UPDATING All Day, Every Day
nationmultimedia.com Thailand will on Monday host a reception in New York to officially inform the international community that it intends applying for the position of non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
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.
theglobeandmail.com Gunfire and explosions were continuing at the Westgate mall, contradicting the Kenyan government's claim that the four-day hostage siege in which 67 people have been killed is over.
nationalgeographic.com Rihanna - queen of selfies and songstress behind hits like ''Umbrella'' and ''Diamonds'' - has found herself and a cute critter in the midst of an international firestorm. Videos about lorises don't necessarily help conservation efforts - but Rihanna's photo op might.
perezhilton.com Not only does this Phuket sex show probably violate several rules from the Geneva Convention, but those poor animals will need at least 10 years of therapy to recover from this!
mirror.co.uk Fans at the concert after the F1 Grand Prix in Singapore slammed RiRi for a "disappointing" show, blasted her for being "high on weed" and one eagle-eyed man even spotted that her microphone wasn't even on.
Phuket People
PHUKETWAN photojournalist Chutima Sidasathian won a prize for the photograph above at DOT, the large German Oriental Studies Conference in Munster, where she is presenting a paper on the Rohingya as part of her academic research. Khun Chutima has previously shared several international awards for investigative reporting and human rights journalism.
firstpost.com Chinese tourists are seeking more exotic locales for their trips as the popularity of most of their top 20 destinations soars, TripAdvisor said, reflecting the boom by the world's highest-spending group of travellers.
TripAdvisor Hong Kong was the most popular destination search for Chinese in July to August, with interest fromtravellers rising 50 percent from the same period of 2012. Phuket was in second place, with 3.5 times as many searches than a year earlier. Other popular places in the Chinese top 20 included Dubai, Seoul, Singapore, Bali, Rome, New York and London.
nytimes.com A 7.7 magnitude earthquake killed at least 39 people when it struck a remote area of western Pakistan, according to Pakistani government officials who have warned that the death toll will probably increase.
bangkokpost.com A court to solve problems for tourists opened on Phuket. Virat Chinvinitkul, secretary-general of the Courts of Justice, promised quick rulings on all conflicts for local and foreign tourists who take their problems to the Phuket provincial court.
mcot A court for tourists was officially launched at the Thai capital's Suvarnabhumi Airport to provide legal protection and convenience to foreign plaintiffs. Trials are made using a video conference system from the Samut Prakarn district court.
bangkokpost.com The Rohingya continue to be brutalised, to such an extent as to make these viciously victimised people flee the country where top government figures have said they are unwanted. No one knows how many Myanmar civilians have been driven out of the country to become stateless workers or homeless wanderers in Thailand.
trust.org There are around 12 million stateless people in the world. The head of the UNHCR, Antonio Guterres, has called for the eradication of statelessness within a decade.
scmp.com A new tourism law that comes into force on Tuesday is designed to address the woes that have long dogged the mainland's soaring tourism industry. But will it put a stop to children urinating on the subway?
inquirer.net Budget carrier Tiger Airways Philippines recently began its Manila-Phuket service, initially flying to the popular Thai resort twice a week, the company said, while revealing that it is working on adding flights to Japan to its growing international network.
Phuket World Sports Wrap
goal.com First-half strikes from Fernando Torres and Ramires handed visitors Chelsea a 0-2 victory against the League One side Swindon as the recently exiled duo returned to Jose Mourinho's teamsheet.
ninemsn.com.au Bernard Tomic has taken the easy way into the second round of the Thailand Open, with opponent Ivo Karlovic withdrawing with a back injury. Fellow Australian Marinko Matosevic joined Tomic as a winner as he crushed Thai wild card Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul 6-1 6-1.
menafn.com 2012 Olympic champion Sally Pearson, broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest 100m egg and spoon race in Australia. Part of Holiday Inn hotels' family-friendly Big Breakfast event being held in Sydney, Sally broke the record by almost three seconds with a time of just 16.59 seconds. Families who have their photo taken with the giant boiled egg and share it with their social media networks could win a family holiday at Holiday Inn Resort Phuket.
Phuket Coming Events 2013
Until September 30 French Wine Week at Sofitel Krabi Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort, Krabi
September 28 Krabi FC v Phuket FC
September 29 First weekly Sunday walking street, Thalang Road and Soi Romanee, Old Phuket Town, 4pm-10pm
October 5-13 Phuket Vegetarian Festival
October 12 Phuket Soi Dogs Foundation 10th anniversary party, Andara
October 23 Chulalongkorn Memorial Day
October 29-November 3 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, Karon
October 31 Halloween
November 5 Melbourne Cup Day
November 17 Loy Kratong Day
November 24-December 1 Challenge Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest. Laguna Phuket
December 5 HM The King's birthday
December 26 Commemoration of 2004 Asian Tsunami
Phuket Coming Events 2014
January 9-12 Phuket International Boat Show, Royal Phuket Marina
November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket
I took the Tiger Air Philippines (actually SEAir) flight from Phuket to Manila on Sep 15th - 11 PAX onboard, delayed 45min.
Return flight on Sep 21st had 44 PAX, delayed 1hr.
Paid a total of only THB 2780.
The weird thing is that it arrives and departs at the Domestic (T4) terminal in Manila. They've added a single immigration counter and separated a small space to accommodate this.
I heard from quite a few passengers that they had mistakenly gone to T3 first where most Tiger Air flights in Manila depart from.
If you search for those flights, you will see that none are available after October.
It would appear as if the new service is being cancelled due to low passenger numbers.
It's a shame because Manila is a welcome alternative to direct visa-run destinations from Phuket and with a bit more publicity I believe the flights would be financially viable.
With Cebu Pacific offering the same service at virtually the same time of day (night, actually) there's plenty of competition though.
Posted by ThaiMike on September 25, 2013 10:28
Editor Comment:
Speculative flights are a feature of Phuket. Direct to Manila seems great value for visa runners but probably won't become truly popular until Phuket resorts employ many more English-speaking Philippines workers after 2015.