada. The move comes just as The Canadian Press has learned the federal government is certain that smugglers in Southeast Asia are arranging for another boatload of migrants to come to Canada.

scmp.com Hong Kong's Airport Authority said the number of flights in the first week of this month rose 13.2 percent from last year, and it now expects record volumes in both passenger and cargo throughput this year.

scoop.co.nz A significant cause of declining shark numbers is the popularity of shark-fin soup. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, Hong Kong is at the centre of global trade with 50-80 percent of fins going through their ports. Target destinations include China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand.



SEA GYPSIES at Baan Laem Tukkae on Koh Sireh, east of Phuket City, are holding a twice-yearly traditional festival from October 21 to 23.

November 2-7 Phuket womens' beach volleyball, Karon beach
November 5 Phuket Charity Pro Am Golf, Blue Canyon
November 6 Charity golf at Tab Lamu, near Khao Lak: Call Sam on 089 875 1995 E: sam@khaolakappeal.com
November 19 AustCham at the new Westin Hotel at Koh Sireh from 3pm. E: harry@ladypie.com Tel: 081 2731740
November 21 Loy Kratong Festival
November 28 Laguna Phuket triathlon
December 4-11 Phuket King's Cup Regatta
December 5 Laguna Ironman title
December 15-20 Patong Carnival
2011
January 6-9 PIMEX boat show, Royal Phuket Marina
January 23 The Great Phuket Rubber Duck Race Day, Laguna Phuket
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi