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

timesonline.co.uk The Sun's decision not to identify a top football manager accused of visiting a brothel marked a tipping point in British privacy law, media experts said. The newspaper ran a front-page story about the manager, who it said went to a ''Thai vice den'' in October. But The Sun, which is owned by News Corporation, the parent company of The Times, said that it could not name him for legal reasons. There was immediate internet speculation about which of the 18 married Premier League managers might have been caught out.

dailymail.co.uk The Premier League manager at the centre of a brothel scandal appeared secure in his job after his employers insisted they do not plan to take action against him. A report in The Sun revealed how the manager had been caught emerging from a 'Thai vice den' dressed in his football club training gear, having allegedly spent an hour inside. Creeping privacy laws in the UK protect the manager from being publicly named and officials at the club he serves are said to be very relaxed about it.

nationmultimedia.com Instances of abuse of power, especially in the police ranks, as well as corruption related to environmental damage, bid-fixing and state procurement projects are on the increase and becoming big concerns, graft busters announced at a seminar. National Anti-Corruption Commission member, Vicha Mahakhun, said 2933 complaints filed with the agency were mostly against police officers accusing them of malfeasance and abuse of power. More than 2000 cases filed with the agency were complaints against or related to local administration authorities, 542 related to irregularities and dozens about unusual wealth.

Associate Press The parents who pulled the balloon boy hoax in hopes of landing a reality TV show have been sentenced to jail - 90 days for him, 20 days for her - and barred from profiting from their celebrity status for the next four years. Choking back tears, Richard Heene apologised in court for the frenzy he caused when he claimed his six-year-old son Falcon had floated away in a giant helium balloon shaped like a flying saucer.'

mysinchew.com Five years on from the tsunami that battered Asia's shores, experts fear a new generation of coastal dwellers will be ill-prepared to face another giant wave as memories fade. While sound alert systems have now been developed in many countries to forewarn governments of impending danger, getting that message out to seaside communities, and to children in particular, remains a challenge, they say.

theglobeandmail.com Post-tsunami Banda Aceh may be what Bali was 15 or 50 years ago. ''The people are what make the place so cool,'' says Mike, a laidback backpacker from Alaska. He planned to stay in Aceh for a few days and ended up staying more than three weeks. ''People here are so gracious. When you eat in a restaurant, it's like you're in someone's kitchen.''

monstersand critics.com A US-made F5E fighter jet crashed on a training flight in north-east Thailand, killing the pilot, air force officials said. Flying Officer Chatchawan Rassamee, the sole pilot of the jet, died in the crash which occurred about 480 kilometres north-east of Bangkok.

bbc.co.uk Russia has signed a contract to deliver 20 MiG-29 fighter planes to Burma, Russian media reports say. The contract is worth $570 million, sources close to the Russian arms firm Rosoboronexport say. Many countries in the West have imposed sanctions against Burma, in response to its poor human rights record.

wsj.com An American Airlines jet skidded off the end of a runway while landing during a rainstorm in Kingston, Jamaica, seriously injuring two passengers. The Boeing 737-800, which is one of the airline's newest jet models, had 148 passengers aboard and six crew members, the airline said. There were no fatalities. The accident highlights the challenges of keeping big jets from running off slick runways in bad weather.

ft.com Sophy Roberts writes: At Amantaka (www.amanresorts.com), Amanresorts' new venture in Luang Prabang in Laos, there's still some way to go. The other guests I spoke to were that strange phenomenon they call the Amanjunkie - committed regulars to Adrian Zecha's boutique resorts that began with Amanpuri on Phuket 21 years ago. I'd wager the new initiate won't, at $600 a night, forgive Amantaka its little lapses - the poor food, the patchy spoken English - because they won't know how good it is likely to become in six months or so when management has brought the locally hired staff up to standard.

scmp.com Construction work on the long-awaited Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong has begun, after the site lay vacant for more than a decade. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the terminal's site formation work, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said the government was building the terminal at ''full pace'.' ''After the first berth commences operation in 2013, the new terminal will be able to berth the world's largest and most advanced cruise vessels,'' he said.

theage.com.au Australia's knitters can rejoice. New rules allowing people to take knitting needles, crochet hooks, nail clippers and tennis racquets on to aircraft will now come into force from Christmas Day. Metal cutlery will also now be allowed on board aircraft. But bans will remain on knives, firearms, letter openers, scissors, baseball and cricket bats, golf clubs and hockey sticks.

smh.com.au Bill Clinton came within minutes of being killed by Osama bin Laden in 1996 when a bomb was placed under a bridge during a trip to the Philippines, according to a new book. The then US president was in Manila to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation forum. The assassination was foiled when the Secret Service picked up coded radio messages just as Mr Clinton was on his way to a meeting.

Phuketwan Update The number of Christian churches along the Andaman coast has increased since the 2004 tsunami. A Russian Orthodox Church is now being built on Phuket and should be holding services before 2011. About 50 of Phuket's growing contingent of Russian expat residents gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony of the 50-million-baht church at a site in Thalang earlier this week. Archbishop Hilaion of Volokolamsk from Moscow gave the blessing.

Reuters At least 11,516 people around the globe have died from the H1N1 flu virus since the pandemic emerged in April, the World Health Organisation reported. In its weekly update, WHO said the disease appeared to have peaked or plateaued in Western Europe and North America while transmission was declining in parts of Asia.

bloomberg.com Malaysia's consumer prices fell the least in six months in November as food costs rose and the Southeast Asian nation began to emerge from its recession. Consumer prices slid 0.1 percent from a year earlier, the Putrajaya-based statistics department said.


December 26 Memorial services on Phuket and in Phang Nga and Krabi for the fifth anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami

December 27 Walking street local fair in Thalang Road, Phuket City, from 5pm-midnight. Tourists especially welcome.

December 28 The Aleenta Resort, a short drive off Phuket across the sarasin Bridge, is releasing two turtles equipped with GPS as part of a fund-raising dinner on Monday, December 28. The bbq beach dinner, preceded by a visit at 3pm to the nearby turtle sanctuary, costs 1500 baht and includes a 200 baht donation. There's a free shuttle from Stereo Lab at Surin on Phuket at 4.30pm, returning at midnight. Details: Andreas 076 580333 or rmphuket@aleenta.com