mysailing.com.au Nearly four months after contact was lost with the three-man South African crew of a catamaran bound for Phuket, an upturned catamaran has been sighted in the Indian Ocean.

afp The death of blues guitar legend BB King this month will be investigated as a homicide, a Nevada coroner's office said.


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 navy will deploy a landing-platform dock ship in the Andaman Sea off Phuket to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants found adrift as a complement to air patrols by the US. Part of Phuket airport will provide a land base.

nationmultimedia.com Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the task force would be made up of medical staff, police and related officials: ''I have already assigned the Navy to take to the border line of the sea to act like a floating naval base, We agreed to a request by the US to help by having its planes patrol in the areas.''

afp An Air France passenger jet flying from Paris to New York has been escorted by two US fighter planes for the last leg of its trip after a bomb threat. Hours after it landed and was searched, the FBI said no bomb had been found and it declared the Airbus plane clear, CNN reported.



irishtimes.com Some of the bodies found in 139 graves in human trafficking camps on the Malaysia-Thailand border showed signs they were tortured before they were killed, Malaysia's police chief said.

bangkokpost.com ''Australia will do absolutely nothing that gives any encouragement to anyone to think they can get on a boat, that they can work with people smugglers to start a new life,'' Prime Minister Tony Abbott said, a similar line that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has fashioned for Thailand.



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

bangkokpost.com Eleven top Nakhon Pathom police officers - including a brother of the national police chief - have been transferred to inactive posts amid a crime wave in the Central region.

reuters Southeast Asian nations are prioritising spending on their navies and coastguards amid rising tensions in the South China Sea, but as their capabilities grow, so does the risk that any confrontation in the contested waterway will be harder to contain.

aap A man who kept a Dutch backpacker captive for two months in a Melbourne hotel room, where he subjected her to savage rapes and beatings, has been jailed for 17 years. Alfio Anthony Granata carved a cross into the forehead of his victim, then 21, with a knife and told her she was marked for death.

theguardian.com Authorities in India have rescued more than 20 children from a human trafficking network targeting families who lost their livelihoods in last month's earthquake in Nepal.

reuters An Italian couple have been arrested on suspicion of running a charity that skimmed off state money intended to help manage rising numbers of migrants, a prosecutor in the southern city of Naples said.

voanews.com A Tunisian soldier opened fire on his fellow troops Monday, killing seven and wounding 10 before he was shot dead himself.

WENN Art Garfunkel has stunned fans by revealing he only became friends with longtime partner Paul Simon, because he felt sorry for him. In one of his most candid interviews, the Bright Eyes singer tells Britain's Sunday Telegraph he initially quit Simon & Garfunkel and turned his back on showbusiness to become a teacher because he could no longer work with his sidekick Simon.



ibtimes.co.uk Loss-making Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will be rebranded and restructured into a new company. A new name and livery for the troubled carrier will be unveiled next week, Reuters reported. Chief executive Christoph Mueller, who joined on May 1, told the news agency that the new company will be like a ''start-up''.

Try Phuketwan's Asean Today daily:
http://phuketwan.com/tourism/asean-today-agony-lies-blight-boatpeoples-voyage-mas-become-startup-laos-cluster-bombs-22540/



falkirkherald.co.uk Kenny Shiels has accepted an offer to become manager of BEC Tero Sasana FC in Thailand.

afp Real Madrid fired their coach Carlo Ancelotti, club president Florentino Perez said, making the popular Italian pay for a disappointing season without a major trophy.

theguardian.com Didier Drogba hopes to find a club in Major League Soccer after celebrating his fourth Premier League title on board Chelsea's victory parade on Monday.

scotsman.com England will head to Leeds knowing they cannot lose this two-match series against New Zealand thanks, principally, to the heroics of captain Alastair Cook (162) and the fastest-ever hundred at HQ from Ben Stokes as they combined to overturn a 134-run first-innings deficit.



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