bangkokpost.com Cabinet has signed off on three new tax packages, all designed to boost the housing and property sectors with cuts in fees and taxes.


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



bangkokpost.com Chief drafter Meechai Ruchapan is considering an unelected prime minister and senate for the next constitution, with ''some'' democratic features.

nationmultimedia.com Issara Junfa Co, a joint venture between Charn Issara Development and China's Junfa Real Estate, has appointed CB Richard Ellis (Thailand) as its sale agent for Baba Beach Club Phuket, a project worth three billion baht. The project will play a pivotal role in redefining Phuket's Natai Beach area and putting the area on the map for tourists as well as residential buyers, said Aliwassa Pathnadabutr, managing director of CBRE Thailand. [Natai beach is actually north of Phuket, in Phang Nga.]



Phuket Update About 100,000 baht, given by fellow police officers, has been distributed among police injured in the weekend riot on Phuket ''for their bravery in handling the mob without resorting to violence,'' Phuket Police Commander Major General Pachara Boonyasit told a Police Day audience.

Phuket Update Although an ambulance driver feared being turned back by rioters contributed to the death of an ill 72-year-old passenger being transported from Kabi to a Phuket hospital, Dr Somboon Boonkittiyapong, Deputy Director Health Management at Krabi Hospital, said the man survived and died after being transferred to a second hospital for an operation.



irinnews.org After spending the summer rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean, a ship owned by an American millionaire will attempt to do the same in Southeast Asia. But the Migrant Offshore Aid Station could find itself sailing into a sea of trouble in a region where rules governing the rights of migrants and refugees are harsher and less clear-cut than in Europe.



nationmultimedia.com Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul offered condolences to family and friends of a Chinese tourist who died on Monday while using an adventure-theme zip-line service in Chiang Mai's Mae Rim district. Police are still investigating the incident.

Phuket Update Forensic police have yet to process a bungy cord said to have caused the death of a Kuwaiti tourist in Patong in May. No explanation has been given for the delay. No charges have been laid against those who ran the unregistered Phuket jump.

anna.aero Bangkok Airways has begun daily flights on the 264-kilometre route between Phuket (HKT) and Hat Yai(HDY). The airline will use its 70-seat ATR 72-500s and -600s on the route, which is not served by any other carrier.

bangkokpost.com With exports continuing their slide and prospects still bleak for next year, questions linger about what's killing Thai shipments, which account for up to 70 percent of GDP.

nationmultimedia.com An 83-year-old Japanese retired businessman was found dead in his residence in Angthong's Wiset Chaichan district. The body of Kasuo Yoshitoka was found with multiple stab wounds and his throat cut in the second-floor bedroom at around 6am by his Thai wife Paranee Napadol, 48.

afp Three foreign men and a Filipina kidnapped last month in the southern Philippines have appeared in a video posted online, making demands for the Islamic militants who abducted them.

bangkokpost.com Cooperation has been sought from the air force's Wing 56 in Songkhla to carry out rainmaking operations over the province of Krabi if necessary.

washingtonpost.com The head of al-Qaeda's offshoot in Syria has called on followers to carry out attacks in Russia following Moscow's airstrikes in the country, raising the spectre of blowback on Russian soil for its military intervention to aid Syria's embattled government.

variety.com The Thai government has banned the release of 'Arbat,' a locally-made horror film that was set to have released later this week. The Ministry of Culture said that its Film and Media Screening Committee banned the film because it was disrespectful to monks and novices. The film, directed by Kanittha Kwunyoo, tells the story of a young man who is forced by his father to become a monk. The young man later develops an intimate relationship with a village girl.

theguardian.com A new biography of Lou Reed has alleged that the pioneering composer and singer had a history of abuse against women: ''The obituaries were a bit too kind, he was really a very unpleasant man. A monster really; I think truly the word monster is applicable.''

spectator.co.uk If his biog had unveiled him as a happy-clappy lover of humanity, I for one would have been gutted. That's not the Reed we knew and loved.



nytimes.com A proposal to postpone elections in Myanmar caused an outcry among democratic forces and the government then issued a public reassurance that the voting would take place as scheduled on November 8.



afp Qatar and Thailand took huge steps towards the next round of 2018 World Cup qualifiers after notching up resounding victories.

afp Croatia and Turkey clinched the final automatic qualifying places for Euro 2016 as the Netherlands, semi-finalists at last year's World Cup, were eliminated.



Phuket Update Phuket's Chinese shrines are taking part in the annual Vegetarian Festival with daily parades.

Until October 21 Phuket Vegetarian Festival

November Patong Festival

November 20 Laguna Phuket Triathlon

November 25 Loy Kratong festival

November 29 Challenge Laguna Phuket 2015

November 29 Phuket King's Cup Regatta

December 5 HM The King's Birthday

December 26 Tsunami memorial ceremonies



January 7-10 Phuket International Boat Show