bbc.com Jonathan Head reports for the BBC: How two men lost everything to Phuket's culture of corruption
VIDEO Here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p032t97v

gizmodo.com.au Bangkok Metropolitan Police have won a prize at the 25th Ig Nobel awards in the Economics category for offering to pay policemen extra cash if the policemen refuse to take bribes.

rsf.org Reporters Without Borders calls on the Thai pineapple processing company Natural Fruit and the Thai judicial authorities to abandon the three defamation cases still pending against British human rights defender Andy Hall after a Bangkok court dismissed a fourth one.


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 government has used the tort law to order Yingluck Shinawatra to pay damages up to B510bn from the rice-pledging scheme by the end of this month.

flightglobal.com The Royal Thai Air Force has ordered four Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI)/Lockheed Martin T-50TH supersonic trainers, with delivery reported to be by 2018. The contract was confirmed in a Facebook post from KAI, although no more details have as yet been disclosed by the company or Lockheed.

dpa Fifteen passengers of Philippine Airlines flight PR101 from Hawaii were injured after the aircraft hit turbulence on the way to Manila, the company said.



channelnewsasia.com Thailand's tourism industry, which accounts for 10 percent of the country's GDP, saw visitors drop from 80,000 to 59,000 a day in the weeks following the Bangkok bomb of August 17. Local businesses say they are confident that the country's tourism industry will bounce back from the attack.



nationmultimedia.com Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha ordered authorities to finalise the country's 2015 report on anti-human trafficking measures by November 15 to show the international community the progress Thailand has achieved in preventing and solving human-trafficking problems.

thediplomat.com Malaysia is eying the creation of a new government Border Security Agency to better protect the country's borders, its deputy prime minister announced.



todayonline.com Malaysia has sent two C-130 Hercules military transport planes to evacuate hundreds of its citizens residing in haze-hit Riau, while the country's deputy prime minister visited Jakarta to discuss the crisis. In a statement, Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Royal Malaysian Air Force was to bring home 173 people, mostly students and their families.

jakartaglobe.com Singapore is calling on all its Southeast Asian neighbors to help combat recurring forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan as thick haze is once again plaguing large parts of the region. ''Greater regional efforts and cooperation [are] needed to effectively combat the haze problem,'' Singaporean Foreign Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said in a statement published on Friday evening.

Phuket Update The Regional Environmental Office has yet to issue a health warning for the thick haze of smoke from Indonesian burning that settled over Phuket. Air conditions on the island have raised concern among experts despite it being declared ''safe'' by meteorologists.

newscientist.com The Indonesian government has arrested executives from seven companies after air pollution from illegal forest fires forced thousands of people to flee their homes and schools had to be closed in neighboring countries. At its peak this month, there were almost 1200 fires burning across Indonesia - most of them lit illegally to clear land for palm oil and timber. A state of emergency has been declared in the worst-hit Riau province on the island of Sumatra.

nationmultimedia.com Many provinces in the East and South have been hit by flash floods due to continuous rain over several days, with Rayong province being the worst hit and 1300 households inundated. Some 30 households in Krabi's Muang district were also affected by flash floods.

bangkokpost.com The Appeal Court dismissed defamation charges against migrant-rights activist Andy Hall brought by state prosecutors and a pineapple-processing company.

Phuket Update Phuket residents repaired a small section of damaged road in front of the Samkong Temple on the bypass road, close to the Samkong underpass construction site, because they grew tired of waiting for authorities to act.

venturebeat.com Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg announced that the company has opened its first office in Thailand, as it looks to lay deeper roots in Asia. In June, it was revealed that Facebook earns as much as 51 percent of its ad revenue overseas, with fastest growth in mobile-first Asia.

bangkokpost.com Air France-KLM is interested in developing an aircraft maintenance centre with Thai Airways International, and U-tapao airport in Rayong would be a suitable location, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said.

bloomberg The baht halted a 10-week loss as investors returned to Thai assets following decisions by the Thai and US central banks to keep interest rates unchanged.



abc.net.au Malaysia is trying to sell itself as the region's top retirement destination in a bid to encourage foreigners, including Australians, to spend their golden years in the country. About 28,000 people from more than 120 countries have applied for and received a 10-year Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) visa.



bbc.com England were made to work hard by Fiji in their World Cup opener but pulled away in the last 20 minutes to secure a bonus-point 35-11 win at Twickenham.

Phuket Update Phuket FC, the island's representative football club in the national league, is staring down the barrel of dissolution if a major investor is not found before the new season begins next year, reports its media sponsor, the Phuket News.



PHUKET hosts the southern region's Prison Fair until September 23 with all kinds of useful, well-made goods available at Saphan Hin park in Phuket City. Furniture is a specialty. Food and trees and plants are also on sale.

September Quicksilver surf carnival at Patong beach

October 15-23 Phuket Vegetarian Festival

November Patong Festival

November 20 Laguna Phuket Triathlon

November 25 Loy Kratong festival

November 29 Challenge Laguna Phuket 2015

November 29 Phuket King's Cup Regatta

December 5 HM The King's Birthday

December 26 Tsunami memorial ceremonies



January 7-10 Phuket International Boat Show