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

pattayamail.com Local government officials have signed a 10-year master plan to designate Pattaya as a special area for sustainable development, opening the door for the region to receive up to 15 billion baht in funding for so-called ''greenovative tourism'' projects. Spearheaded by the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration, the plan marks the high-water point in Pattaya's six-year pursuit of government funding to solve its many environmental, infrastructure, crime and tourism woes.

nzherald.co.nz Vanessa Preechakul watched in horror as her boyfriend Robert Rippingdale, 31, choked and died while he ate a Jetstar in-flight meal. She sat next to his body for the remainder of the 11-hour trip from Singapore to Auckland this week. "I had to cope - I had no choice," Preechakul said.



smh.com.au A former Thai child sex slave is preparing to sue an Australian who she says prostituted her at a Sydney brothel when she was 13. Jetsadophorn ''Ning'' Chaladone, now 29, was forced to have sex with more than 100 men. After 10 days, she was picked up in an immigration raid and deported.

smh.com.au Ning was a popular 13-year-old student in north-east Thailand when she lost her virginity at a friend's birthday party. Her father said she was ''spoiled'' and took her to Kuala Lumpur where he sold her to people traffickers. Posing as her parents, the traffickers flew her to Sydney and sold her to a brothel operator.

queanbeyanage.com.au Former Australian Federal Police detective, Chris Payne, and a filmmaker, Luigi Acquisto, who are helping Ning, said: ''Once you know Ning and you know what happened to her, and then you see the brothel and it's still open, still operating with impunity, you have this rage that doesn't go away.''

bangkokpost.com One of India's most-wanted gangsters who ran a regional crime network from Bangkok for over a decade was quietly "expelled" from Thailand last month, despite being a suspect in a gangland murder in Pattaya. The arrest of Santosh Shetty - a leading underworld figure in Mumbai wanted for contract killings and drug-trafficking - has received widespread coverage in the Indian media but has not warranted a mention in the Thai press. [Except in Phuketwan.]

nytimes Documents found at the abandoned office of Libya's former spymaster appear to provide new details of close relations between US and British intelligence and the Libyan intelligence agency. Most notably, the documents suggest the Americans sent terrorism suspects at least eight times for questioning in Libya, despite that country's reputation for torture.

bangkokpost.com Tripoli's new rebel military commander, Abdel-Hakim Belhaj was tortured by CIA agents in a secret prison in Thailand before he was returned to Libya and locked in the notorious Abu Salim prison. Mr Belhaj said he holds no grudge.

todayonline.com It may have captured or killed most of the terrorists behind the 2002 Bali bombings, but Indonesia faces new threats from second-generation radicals inspired by the 9/11 attacks and bound by a common ideology. In an interview with AFP, National Anti-Terror Agency chief Ansyaad Mbai said that despite a string of high profile anti-terror raids in recent years, the threat has actually increased.

radioaustralianews.net.au The Indonesian Government has called on Australia to lift its longstanding travel warnings on the county. Australia maintains a high level alert for Indonesia due to a "very high threat of terrorist attack," according to the government's website.

associated press A Chilean air force plane with 21 people aboard, including a popular television host, has crashed into the ocean near the Juan Fernandez islands off the country's Pacific coast.

afp Malaysia has seized more than 1000 African elephant tusks in two separate shipments in the past two months, according to reports.

guardian.co.uk Those close to Rupert Murdoch's family describe News Ltd as a company riven by internal rows and disputes over how to handle the hacking crisis. On Tuesday, Colin Myler, a former News of the World editor, and Tom Crone, the newspaper's former chief lawyer, will give evidence to the British Parliament's culture, media and sport select committee.

businessweek.com Four of the high-profile media organisations that have collaborated with WikiLeaks on its release of secret documents condemned the group's disclosure of its entire archive of uncensored US State Department cables. Unlike previous releases, many if not all the newly-posted documents appeared to have been left uncensored - meaning that names and other details of people quoted in the often-sensitive cables are now freely available to all.



smh.com.au Sally Pearson has cleared a lot of hurdles, and she has cleared them very quickly. But last night she cleared the hurdle between champion and stardom in winning the 100 metres hurdles at the world titles in Korea. [Pearson and her husband holidayed on Phuket last year.]

scotsman.com The hardships and oppression of living in an authoritarian country like Burma all but vanish at the gates of its football stadiums. "I don't come here to support any particular team," said a schoolboy in a particularly rowdy section at a recent match. "I come for the freedom to shout anything I want."

aap A day after the Socceroos defeated Thailand in a World Cup qualifier, the Matildas boosted their 2012 London Olympics qualification chances with a thumping 5-1 win over Thailand in China.



September 21-24 Quiksilver Thailand Surf Competition 2011, Patong

September 27-October 5 Vegetarian Festival, Phuket

November 1-6 Women's Beach Volleyball Series at Karon on Phuket

November 26-27 9th Phuket International Soccer 7s

November 27 Laguna Phuket Triathlon

December 3-4 6th Andaman International Soccer 7s

December 4 Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship, Laguna



March 18-28 National Youth Games, Phuket

March 29-April 1 Phuket International Boat Show, Royal Phuket Marina



November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket