bangkokpost.com Transport Minister Prajin Juntong is considering allowing more operators of duty-free shops at Phuket and four other major airports to end the monopoly held by King Power International Group.


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



afp Twenty-two passengers and crew were injured when an Airbus A380 plane operated by Singapore Airlines (SIA) and travelling from the city-state to Mumbai hit sudden turbulence during descent, the carrier said. There were 408 passengers and 25 crew on board.

AP Two tourists from South Korea are missing after a boat carrying them and about three dozen others collided with a fishing vessel near Thailand's southern resort of Phuket, police said.

foxnews.com Authorities said some of the tourists, who were mostly Chinese but included four Koreans and two Britons, suffered broken bones and internal injuries. Police are holding the speedboat's crew and the fishing boat's captain for questioning.

reuters At least 10 people were injured and were being treated in Phuket, Phang Nga province Deputy Governor Prayura Rattanasenee told Reuters.

skynews.com.au Accidents involving boats, buses and other forms of public transport are common in Thailand, where safety standards are generally poor. Sunday's accident will do little to improve Thailand's reputation as a tourist haven, which has been buffeted in recent months.



bbc.com For at least five years, the Andaman coast of Thailand has been the scene of some horrific abuses, mainly against ethnic Rohingya, a Muslim minority group fleeing persecution in Burma. Police and military personnel have been accused of selling Rohingya to human traffickers.

bdnews24.com Bangladesh has sought ''consular access'' to verify the nationalities of the detainees in Thailand, 118 of whom claimed themselves to be Bangladeshis. Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said that they were the ''victims of human trafficking''.



telegraph./co.uk When a woman who had worked in an Ebola laboratory was found to be travelling on a Caribbean cruise ship, panic ensued: ''The captain never said the word Ebola, but everyone knew.''
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/ebola/11171669/Were-a-floating-petri-dish-Panic-onboard-the-Ebola-cruise.html

nbcnews.com The Dallas hospital where Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan was treated, and where two nurses who worked on him contracted the disease, apologised again for making ''mistakes'' - this time in a letter published via full-page ad in two local newspapers.

bangkokpost.com The Department of Disease Control has played down the threat of an Ebola outbreak in Thailand, saying experience in dealing with infectious diseases outbreaks had prepared the kingdom to cope.



telegraph.co.uk Hundreds of Swedish sailors, pilots and divers were engaged in a massive search operation for a mysterious Russian submarine thought to be stricken in Swedish waters. In an operation the scale of which has not been seen since the Cold War, swathes of the Baltic Sea were being searched after the Swedish military reportedly intercepted a radio transmission in Russian on an emergency frequency.

thephuketinsider.com Point Yamu by Como has won top honors in two categories at the annual South East Asia Property Awards held in Singapore. The twin awards are for Best Villa Development Thailand and Best Hotel Architectural Design South East Asia.
http://phuketwan.com/entertainment/phukets-como-sets-high-standard-upmarket-resorts-follow-21152/

nationmultimedia.com The Safer Roads Foundation (SRF) has earmarked more than 60 million baht on efforts to reduce road deaths in Thailand, where more than 14,000 locals and foreigners are either killed or fatally injured in road accidents on average every year.

wsj.com Hong Kong has one of the world's biggest wealth gaps and its highest real-estate prices. Years of stagnant wage growth have created deep frustration among students and the middle class.

scmp.com People living in a residential block in Liuzhou in China say they cannot open their windows because of the smell from food stalls cooking dog meat wrapped in straw, the news website Chinanews.com reports. Residents said that even with the windows closed thick smoke still got into their homes.

stickmanweekly.com Bar values are plummeting as profits tumble. It used to be that every couple of weeks I would receive an inquiry from someone keen to invest in a bar, asking for the inside scoop on bars that may be up for sale or a particularly good deal. I don't recall receiving such an inquiry this year.



straitstimes.com A curious crowd of more than 800 people gathered for the first-ever ''I Want To Touch A Dog'' event at Malaysia's One Utama shopping complex. It was a big hit with Muslims.

afp Joko Widodo will cap a remarkable rise from an upbringing in a riverside slum when he is sworn in as Indonesia's president Monday, but takes power amid doubts about his ability to enact much-needed reforms.

saudigazette.com.sa What is causing particular worry to UN and human rights groups is the Rakhine State Action Plan which will require Rohingya to first declare themselves Bengali (which they say they are not) then try to prove that they are eligible for citizenship by the standards of the 1982 law. Those who fail to meet the nearly impossible conditions of the law would be put into what the Burmese authorities call ''a resettlement zone.'' Those who refuse to go through the process would be sent to a displacement camp.

tribune.com.pk I will forever remember Aung San Suu Kyi for her deafening silence over the atrocities unleashed on Rohingya Muslims, on which the CNN queried, ''has the Lady lost her voice?'' and The Guardian wrote: ''It seems impossible to resist the impression that 'the Lady' is a paragon no more - and certainly no human rights defender.''



bbc.com Liverpool were very fortunate to beat QPR 3-2 on Sunday, and their poor performance highlighted the problems Reds boss Brendan Rodgers is having up front and with his new-look defence.

news.com.au Bans of up to five years may be dished out to football fans after the explosive derby between Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC degenerated into violent clashes.

scmp.com Despite heavy pollution blanketing Beijing on Sunday, an international marathon went ahead, with face masks and sponges among the equipment used by competitors to battle the smog.

theager.com.au Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards has described as ''deeply concerning'' the crisis that led to the West Indies quitting their tour of India over a pay row with their board, resulting in fears about their participation in this summer's World Cup and their future as a Test-playing cricket nation.



October 23 Chulalongkorn Memorial Day

November 1-3 Patong Carnival

November 6 Loy Kratong

November 14-23 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket

November 29-December 6 Phuket King's Cup Regatta

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