Phuket Update Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office has issued a health advisory cautioning travellers about the haze covering Phuket.

time.com The Thai island of Phuket, a hugely popular destination for sun-seekers, awoke on Wednesday to find its beaches mired beneath a grey cloud.

smh.com.au News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch has once again sailed into controversy on Twitter, igniting an online furore by suggesting that US President Barack Obama isn't a ''real black''.

theguardian.com Phuket has been plunged into a poisonous grey haze caused by illegal forest fires in neighboring Indonesia. Reduced visibility caused passenger planes from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and destined for Phuket airport to turn around on Thursday.

theguardian.com Drone video: Greenpeace warns fires raging across Indonesia's forest and peatlands will match the worst year ever and exceed the total annual carbon output of Britain.

Facebook Large Myanmar migrant worker protests erupt at Laemthong's Thailand chicken factory in Korat province. Protest apparently stems from dismissal of around 13 migrant workers at the plant.


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 Leading scientist Dr Charassri Angtanya has urged authorities to install submerged nets for protection against box jellyfish and to place warning signs on all beaches where it is reported that people have been stung by the deadly creatures.

channelnewsasia.com Three women tourists from China were killed and 11 others seriously injured when the bus they were travelling in collided with a tanker lorry and another bus along Malaysia's North-South Expressway.



bangkokpost.com The smoke pouring out of the Indonesian fires forced delay or cancellation to at least 16 flights in the South, particularly at heavily polluted Phuket. Visibility at Phuket airport was less than 1000 metres when the flights plans of so many tourists were disrupted.

nationmultimedia.com Visibility on roads was also significantly reduced, with motorists in Songkhla saying they could see no more than 200 metres. In Phatthalung province, road visibility was down to less than 500 metres. Complaints of eye irritation, skin irritation and respiratory problems have risen dramatically.

bangkokpost.com Editorial: Saturday is the 13th anniversary of the Asean agreement to fight haze and pollution, but it has never been anything to celebrate.



bangkokpost.com Police are telling prosecutors they have enough evidence to convict the two Uighurs - the only suspects they have arrested for the Erawan shrine killings.

nationmultimedia.com Police are hunting for Zubair Abdullah, the "suspect in the blue shirt" whose image was captured by security cameras at the Sathorn pier after the initial bomb attack.



washingtonpost.com Russian missiles fired from Caspian Sea warships travelled 1500 kilometres to strike targets in Syria as Syrian government forces opened a ground offensive into areas that include rebel factions, officials said.

voanews.com Madonna has added a second show in Bangkok for her 'Rebel Heart' world tour after the first concert sold out in under an hour, organisers said. Tickets for the February 9 show went on sale on Saturday.

nytimes.com Some critics predicted chaos, confusion and ''bag rage''. But while this week's introduction of a 5 pence charge for plastic shopping bags in England did not lead to a nationwide mutiny, as some had warned, it did prove polarising.

domain.com.au Blogger and author of 'Zero Waste Home,' Bea Johnson along with her husband, two sons and dog have been pursuing a no-rubbish lifestyle since 2009. Between them, the family produces just one litre-sized jar of rubbish a year.

reuters German Chancellor Angela Merkel installed one of her most trusted allies to oversee her government's handling of the refugee crisis as a new poll showed support for her conservatives slipping to a four-month low.

rt.com Tourists walking atop a newly built skywalk in China had their experience shattered after the glass cracked right beneath their feet. Visitors quickly fled from the structure, which is suspended over a canyon at more than 1000 meters above sea level.

AP Months after winning a national title, Harvard University's debate team has fallen to a group of New York prison inmates. The showdown took place at the Eastern New York Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison where convicts can take courses taught by faculty from nearby Bard College, and where inmates have formed a popular debate club.



irrawaddy.com The US Embassy in Rangoon said that a federal court summons for President Thein Sein and several Burmese ministers for human rights violations allegedly committed against the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority has nothing to do with Washington's policy toward Burma (Myanmar).



smh.com.au It was Russian President Vladimir Putin's 63rd birthday on Wednesday, and he marked the occasion with an eyebrow-raising show of sporting excellence. Putin took to the skating rink in Sochi to play a specially arranged celebrity ice hockey game with Putin scoring seven goals in a 15-10 victory.

afp Former New Zealand captain Chris Cairns lied under oath that he never fixed cricket matches and once threatened a teammate with a bat for scoring too many runs, a perjury trial heard.



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