Updating All Day, Every Day
bangkokpost.com Pop singer Beyonce and her family are spending Christmas in Phuket, local media and social websites reported.
rfa.org Police in southwest China's Guangxi province shot dead one person and detained 21 others who were part of a group of ''religious extremists'' seeking to cross into neighboring Vietnam, state media said. Muslim Uighurs have been increasingly fleeing into Southeast Asia, including Thailand.
bangkokpost.com The Chachoengsao Provincial Court handed out death sentences to three men who colluded to murder environmental activist Prajob Naowa-opas, a C8 government officer for the Department of Industrial Works and two military officers.
aap An Australian woman and her 20-year-old son, who was brutally beaten in a nightclub on the resort island of Samui in June, say they are in a precarious situation after being forced from their Bangkok apartment amid rising legal and medical costs.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/12/25/aussie-mum-fights-justice-bangkok
PhuketWATCH Daily Media Wrap
PHUKET: The daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. Beware of inconsistent imitations.
Today's Top News Items
bangkokpost.com Koh Chang officials plan to launch a new year crackdown on beachfront transportation operators and motorcycle-rental agents in order to reclaim public property, ensure tourists aren't cheated and to preserve the environment.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/451942/koh-chang-beach-vendors-face-new-year-crackdown
nationmultimedia.com Thai AirAsia this year will record the greatest profit decline in its 10-year history, from Bt1.9 billion in 2013 to just Bt200 million, because of the political crisis. Chief executive officer Tassapon Bijleveld said most of the airlines in the Kingdom had experienced similar losses.
bangkokpost.com The US State Department had two words for the government after hearing officially that election plans for next October have been delayed well into 2016.
Human Trafficking in Thailand
bangkokpost.com Thailand and China have agreed to step up cooperation in the fight against illegal immigration and terror, the Chinese government said, as Thailand deals with an influx of Uighurs from China's unruly far western region of Xinjiang.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/451902/china-thailand-up-fight-against-illegals
nnt The Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA) has held a meeting to ponder over appropriate action against human trafficking beginning next year. Thirty-three provinces in Thailand that are located either by the sea or along the border are said to be a hotbed for human trafficking activities.
The Tsunami 10 Years On
edp24.co.uk It was a natural disaster of almost unimaginable dimensions.
ibtimes.com Communities in the Indian Ocean region have slowly recovered from the wreckage 10 years after a mega earthquake and tsunami struck. There were no warning systems at the time.
cnn.com While we can't prevent another tsunami, we do know that many people in harms way today are now more aware and better prepared to face future disasters. The challenge ahead remains how we align global and local action to safeguard future generations.
Phuket World of People
bangkokpost.com A Dutch citizen was killed after being run over by a moving tourist train in Sai Yok district, police said. The man was identified as Hieronymus Cornelis Maria Boumans, 52.
myrepublica.com Three Nepali students kidnapped in Thailand five days ago have been rescued safely through a joint operation of Thai and Nepali police. Two of the nine kidnappers were arrested in the course of a raid by Thai police commandos in Bangkok.
nytimes.com TripAdvisor, the travel review website, has been fined 500,000 euros, or about $A750,700, by an Italian regulator for not doing enough to prevent false reviews on its site.
bangkokpost.com The Chachoengsao court has handed down the death sentence against a C-8 Industry Ministry official for ordering the 2013 killing of a phuyaiban (village chief) who was leading protests against toxic waste dumping.
jpost.com UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the Islamic State captors of a Jordanian pilot whose warplane was shot down in northeast Syria to treat him humanely, his spokesman said.
news.com.au Violent protesters set off explosives and injured police during riots in Missouri after another teen was shot by cops near where Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson.
afp Entertainment giant Sony released 'The Interview' - the movie that outraged North Korea - online for US viewers.
scmp.com Some motorists and passers-by treated themselves to an early Christmas in Hong Kong after a road accident involving a cash transport vehicle spilled millions of dollars in bundles banknotes across a busy motorway in Wan Chai.
washingtonpost.com Former president George H.W. Bush, 90, was taken by ambulance to a Houston hospital after experiencing shortness of breath, according to a spokesman.
smh.com.au Volunteers at the North American Aerospace Defense Command monitor Santa Claus as he makes his impressive Christmas Eve flight.
independent.co.uk Residents of southern England will be forgiven for thinking that Santa was making his annual rounds early this year, when the International Space Station appeared as a sparkling dot in sky on Christmas Eve.
news.com.au Two planes bumped into each other on the tarmac at New York's LaGuardia International Airport. There were no injuries, but no takeoff.
Around the Asean Region
reuters Nearly 60 foreign tourists are among almost 100 people stranded at a resort in a Malaysian national park lashed by its heaviest rainfall in more than four decades, staff said. Authorities are sending boats and a helicopter to rescue them.
rt.com Authorities in Indonesia plan to ban virginity tests for female civil servants following widespread condemnation that the country???s police force still uses the ''degrading'' practice to vet candidates.
Coming Events on Phuket 2014
The ''Colorful Countdown Phuket 2015'' will usher in the New Year with light shows and live concerts at Sanam Chai Park, across the road from Phuket Provincial Hall, from December 29-31.
Phuket International Boat Show returns to southern Thailand's beach destination from January 8 to 11.
December 25 Christmas Day
December 26 10th Anniversary, 2004 Tsunami
December 29-31 Colorful Countdown Phuket 2015 to New Year's Eve
Coming Events on Phuket 2015
January 6-11 Phuket International Boat Show
January 21 Australian embassy outreach to Phuket Call 02-3446300, e: consular.bangkok@dfat.gov.au
February 12-15 Phuket Yacht Show
