etravelblackboard.com South East Asia destinations have experienced a significant hike in price from June to August compared to last year, proving their worth as a booming tourism hot spot. The highest increase was in Phuket with an increase of 37 percent, says HotelsCombined.

Phuket Latest Police at a checkpoint in Thalang near Tesco Lotus arrested a man on a motorcycle, Chaisak Keawjan, 25, for carrying a loaded homemade thai pradit handgun tucked in the waist band of his jeans.

Phuket Latest A man who accidentally fell to his death from an upper window in an apartment row in Vichit, south of Phuket City, was cradled in his girlfriend's arms in death as she told him tearfully: ''Please don't go away from me.'' He was Phuwanart Wichansopon, 48.


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

AP Thailand's Supreme Court has issued an arrest warrant for self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra for failing to appear at a trial alleging misconduct in a loan scandal. The court says Thaksin was aware of the hearing, at which his 26 co-defendants all appeared. His case was postponed indefinitely.

wsj.com A billionaire telecommunications mogul, Mr Thaksin remains a deeply divisive figure in Thailand, admired by many for his populist policies such cheap health care and easier access to credit, but loathed by many conservative Thais for his brash style.

bangkokpost.com Thailand should have a clear campaign to promote tourism and distinguish itself from neighbouring countries, says the Association of Thai Tourism Marketing. President Mingkwan Metmowlee said Indonesia and Cambodia are gaining popularity with European travellers.

dvidshub.net Sailors from guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay and aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, anchored off Phuket, participated in a community service project at the Baan Klong Sai elementary school, painting a wall, teaching English variants of children's names, and playing a game of soccer. ''I've had coconut milk before, but I've never had it with the actual coconut,'' said Cryptologic Technician (Technical) 1st Class Michael Johnson.

telegraph.co.uk Depraved DJ Sir Jimmy Savile is now thought to have molested girls in his dressing room at the BBC and preyed on vulnerable young people in approved schools, children's homes and at the hospitals where he worked as a volunteer porter and fund-raiser.

mirror.co.uk Savile's former driver has revealed the TV star turned his mobile home into a sordid sex lair where he abused a string of children as young as 12 he toured Britain.

Phuket Update Two men who stole a Phuket woman's Honda Jazz in Kamala on October 1 to impress girlfriends were quickly arrested in Patong - even though they changed numberplates - thanks to security camera footage and a tip-off, new Phuket Police Commander Major General Chote Chawanwiwat told a media conference in Phuket City.

smh.com.au Firefox 16 was pulled offline only a day after its release by its maker, Mozilla, after a major "security vulnerability" was discovered.

news.sky.com Seven Royal Marines have been arrested on suspicion of murder over an incident in Afghanistan last year. The arrests by the Royal Military Police relate to a killing which happened after ''an engagement with an insurgent.'' No civilians were involved.

abc.net.au Thousand of Australians have travelled to Bali to mark 10 years since the Bali bombings which killed 202 people from 22 nations, including 88 Australians.

smh.com.au The terrorist attacks - part of a campaign to turn Indonesia into an Islamist state and wage war on foreign infidels - failed. It is a testament to the success of Indonesian law enforcement that the Australian government, finally, lowered its travel warning this year.


Bali Has Bounced Back, and Then Some
FOREIGN tourist arrivals have more than doubled in the past 10 years, leaving once-quaint villages with bumper-to-bumper lines of cars snaking through their narrow roads.
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smh.com.au Rampant tourist development, crime, traffic, rubbish and water problems have not, and will not, kill Bali's identity as a spiritual place, according to the island's governor, I Made Pastika.

cnn.com The Taliban have vowed to kill a Pakistani teen activist who survived an assassination attempt as her family count "on all the prayers of the nation" to help her recover.

Phuket Update The body of an unidentified man was in Vachira Phuket Hospital after he was crushed under a 10-wheel water truck on Kra Road in Phuket City, despite his motorcycle safety helmet. Phuket's Public Health department aims to reduce the road toll but has not released a monthly update on Phuket toll figures since April.

nationmultimedia.com Foreign buyers in Hua Hin, unlike those in Phuket and Samui, are mostly retirees or have Thai spouses. They have a limited budget and prefer to buy a residence for their own use as a second home during their country's winter.

scmp.com Hong Kong's Marine Department appealed for ship operators to look at increasing the number of lifejackets for children following the ferry crash in which 39 people died. A similar plea for lifejackets to fit children was made after a speedboat sinking off Phuket in August.

nytimes.com A challenge to a law barring Muslim men from dressing or posing as women was dismissed by a Malaysian court, prompting concern that more transgender people in the Muslim-majority country may be prosecuted.
Thilaga Sulathireh, a researcher and advocate for transgender rights who attended the hearing, said of the verdict: ''It basically tells everyone that Muslims have no rights. It's basically governing how one chooses to dress and how one chooses to express oneself. It's a very shocking judgment.''

investingdaily.com Thailand has been lucky. It doesn't have much in the way of direct financial ties to Europe. Tourism, the primary source of income in the country, has also remained robust. While the epic 2011 flooding was devastating to Thailand's economy over the short term, the silver lining is that it opened the government's eyes to the country's huge potential.

theage.com.au ''If only the US could borrow Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to take on Congress's misogynist caucus,'' online site Salon said. Ms Gillard told opposition Leader Tony Abbot: ''If he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he doesn't need a motion in the house of representatives, he needs a mirror.''

mct The mother of a retired Navy SEAL killed in Libya is lashing out at Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for discussing her son's death on the campaign trail. ''It's wrong to use these brave young men, who wanted freedom for all, to degrade Obama,'' said Barbara Doherty.

MCT CEO: "OK. Let's get real here. Just in case you were in a coma for the last 25 years, airlines have done nothing but lose money. In fact, since its beginnings the airline industry hasn't made a dime. Quite the contrary, it has lost billions upon billions. And why? Because of you.
"That's because whenever we raise fares to a profitable level, you stay home. Or you take the damned bus. Or you drive to grandma's house (did you miss the memo that driving is 100 times more dangerous than flying?). Please. Airfares, since the 1978 deregulation legislation that nearly killed our airline, are a freaking bargain.''

pattayadailynews.com Besides more CCTVs on Walking Street, Pattaya should pave more roads and clean up the city to attract more tourists, said participants at a meeting of the Pattaya Businessmen and Tourism Association. They expect Pattaya tourism to increase from 5 to 10 million visitors within 10 years.

metro.co.uk The Rolling Stones have debuted a brand new track called Doom and Gloom as their saxophone player revealed that the band will be playing comeback shows in November.



guardian.co.uk Lance Armstrong, the seven-times Tour de France winner whose reputation was shredded by a US Anti-Doping Agency report labelling him a bully and a ''serial drug cheat,'' was under increasing pressure to respond to damning charges that included claims he committed perjury and intimidated witnesses.

smh.com.au So convincing is the evidence released by the US Anti-Doping Agency, surely only those who stay up on Christmas night hoping Santa will bring a new bicycle down the chimney retain any doubt Armstrong's seven Tour de France "victories" were tainted. The compelling story of the cancer-stricken champion rising from his bed to conquer the world is a fractured fairytale.



Friday for IBAP, 6pm Urban Food restaurant, Central Festival
Speaker Anant Akanisthaphichatis a well-known attorney experienced for approximately eight years in Phuket. He specialises in property issues and litigation.
In his own words: ''My personal opinion is quite conservative about the property issues in Phuket and may be quite discouraging to people considering real estate here in Phuket.''
Khun Anant has very interesting arguments for considering rentals and leasing as opposed to purchasing and he's pleased to deal with individual questions, making this a program you won't want to miss.

October 14-22 Phuket Vegetarian Festival

October 21-24 Phuket International Sports Fishing titles

November 25 Laguna Phuket Triathlon

November 28 Loy Kratong Day

November 30 AustCham Phuket sundowners social and business networking

December 1 World AIDs Day

December 1-8 King's Cup Regatta

December 5 HM The King's Birthday

December 10 Constitution Day

December 15-20 Patong Carnival

December 25 Christmas Day



November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket