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ft.com Thailand's ruling military junta has claimed Bangkok's deadliest-ever bombing is unlikely to be the work of international terrorists, even though investigators previously said the man suspected of planting the device was foreign.
standard.co.uk Authorities in Thailand are now hunting 'at least ten' suspects who they believe were responsible for the Bangkok bombing, which killed 22 people including a British student, Vivian Chan, 19.
Ttraveldailymedia.com Kazakhstan's national carrier, Air Astana, has expanded its route map in Thailand with the signing of a new codeshare agreement with Bangkok Airways. Air Astana's passengers will connect from Bangkok to Samui, Phuket and Krabi, using Bangkok Airways.
afp Australian carrier Qantas on Thursday roared back into the black, turning a Aus$2.84 billion (US$2.08 billion) net loss into a Aus$557 million profit within the space of 12 months
PhuketWATCH Daily Media Wrap
PHUKET: The daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. Beware of inconsistent imitations.
Today's Top Stories
scmp.com The hunt for the Bangkok bombers intensified after Thai authorities issued a formal arrest warrant for an ''unnamed foreigner'' and placed two other suspects on the wanted list.
channelnewsasia.com Thailand is a major tourism partner for Malaysia, but those in the industry say it is still too soon to gauge the impact of the deadly attack that killed five Malaysians. Five Malaysians were among more than 20 people who died in the blast.
nationmultimedia.com Forty-eight victims are still undergoing treatment at 11 hospitals around Bangkok, 12 of them in critical condition. Of the critically injured, five are Thais and seven are foreigners.
japantimes.co.jp Crisis management experts say Bangkok's recent bombings do not pose a long-term threat in an otherwise relatively safe country. But they are nonetheless advising Japanese staying in the Southeast Asian city to exercise caution.
centreforaviation.com Thai Lion Air plans to double the size of its fleet over the next 16 months, giving it a potentially larger operation than long established Nok Air by the end 2016. Thai Lion launched operations at the end of 2013, has already captured more than a 20 percent share of Thailand's fast-growing domestic LCC market and should see its share exceed 30pc by the end of 2016.
Human Trafficking in Thailand
thediplomat.com Resettlement options have further decreased since Australia announced that it would no longer resettle [Rohingya and Bangladesh] refugees who had registered at the UNHCR in Jakarta after July 1, 2014.
Phuket World of People
thejakartapost.com Hotels in Ao Nang and other destinations in the southern province of Krabi have reported cancellation of room bookings from Chinese travellers, said a veteran hotel businessman. Ekawit Pinyothammanothai, former president of Thai Hotel Association of Krabi, said that though the percentage of cancellation remained low, it reflected travellers' shattered confidence in safety.
shanghaiist.com There's no better time to support Thailand's travel sector than now. Explore amazing tropical getaways, with fantastic flight and hotel deals for popular destinations like Krabi, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Samui, or, any of these other amazing travel destinations.
4hoteliers.com A huge 138 percent surge in Chinese visitor spending paved the way for the Thai tourism industry to chalk up 698 billion baht in total visitor expenditure in the first half of 2015, according to figures just released by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. Overall, Chinese visitors are now by far the biggest source of both visitors and expenditure, totalling four million arrivals in first six months of this year, up 111 percent.
bangkokpost.com The new cabinet list is still unavailable, but 20 posts are involved, and there will definitely be a new foreign minister, career diplomat Don Pramudwinai.
Phuket Update Phuket land allocation officials have been ordered to be more strict and to inspect projects when granting building permits for housing development projects, including condominiums, for fear of flood damage to nearby communities.
Phuket Update Future plans include an underpass at Mueang Mai Junction, near Phuket International Airport, two flyover projects, one just north of Thalang Town and one in front of Baan Jee Teng, says Governor Nisit Jansomwong.
Phuket Update Police have seized five backhoes and eight dump trucks after the Royal Thai Navy led raids on two excavation sites in the hills of Phuket's Mai Khao region. A leading local municipal official and property owner is being investigated over the issuing of permits.
afp Gregory Ybanez, 67, head of a local press association in the southern Philippines, has been shot dead in front of his house. The Committee to Protect Journalists lists 77 media workers killed in work-related incidents in the Philippines since 1992.
telegraph.co.uk Syrian state antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said that 82-year-old archaelogist Khaled al-Asaad, longtime director of the Palmyra museum, was beheaded by ISIS in a local square before his body was placed on display in public.
thetimes.co.uk Oscar Pistorius will not be released from prison tomorrow as planned after South Africa's justice minister intervened to block his parole. The Olympic athlete, who is in a maximum-security jail after killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013, had been due to be placed under house arrest but Michael Masutha ordered a review of the parole board's ruling, saying it had been ''premature''.
AP American former world boxing champion Roy Jones Jr. has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for Russian citizenship over a cup of tea.
bbc.com A Tunisian police officer has been shot dead in the beach resort of Sousse, where 38 people, mainly British tourists, were killed in June. ''Three policemen were the target of gunshots fired by two men on a big motorcycle,'' a statement from the interior ministry said.
boston.com Meet Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, a 28-year-old transgender woman from Honduras who was raised in Brookline by her adoptive parents. She's the White House's newest staffer, according to NPR , and the first openly transgender person to ever hold a staff position.
Around the Region
cambodiadaily.com The Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap province is the world's undisputed top tourist destination, according to Lonely Planet's Ultimate Travelist 2015, an exhaustive list ranking sights and travel hotspots.
Coming Events on Phuket 2015
August 23-30 Por Tor (Hungry Ghost) Festival
September Quicksilver surf carnival at Patong beach
October 15-23 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
