bangkokpost.com Russian Olga Shnyreva, 35, was kicked off her bicycle while riding in a quiet part of Phuket's Thalang district on Saturday and robbed of a 26,000 baht mobile telephone by two men on a motorcycle.

cnn.com Two civilians and a police officer were killed after a gunman opened fire at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic in a nearly six-hour standoff. Police captured the gunman.


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



nationmultimedia.com Rear Admiral Worapol Tongpricha, director of U-tapao Airport, said at least seven airlines including Hong Kong Airlines, China Southern, Okay Airways, Emirates, and local operator Pattaya Airlines planned to operate flights into U-tapao Airport.

bangkokpost.com The Pheu Thai Party demanded that Gen Udomdej Sitabutr resign as the deputy defence minister over alleged corruption in the Rajabhakti Park project.

nationmultimedia.com An arch-royalist Thai monk led a protest against the United States envoy to Thailand outside the US embassy in Bangkok after he criticised the jailing of civilians under the kingdom's tough royal defamation law.



pattayamail.com While Thailand has seen an overall boom in tourists this year, Pattaya is lagging behind other major tourist centers, the head of the Thai Hotels Association's Eastern Region chapter said. At the group's meeting, President Sanphet Suphabuansathien said growth in Pattaya's occupancy rates came in at only 53.9 percent, last among tourist resorts.

bloomberg A court in Istanbul ordered that Cumhuriyet newspaper's editor-in-chief Can Dundar, and Erdem Gul, the Ankara bureau chief, be jailed pending trial on charges of political and military espionage. Their crime: publishing images which allege to show Turkey's intelligence agency shipping weapons to Syria.

independent.co.uk A mother has been left outraged after Nutella refused to personalise one of its jars with the name of her daughter, Isis, because it is now so associated with the terrorist group. Heather Taylor, from Illawarra, south of Sydney, named her five-year-old after the Egyptian goddess, known in mythology for being an ideal mother and wife.

Phuket Update COMO Hotels and Resorts is pleased to announce Andy Kunz as general manager of Phuket resort, Point Yamu by COMO. He will be responsible for all of the 106 rooms, suites and villas that make up the property, located at the tip of secluded Cape Yamu on the east coast. His remit will also cover COMO Shambhala Retreat at Point Yamu and the two restaurants - La Sirena and Nahmyaa - as well as the new private COMO Beach Club, situated on Naka Yai Island.

afp Canada's China-born Miss World contender is stuck in Hong Kong after being banned from taking a flight bound for China's mainland, where the beauty pageant will take place. Ms Anastasia Lin said China was blocking her from travelling to the seaside resort city of Sanya, Hainan, because of her human rights activism.

bangkokpost.com Swedish furniture company IKEA on Friday opened its first ''Pick-up and order point'' in Asia, on Phuket.

inquisitr.com A Black Friday brawl broke out at an El Paso Walmart with video on Facebook showing a crowd of shoppers fighting over the last big-screen television and one person punching a police officer in the face. The Walmart fight was captured on video and shared online, where it caught the attention of several national news outlets.

Phuket Update Two months after its 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show premiere, the Ferrari 488 Spider has made its Asean debut - the regional launch for the droptop version of the 488 GTB took place in Phuket. The Spider, which was first revealed in July, was introduced at the event in Thailand in its new Blu Corsa finish. Visually, the exterior lines generally mirror its coupe sibling, though there are some design differences brought about by the exclusion of the roof.

watoday.com.au A volcanic ash cloud is again affecting flights to and from Bali, with two airlines cancelling flights to the popular holiday destination from Perth due to unsafe conditions.

Phuket Update Trisara Phuket has launched a digital studio to help guests create compelling stories of their holiday in photo, video or even virtual reality formats - a first in the industry.

thestatesman.com Apart from Indian tourists, Thailand has emerged as a highly popular destination for Indian weddings. Runjuan Tongrut, director, Tourism Authority of Thailand said, There are as many as 100 Indian weddings hosted in Thailand every year and around 30 per cent of these weddings are hosted by families from West Bengal owing to its proximity to Bangkok. We are introducing a host of new destinations for Bengal travellers including Samui and Krabi.



bangkokpost.com A Philippine official says the government will launch a website next month to crowd-source tips on the whereabouts of some 200 missing art works, including paintings by Van Gogh, Picasso, and Rembrandt that were owned by former first lady Imelda Marcos.



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