bangkokpost.com It seems the Land Department and its branch office in Phuket have only just woken up to the decades-old land encroachment problem, especially the prime land in Sirinath National Park and forest reserves. The National Anti-Corruption Commission has recently set up a panel to look into suspected involvement of officials in land encroachment.

reuters Police came under ''heavy gunfire'' and 31 people were arrested, authorities said on Tuesday, during racially charged protests in Ferguson, Missouri sparked by the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white policeman 10 days ago.

macleayargus.com.au Australians Kate and Adam Osborne travelled to Thailand in July for the birth of their two surrogate-carried girls on July 22 hoping they would be able to bring them home to start their new lives. ''At the moment they are just holed up in their motel trying to make sense of what has happened,'' Kate's sister said.

theage.com.au After a tumultuous few weeks following the story of baby Gammy, hear from a same sex couple in Bangkok who are trying to get their newborn surrogate baby back to Melbourne.
http://media.theage.com.au/news/national-news/samesex-couples-thai-surrogacy-battle-5688766.html

nationalgeographic.com Ivory-seeking poachers have killed 100,000 African elephants in just three years, according to a new study that provides the first reliable continent-wide estimates of illegal kills. During 2011 alone, roughly one of every 12 African elephants was killed by a poacher.

bbc.com The National Guard has been deployed to Ferguson, Missouri, following days of civil unrest after the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager. The state's governor Jay Nixon said the additional resources meant a curfew currently in place would be lifted.


PHUKET: The daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. Beware of inconsistent imitations.



nationmultimedia.com ''More major tourist destinations and other popular beaches in the South need to restore their image and also get rid of local mafia gangs,'' said Prakit Chinamourphong, ex-president of the Thai Hotels Association. ''[Phuket's] Patong beach now seems more beautiful than beaches in Hawaii in the US, while Hua Hin has now become more upmarket and looks costly.''

straitstimes.com The lawyer of a Japanese man suspected of having fathered at least 12 babies using Thailand surrogate mothers submitted DNA samples to the Thai police to clear his name. The 24-year-old man, who travelled frequently in and out Thailand, has not been charged.

bangkokpost.com Everyone, especially the Thai police, want to know more about Mitsutoki Shigeta, linked to a so-called ''baby factory'' in a Bangkok condominium.

bloomberg Airlines are hoping a volcano in Iceland won't reprise the 2010 ''ash crisis'' that shut down much of Europe's airspace and cost nearly $2 billion. The Icelandic Met Office raised the aviation alert level to orange for the Bardarbunga volcano, following a major earthquake, the largest since 1996.

afp Rights groups called for the immediate release of two activists charged with breaching Thailand's strict royal defamation laws during a university play. The pair - named only as Patiwat, 23, and Pornthip, 25 - were arrested separately last week over their roles in an October 2013 play at Bangkok's Thammasat University to commemorate the 40th anniversary of a student-led uprising.



afp Liberia was desperately searching for 17 Ebola patients who fled an attack on a quarantine centre in the capital Monrovia, as the outbreak appeared to overwhelm authorities in West Africa's worst-hit nation.



Tearjerker Ad From Thailand Will Have You Singing Along
LET'S ALL repeat this together: We will not get sucked in by the latest heartrending mini-movie from a Thai insurance company. Will. Not. Cry. Oh please. Who are we kidding?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0KzquDdSM8

andrew-drummond.com Two rich kids, charged over a vicious attack on an Australian student in the Green Mango Club, signed a fictitious lease for a non existent apartment on Samui to show they were not a flight risk and were given their passports back by a Samui court.

nationmultimedia.com Ancient human bones have been unearthed along with clay pots believed to be up to 5000 years old in Khao Na Wang Mi in Krabi's Muang district. The Phuket-based 15th Archaeology Office director Riam Phumpongphaet said the office would register the area as an ancient site to prevent damage.

cnn.com The unarmed teen killed by US police in Ferguson was shot at least six times, an autopsy finds but the report is unlikely to settle dueling accounts of how Michael Brown died.

nationmultimedia.com Mysterious title deeds for land in a national park in Phuket made the headlines recently. Land and forest authorities were puzzled about how the title deeds were issued for land, which looked very much like part of the national park - located on sloping hills and fronting the sea. Now, some private villas are built there and several sites are under construction. Some land plots are worth over Bt1 billion.

irrawaddy.org Burma's downtrodden Rohingya Muslims have been denied citizenship, targeted in deadly sectarian violence and corralled into dirty camps without aid. To heap on the indignity, Burma's government is pressuring foreign officials not to speak the group's name, and the tactic appears to be working. UN officials say they avoid the term in public to avoid stirring tensions between the country's Buddhists and Muslims.

channelnewsasia.com You already have tonnes of Hello Kitty merchandise: How about a ride ona Hello Kitty plane with EVA Air? The Taiwanese airline is launching nine Hello Kitty chartered flights from Singapore to Taipei this December for the first time and you can finally get yourself a seat on one them.

bbc.com Thailand's economy avoided a technical recession in the second quarter, suggesting the country may be back on the path to growth following a military coup in May. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.9 percent in the three months to June, compared with the previous quarter.

ftadviser.com The medium to long-term prospects for Thailand remain attractive. The country is the destination of choice for most tourists visiting Asia, while the manufacturing sector has carved a niche in sectors such as auto and technology, making it a significant player on the global stage.

latimes.com More than a third of American adults have no retirement savings, including 14 percent of those 65 years of age or older, according to a new study. The low savings rate for people at or approaching retirement age is alarming, said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate.com, which conducted the survey.

cnn.com A report, 'Changing Trends of Childhood Disability, 2001-2011' found the number of American children with disabilities rose 16 percent over a 10-year period. While there was a noted decline in physical problems, there was a large increase in disabilities classified as neurodevelopmental conditions or mental health issues, such as ADHD and autism.

AP A spokesperson for Ukraine's national security council says ''dozens'' of civilians have been killed in a rebel attack on a convoy of people trying to flee war-torn eastern Ukraine. The barrage took place between the towns of Khryashchuvate and Novosvitlivka, which lie on the main road leading to Russia from the besieged rebel-held city of Luhansk.

reuters Britain's Monarch Airlines is set to cut it's workforce by a third with the closure of its charter operations as it moves to reinvent the carrier as a scheduled European budget airline.



dailytelegraph.com.au Australia's favorite overseas holiday destination is also one of the deadliest, with 48 Aussies losing their lives in Bali in the last year, or one death every eight days. Figures provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade also showed 118 Australians fell ill or were admitted to hospital in Bali, and 20 were arrested in the year to June 30.

bbc.com Singaporeans travelling to the nearby Indonesian island of Batam have been ordered to be completely silent while queuing for immigration, or face being sent straight back home, it's emerged.

cnn.com Search crews in Indonesia have suspended efforts to locate two tourists, still missing two and half days after the tourist boat they were traveling in sank. The two are believed to be Spanish.

heraldsun.com.au Just over a month since flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, the struggling Malaysia Airlines has offered to almost double the commission Australian travel agents earn from selling seats on its planes.



usatoday.com Three-time US Open champion Rafael Nadal announced that he will not be returning in September to defend his title. It is understood a wrist injury has continued to cause him problems.

afp Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti believes his side will be even stronger this campaign than the one which won the Champions League and Copa del Rey last season.



August 30 Thailand vs Burma football 6.30pm

September 3 Thailand vs Qatar football 6pm

September 7 Thailand vs Phuket mixed team 4pm

September 7 Qatar vs Australia football 6.30pm

September 24-October 2 Vegetarian Festival, Phuket

October 23 Chulalongkorn Memorial Day

November 6 Loy Kratong

November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket

December 5 King's Birthday

December 10 Constitution Day

December 25 Christmas Day

December 26 10th Anniversary, 2004 Tsunami

December 31 New Year's Eve



February 13-15 Phuket Yacht Show