A new daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective. Reports from national and international media, with translations into English from Thai.


monstersandcritics.com: Thailand's hoteliers have their own special problems. ''In December, the yellow shirts shot themselves in the foot, and then last month, the red shirts shot themselves in the head,'' soon-to-retire Kurt Wachtveitl said at an event marking his 42 years as general manager of the famed Oriental Hotel in Bangkok. ''There is simply no one coming anymore - or nobody with money,'' Wachtveitl said. ''It's the perfect storm, particularly for Thailand.'' Andrew Langdon of Jones Lang LaSalle (Thailand) said: ''Basically, the good times for the hotel industry are over for a year or two.''

Bangkok Post: The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has informed the Election Commission of its intention to register as a political party. EC secretary-general Suthiphon Thaveechaiygarn said the commission was verifying the party's statement of policies and its rules to ensure they abide by the law. Checks will include whether the name would cause confusion: names must not affect the country's stability or cause disunity.

The Nation: Forensic scientists led by Pornthip Rojanasunantand and the navy will today survey five spots in Sattahip Gulf off the Chon Buri coast where eight sunken containers said to be full of human skeletal remains are located. Fishermen have reportedly netted human skulls and skeletons. Speculation has intensified that the unclaimed containers may hold the bodies of people who went missing during bloody pro-democracy protests in 1992.

irishtimes.com: The US and Europe led a chorus of condemnation after Burma's military regime jailed and charged pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi over a bizarre incident in which an American man swam across a lake to her property.The regime is accused of planning to put Ms Suu Kyi on trial on charges of violating the terms of her house arrest as a pretext for keeping the winner of the last free vote in Burma, 19 years ago, in detention ahead of elections next year.

Reuters: Consumer confidence in Thailand fell for a third month in April as Thais were concerned about political unrest, high living costs and the collapse in exports caused by the global crisis, a survey shows. The index fell to an 88-month low of 65.1 in April from 66.0 in March and the trend is set to continue in coming months, according to the University of the Chamber of Commerce, which carries out the survey. A reading below 100 indicates consumers see the situation as bad or getting worse.

scmp.com: More than 9000 people have signed an online petition (whalesharkpetition.com), calling on Singapore to stop the importation of a whale shark. A Facebook application invites participants to bet on how long a whale shark can survive in a casino and offers the winner a replica fish in a glass case as a memento. Resorts World of Sentosa features a casino and marine theme park and is due to open in less than a year.

property-report.com: The Asian property investment market suffered an 83 per cent fall in sales in the first quarter of 2009 with Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong suffering the biggest falls in sales volume, according to CB Richard Ellis. Preliminary data shows that Asia's industrial property sector underwent the largest drop by market segment, plummeting 95 per cent from the same quarter a year earlier.

editorweblog.org: A group of academics from six Thai universities are petitioning the country's newspapers to ''choose restraint over grisly voyeurism.'' Few days pass without a corpse, face-down and blood-soaked, appearing on Thai newspapers' front pages. Yubol Benjarongkij, dean of the communication arts department at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University said: ''The [publishers] think these pictures make big sales. It's hard to change that belief.''

www.mizzima.com: Authorities in India's Andaman Island have begun deporting Rohingya boatpeople, stranded from December, to Bangladesh. An immigration officer said they have deported 49 Rohingya boat people to Bangladesh since February but said the rest of the 364 people who arrived remain. Some of the boat people claim to have been pushed back to sea by Thai authorities.

mcot.net: Thailand's Ministry of Public Health has measures to ensure that the Youth World Weightlifting Championship in Chiang Mai will be free of the H1N1 virus, according to Department of Disease Control director-general Dr Somchai Chakrabhand. Seventy participants and staff from Mexico and four other at-risk countries are expected to attend from May 19-24 along with 1000 athletes and staff from 59 countries.

Bangkok Post: An outbreak of Chikungunya virus, spread by mosquitoes, has struck the South with over 15,000 people infected but no fatalities. The department has asked local health offices to intensify surveillance, particularly in Songkhla, Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala, Trang and Phatthalung, where the most people have been admitted to hospital.


Phuket Plays Host to Regional Security Summit
Latest: While the Asean Plus Six Summit has slipped from Phuket's grasp for the second time, 27 countries are coming to the island for an important security summit.
Phuket Plays Host to Regional Security Summit

Phuket Air Crash: 'Report Three Months Off'
Latest An inquest in Britain is still awaiting the official report of the One Two Go crash that took place on Phuket in 2007, a newspaper says. A British MP is seeking speed and answers.
Phuket Air Crash: 'Report Three Months Off'

Australia's Virgin Aims for Phuket Adventures
Latest With Jetstar already bringing large numbers of Aussie visitors, another Down Under airline, Virgin Blue, is eyeing the island. And there's encouraging news for VIP visitors, too.
Australia's Virgin Aims for Phuket Adventures

German Tourist Held Over Beach Death of Friend
Latest A kiss sparked a fight that led to the late night death of a German tourist at the hands of his friend, police in Khao Lak say. The friend told officers he was too drunk to remember.
German Tourist Held Over Beach Death of Friend


MediaWATCH: Resort 'Sales' Spark Conflict
Latest Just how bad is business on Phuket? Being lumped in with other Thai destinations seems to be Phuket's problem, although all today's indicators are ghastly.
MediaWATCH: Resort 'Sales' Spark Conflict

MediaWATCH: Deep Divide on Summit Security
Latest Phuket security debate: Can each country bring its own gunslingers?; Air fares cheapest in a decade; Thailand tourism plunges by 50 percent; swine flu confirmed in Thailand.
MediaWATCH: Deep Divide on Summit Security

MediaWATCH: Report Casts Doubt on Summit
Latest Will the Phuket Asean Summit go ahead? A Singapore report says diplomats have doubts; Ikea on the way to Thailand; Three Phuket resorts win rave reviews; swine flu latest.
MediaWATCH: Report Casts Doubt on Summit