bangkokpost.com A proposal to ban all alcohol sales during New Year and Songkran holidays has been scrapped after PM Prayut Chan-o-cha said it was not practical

bangkokpost.com Thai Union Frozen Products, the world's top exporter of canned tuna and shrimp, is buying US rival Bumble Bee Seafoods for US$1.51 billion.

smh.com.au The US has issued a rare global travel alert to its citizens about the threat of a terrorist attack, citing Sydney's ''lone-wolf attack'' in which two people died after a gunman held 17 people hostage in a city cafe. The alert is only the second of its kind.

theglobeandmail.com Canada is imposing new sanctions on the crumbling Russian economy as the federal Conservative government applies further pressure on President Vladimir Putin to stop funding military incursions into Ukraine.

abc.net.au US swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, has been handed a one year-suspended sentence and placed on probation for drink driving.


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 The number of Asia-Pacific destination reviews on TripAdvisor increased by 74 percent in the past year, with triple-digit growth in some markets, including Thailand. The most searched domestic destinations for Thai travellers on TripAdvisor were Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Hua Hin and Phuket.

bangkokpost.com Quick and decisive legal action that makes people afraid to cheat is the only solution to Thailand's corruption problem, Privy Council chairman Prem Tinsulanonda said. Gen Prem said the country now has two major problems: poverty and corruption.http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/450893/prem-urges-harsh-action-on-graft

theglobeandmail.com The Canadian government is exploring the idea of free trade with Thailand despite internal warnings from Foreign Affairs officials that Ottawa should hold back while the Asian country remains under control of a military junta, documents say.



bangkokpost.com A seriously injured Russian was rescued from the bottom of the cliff at Laem Promthep, a popular sightseeing spot on Phuket, after the car he was driving plunged 200 metres from the cliff top to the sea below. The Russian was identified later as Nikolai Onoprienov, 29.

expressandstar.com Former police officer Bob Anthony was paralysed after breaking his neck and is now in hospital on a ventilator breathing via a tracheotomy. His daughter Nadine is desperately trying to raise up to 50,000 pounds to bring him home as the family cannot afford the medical fees in Thailand. Mr Anthony, aged 54, was found lying in a ditch in Pattaya in Thailand about two weeks ago.

channelnewsasia.com Thailand and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly develop new railway lines which could eventually link the two countries. The new agreement will see the development of two new standard gauge rail lines in Thailand.

ft.com Barack Obama has attacked Sony Pictures for pulling the film The Interview after the company suffered a cyber attack that US investigators believe was engineered by North Korea. The US president said he wished Sony had spoken to him before making the decision.

smh.com.au Sydneysiders paying their respects to siege victims at Martin Place have shouted down a group of anti-Islamic protesters who appeared at the memorial on Friday afternoon.

nytimes.com An Australian woman was arrested for murder in the killings of eight children, seven of whom are believed to be her own, police said. The children were found dead inside the woman's home.

heraldscotland.com Britain might allow women to serve in British Army infantry and armored units for the first time from 2016, the defence secretary said.

newssky.com Mandy Rice-Davies, a key figure in the Profumo sex scandal that rocked the British Establishment in the 1960s, has died. A spokesman for publicist Hackford Jones said the 70-year-old had died from cancer.



mirror.co.uk The 24-year-old was just a teenager when his mum was killed in the Boxing Day disaster - now he has returned to Phuket, scene of their last family holiday.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/tsunami-swept-mum-away---4842533

afp The 2004 tsunami led to greater global cooperation and improved techniques for detecting waves that could reach faraway shores, even though scientists still cannot predict when an earthquake will strike.

smh.com.au Ten years on from the Indian Ocean tsunami experts from the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre warn the world should not be complacent about a repeat performance.

bloomberg The tsunami unleashed a decade ago by a 9.1-magnitude undersea earthquake off the Sumatran coast was the deadliest natural disaster this century, taking more than 220,000 lives and leaving more than 1.5 million homeless.

bangkokpost.com A friend, a fellow Australian, was calling from his yacht, having watched in shock as a ''tidal wave'' smashed into Phi Phi Island. It was December 26, 2004, and on Phuket, Anthony Lark's Trisara resort was full for the first time since opening six weeks earlier

AP ''Our driver slowed the car, seeming to realise as I was, that this color was not garbage or wreckage, but bodies. The bodies of tourists, wrapped in the festive colors anyone might wear to a beach holiday.''

phys.org ''Although we were all professional in our work, it was overwhelming at times - we were engulfed by it,'' says Associate Professor Winskog, who spent two separate one-month tours in Thailand helping to identify victims. ''At our site alone we had 2500 bodies to identify.''

itv.com The tsunami on Boxing Day ten years ago hit 14 countries, killing 230,000 people and making 1.7 million homeless.

bloomberg Globally $13.5 billion was raised - 40 percent of which came from individuals, trusts, foundations and businesses - making it the highest ever privately funded emergency.

dailymail.co.uk For Margaret and Bryson Garlick, like so many who lost their loved ones, getting on with their life has been one of the biggest hurdles to overcome.

smh.com.au Millions of dollars in foreign donations which flowed into Aceh after the Boxing Day tsunami a decade ago disappeared into the pockets of the province's new political elite despite a broadly successful and corruption-free reconstruction process.

independent.co.uk Khao Lak lies some 55 miles north of Phuket on Thailand's southwestern shore. Ten new hotels have opened this year alone. And its location gives it unfettered access to some of southern Thailand's finest rainforest, too.



themalaymailonline.com Malaysia and Australia will have broader cooperation in terms of security and border issues, especially in combating human trafficking and serious organised crime.

abc.net.au Indonesia has temporarily closed a domestic airport after a volcano in the country's east erupted, spewing plumes of ash hundreds of metres into the air, officials say.

afp Paddy rats - a healthier grain-fed animal than their city cousins - are prepared in a variety of ways in Vietnam depending on the province, often grilled or steamed with lemongrass.



business-standard.com Masters Tournament champion Bubba Watson has showed his generosity by donating all his prize earnings at the recent Thailand Golf Championship to the Thongchai Jaidee Foundation.

dailymail.co.uk Alastair Cook has been dropped as England captain for next year's 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the BBC and Sky Sports reported.

Agencies Only an ''earthquake'' can change Fifa's decision to hold the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, says Sepp Blatter, the president of soccer's governing body.



December 25 Christmas Day

December 26 10th Anniversary, 2004 Tsunami

December 31 New Year's Eve



February 12-15 Phuket Yacht Show