bangkokpost.com The military's campaign to clean up Thailand's beaches has reached Ko Lipe, where soldiers, national park authorities, and other officials began clearing out vendors and illegal structures Thursday. On Wednesday, authorities ordered the removal of 13 illegal vendor shacks on Phi Phi Island's Loh Dalum beach.

nationmultimedia.com The Attorney-General's Office decided to set up a joint committee of public prosecutors and the National Anti-Corruption Commission to conduct further investigations into the rice-pledging case against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

nbcnews.com Fast food workers plan to walk off the job in an estimated 150 US cities on Thursday, with employees in many locations planning nonviolent civil disobedience, seeking higher wages.

latimes.com Two California judges avoided removal from the bench after they admitted to having sex with women inside their respective chambers and showed remorse, according to a judicial oversight panel decision.

afp Brutal beheadings recorded on video by the jihadist Islamic State are intended to terrorise the group's enemies, but are also angering and alienating the Muslims the group claims to represent.


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 The United Nations Human Rights Office for South-East Asia (OHCHR) expressed ''serious concern'' about increasing human rights restrictions in Thailand.

nationmultimedia.com In a related development, a prominent human-rights activist sent an email to his colleagues asking if they would try to meet the NCPO and clarify what human-rights activities would be allowed under the ''Thai democratic system''.

reuters Thailand will assemble a peace negotiating team by the end of the week to revive talks with Muslim separatists whose insurgency in the south of the country has cost thousands of lives in the past decade, the military junta said.

nationmultimedia.com The Attorney-General's office will decide today whether to prosecute ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra on charges of dereliction of duty for neglecting to act on corruption in the rice-pledging scheme and inflicting damage of 500 billion baht on the country.



abcnews.go.,com A Massachusetts doctor has been identified as the third US health worker to be infected with the Ebola virus in West Africa. Rick Sacra, 51, was treating pregnant women in the ELWA Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia, when he was infected, according to missionary group SIM.



nationmultimedia.com Thai AirAsia and Thai AirAsia X are adding 70 pilots to secure crews for long-term expansion in both short- and long-haul routes. The brand plans to link Chiang Mai or Phuket with overseas destinations, particularly in China, to meet high demand. Chinese tourists are expected to flock to Thailand after the waiver of their visa fees.

huffingtonpost.co.uk British activist Andy Hall who is on trial in Thailand after uncovering alleged ''modern slavery'' in a local pineapple factory says he would have been murdered for speaking out if he wasn't a foreigner. Hall said Natural Fruit filed a fresh, seventh charge against him - a civil charge for an additional 100 million baht.

theguardian.com Editorial: The Thai government should be embarrassed that its courts are being used to prosecute Mr Hall. And it should be grateful for his work to expose wrongdoing.

dvb.no There has to date been no indication that either interviewer Wayne Hay or Al Jazeera will face charges, harking back to another defamation case in Thailand against employees of an online newspaper, Phuketwan, who are being sued by the Royal Thai Navy for quoting content published by Reuters. Reuters has not been charged, and has since received a Pulitzer Prize for the content in question.

nbtc.co.th Earlier this year, two Phuket-based journalists were charged with defamation by the Royal Thai Navy for a publishing an excerpt from a Reuters report that alleged Navy officials' involvement in the trafficking of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. In both Mr Hall's case and the Phuketwan journalists' cases, the law is being used to target individuals and not the larger organisations their work is affiliated with.

news.com.au Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn't agreed to reported ceasefire with Ukraine ''because Russia is not party to conflict,'' his spokesman says.

bangkokpost.com The Revenue Department has proposed that individuals be allowed to deduct the cost of domestic package tours or accommodation from personal income tax at a maximum of 15,000 baht a year.

afp China stressed that it would tolerate no foreign interference in Hong Kong affairs after the United States said it supported ''universal suffrage'' in the territory.

nationmultimedia.com The ruling junta has put waste disposal high on its to-do list, recognising that poorly regulated pits are fast filling up and prone to disaster.

bangkokpost.com Thailand's education system should help enhance language skills for students to develop the Thai tourism industry to compete with neighboring countries over the next decade. Dusit Thani College rector Veera Pardpattanapanich said other Asean countries have aggressively promoted tourism and tourism educational development to serve potential business growth in the region the past several years.

traveldailymedia.com Several Asian hoteliers have joined the campaign to stop the shark fin trade, as the travel and hospitality industries become a no-go area for the damaging trade, including the Blue Ocean Resort Phuket and Samui Palm Beach Resort. An estimated 73 million sharks are killed each year for their fins and flesh.

smh.com.au A Qantas passenger jet became ''nose-heavy'' during take off from Canberra Airport because sales staff had over-estimated the weight of a large group of primary school children on board by several tonnes.

cnn.com The seats on budget conscious airliners like Spirit and Allegiant don't recline, and these airlines don't suffer disruptions from angry passengers about to brawl. And their bottom lines aren't exactly suffering.

usatoday.com Following news of the latest security attack of Apple's iCloud service over the weekend and news of a smartphone partnership between Samsung and Facebook (FB), Apple's shares are under major pressure. To put the day's $26 billion decline in perspective, the market value lost in Apple in one day exceeds the entire value of more than half the companies in the Standard & Poor's 500.

AP A decision by organisers of New York's St. Patrick's Day Parade to allow one gay organisation to march is a disappointment after decades of fighting by gay groups for full participation, several advocates said.



theguardian.com Malaysia Airlines has changed the name of a ticket-sale promotion that invoked an ''inappropriate'' death reference by asking travellers which places were on their ''bucket list''. A bucket list refers to things someone wants to do before dying, or ''kicking the bucket''.

dpa Germany has increased its financial aid to Burma (Myanmar) to boost the South-East Asian state's drive for democratic and political reform, Chancellor Angela Merkel said. Former general Thein Sein's visit to Germany is part of a 10-day trip to Europe aimed at drumming up financial aid for his nation.

channelnewsasia.com Singapore and Indonesia have established their territorial boundaries in the eastern part of the Strait of Singapore. A treaty was signed which covers the area between Changi and Batam.

AP The United States' competitiveness among global economies has risen to the No. 3 spot behind Switzerland and Singapore in rankings published annually by the World Economic Forum.



news.com.au A third quarter three-point barrage by Boomers rookie Ryan Broekhoff gave Australia the breathing space to escape Mexico 70-62 at the FIBA World Cup in Gran Canaria.



nationmultimedia.com Take a trip to Phuket and make peace with your fellow creatures. The Southern province will again fly the yellow flags of the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival from September 24 to October 2.

September 7 Thailand vs Phuket FC 6.30pm

September 12 Amcham at Angsana: the New Phuket

September 24-October 2 Vegetarian Festival, Phuket

October 23 Chulalongkorn Memorial Day

November 6 Loy Kratong

November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket

December 5 King's Birthday

December 10 Constitution Day

December 25 Christmas Day

December 26 10th Anniversary, 2004 Tsunami

December 31 New Year's Eve



February 13-15 Phuket Yacht Show