news.com.au Bondi beach is in lockdown with reports that a gunman has barricaded himself inside an apartment building on the main strip, Campbell Parade. Snipers have taken up position across the road from the gunman in the kitchen of North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club.

reuters Malaysian authorities have found 139 graves, and signs of torture, in more than two dozen squalid human trafficking camps suspected to have been used by gangs smuggling migrants across the border with Thailand, the country's police chief said.

news24.com Prime Minister Najib Razak said he was ''deeply concerned'' by the first discovery of mass graves of suspected illegal migrants in northern Malaysia and vowed to find those responsible.

xinhua Chinese Ambassador to Thailand Ning Fukui said that responsible agencies of China and Thailand should strengthen punishment for travel agencies that continue to organize zero-fare tours despite complaints, including by blacklisting them.

AAP Swiss tennis aces Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka have turned on French Open officials. Federer was furious that a fan accessed centre court to capture a selfie while Wawrinka slammed an official article that aired his personal life.


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 More Chinese tourists will be visiting Thailand this year as Chinese travel agencies offer more perks and incentives to their compatriots who want to visit Bangkok and Phuket, according to a senior Thai tourism official.

foxnews.com The Princeton math genius whose life story was the subject of the film ''A Beautiful Mind'' died in a crash on the New Jersey Turnpike. Nash, 86, and his wife Alicia, 82, who was also killed, were in a taxi that crashed with another vehicle.

insidethegames.biz Phuket in Thailand is to stage this year's Asian Weightlifting Championships in September, insidethegames has learnt. The move follows the recent cancellation of the original plan to hold the event in Nepal.



bangkokpost.com Police plan to press additional charges of transnational crime against 46 of 77 suspects currently in police custody for human trafficking in the South. Several more suspects have also come forward to turn themselves in.

ft.com The [trafficking] camps have been hidden in plain sight for years, reported on by rights groups and the media. Critics say they have been left undisturbed because too many officials were profiting from the trade.

bangkokpost.com More than 3500 migrants have swum to shore or been rescued off the coasts of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh since the crisis erupted earlier this month.



bangkokpost.com The abbot of the famed Kanchanaburi 'Tiger Temple' has had three stitches put in his face after being mauled by a Bengal tiger that was reared at the temple. The 64-year-old monk required three stitches to the cheek near his upper lip. He also sustained a right arm fracture when he fell.

nationmultimedia.com Most people are satisfied with the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for diffusing the country's conflicts and restoring peace and order, according to Suan Dusit poll results.

watoday.com.au British supporters of veteran entertainer Rolf Harris have called on Australian authorities to reinstate the convicted sex offender's honors.

shanghaiist.com Twenty-five arriving and departing flights have been cancelled and almost 700 flights delayed in 24 hours of chaos at Hong Kong. According to the South China Morning Post, the disruption was caused by a storm which paralysed the airport throughout Saturday.

cbc.ca Thousands of people fled villages and towns along a mountain river in northwest Nepal after it was blocked by a landslide that could burst and cause flash floods, officials said.

theage.com.au Values that Australia should typically be expected to support in the neighborhood, such as free speech or good government, have been willfully ignored.

Full story here http://goo.gl/PZGSNT

washingtonpost.com Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter warned that Iraqi troops will not be able to defeat the Islamic State until they develop a ''will to fight,'' reflecting the deep level of concern and frustration inside some quarters of the Obama administration in the wake of the Iraqi military's collapse in Ramadi last week.

thesundaytimes.co.uk Women risk being unable to give birth naturally or to breastfeed their babies in the future, according to a new book by a leading obstetrician. In 'Do We Need Midwives?' the French doctor Michel Odent, who pioneered the use of birthing pools in hospitals, argues that childbirth has become so medicalised, with huge numbers of pregnant women given drugs and surgery in labor, that women are ultimately at risk of losing their ability to give birth unaided.

theage.com.au There are no jet skis, bungy jumping, beach discos, shopping malls or nightclubs. And there has been a deliberate policy to protect the World Heritage-listed region from developers. Indeed, it is virtually impossible for outsiders to buy in.

Full story here http://goo.gl/hkQVgf


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fifa.com Thailand beat ten-man Vietnam 1-0 in Bangkok on Sunday in a qualifier match for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

afp Hull City were relegated from the Premier League after drawing 0-0 at home to Manchester United on a final day marked by high scores and high-profile departures.

liverpoolecho.co.uk As a shell-shocked Brendan Rodgers, flanked by security, walked down the touchline after the final whistle he looked up to applaud the 2805 supporters in the away end. Few bothered to return the compliment. Stoke 6-1 Liverpool.

smh.com.au An investigation by Sri Lanka's sports ministry has found evidence that members of the national women's cricket team had been forced to perform sexual favors for officials in order to earn or keep their places in the squad.



NNT The Phuket Andaman Halal Tourism 2015 festival is to be held during May 28-30 will promote the Year of Thainess and assure worldwide Muslim tourists that Phuket is a ''Muslim Friendly Destination''.

June 20-21 Baba wedding at Old Phuket Town

July 14-16 Trial of Phuketwan journalists at Phuket Provincial Court

July 15-19 Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek