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The AirAsia captain, Iriyanto, requested to go higher then fell silent

Debris, Bodies Found; Phuket Bans Private Jets; Bid for Andaman World Heritage; Top Stories of 2014; UN Rules on Rohingya

Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Updating All Day, Every Day

independent.co.uk At least 40 bodies have been spotted and six recovered from missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501 amid reports that the plane door and emergency slide belonging to the passenger jet have been found and a ''shadow'' spotted on the seabed.

independent.co.uk Anger is growing that lessons have not yet been implemented by the aviation community. Some observers believe that real-time flight tracking, where the position of each aircraft can be continuously monitored, should have become mandatory after the loss of Air France flight 447 five years ago.

AP The UN General Assembly has approved a resolution urging Myanmar (Burma) to provide ''full citizenship'' to its Rohingya Muslim minority and to allow them to move freely throughout the country.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/urges-myanmar-give-citizenship-rohingya-muslims-27889191

bangkokpost.com A 22-year-old man has been arrested for calling the 191 hotline about 30 times a day and pleasuring himself when male officers answered the phone, police said.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/453112/man-calls-191-pleasures-himself

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 Dec 26 to Jan 5 will witness an increase of 8.5 percent in overall passenger throughput and 8.8 percent in aircraft movements through airports operated by Airports of Thailand even though Phuket and Suvarnabhumi will witness declines. Phuket will see a 2.5 percent drop.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/tourism/452813/airports-see-rise-in-holiday-season-traffic

nationmultimedia.com A National Reform Council panel on natural resources and the environment agreed to push for the vast marine conservation site in the Andaman Sea to be recognised as a World Heritage Site.

bangkokpost.com Phuket airport has slapped a blanket ban on private jets this holiday season until January 5. Operators said the ban means a significant economic loss Each well-heeled can easily inject 500,000 baht a day into the province's economy.

dailymail.co.uk Crying passengers on board a transatlantic flight have hailed a hero pilot after he was forced to perform an emergency landing on broken landing gear. The Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 with more than 450 people on board was meant to go to Las Vegas but was forced to return to London after developing a technical fault shortly after take-off.

bangkokpost.com A passenger van ran into the rear-end of a parked water truck on an elevated road near Suvarnabhumi airport, killing two Indian tourists and injuring five other members of the same family.

Human Trafficking in Thailand


reuters Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has vowed to crackdown on human trafficking in the sex trade and fishing industry in 2015 and punish any public officials involved after international criticism of Thailand's failure to tackle the crime. A global slavery index by Australia human rights group Walk Free Foundation estimates almost 36 million people were living as slaves, trafficked into brothels, forced into manual labor, victims of debt bondage or born into servitude.

Latest on the Ebola Outbreak


bbc.com A healthcare worker who has just returned from West Africa has been diagnosed with Ebola and is being treated in hospital in Glasgow. The woman arrived from Sierra Leone on Sunday night.

The Lost AirAsia Flight


xinhua Suspicious objects were detected in the Java Sea where an AirAsia plane disappeared as the search operation expanded with more countries joining the sea and aerial hunt.

scmp.com China sent a warship to help in the search for the missing AirAsia plane, which a top official warned was probably at the bottom of the sea.

nytimes.com Malaysians have been confronted by many unanswered questions this year about a string of aviation disasters: the disappearance of Flight 370; the crash of another Malaysia Airlines jetliner, Flight 17, in Ukraine in July; and most recently, the disappearance of AirAsia Flight 8501.

Phuket World of People


nationmulktimedia.com Man of the Year: General Prayut Chan-o-cha, a military man throughout his career spanning more than three decades, has dominated local news and the political scene since leading the bloodless coup on May 22 and later becoming the country's 29th prime minister.

Top Stories of the Year http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/A-look-into-the-past-year-30250941.html

borderwatch.com.au A Mount Gambier woman called on high-profile Liberal MP Julie Bishop to intervene in a legal situation that has left her brother Alan Morison stranded in Thailand.
http://www.borderwatch.com.au/story/2772272/family-pleas-for-government-aid/?cs=1266

bangkokpost.com Foreign Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn has pledged to bring the country into the international limelight, claiming the government has regained the confidence of the world community which will help promote Thailand's goals.

latimes.com Shocked passengers rescued from a fire-damaged Greek ferry described terrifying and chaotic scenes on board as gale-force winds, choppy seas and plumes of dense smoke hampered rescue efforts. People stuck on the Norman Atlantic were forced to stand on the freezing deck for hours as the vessel tilted and the fierce below-deck blaze started ''cooking everybody's feet.''

reuters Rescue teams evacuated more than 400 people from a car ferry that caught fire off Greece's Adriatic coast in a 36-hour operation on roiling seas, but 10 people were killed in the disaster.

bangkokpost.com Internet service providers (ISPs) have been ''authorised'' to monitor and block web pages threatening national security or containing lese majeste content as they see fit, without having to seek prior approval.

abc.net.au Friends of a teenage shark attack victim have remembered their mate as the ''life of the party'' who loved fishing and the ocean. Jay Muscat, 17, was spearfishing with a friend when the shark, thought to be a great white up to five metres long, attacked off Cheynes Beach, about 470 kilometres south of Perth.

bloomberg The euro traded at almost a two-year low against the dollar after Greece???s prime minister failed to get his presidential candidate confirmed, triggering an early parliamentary election.

theguardian.com The Russian economy has contracted for the first time in five years after falling oil prices and sanctions imposed by western governments began to take their toll.

cnet.com One hacker says he has developed a way to copy fingerprints using a common digital camera.

scmp.com Fifteen people have been arrested on prostitution charges over their alleged involvement in websites that hired mothers with newborn babies to breast feed adults.

gizmodo.com Southern Thailand is beautiful. The oceans are incredible shades of turquoise, green, and blue. Lush rainforest envelops every square foot of undeveloped land. Limestone rock formations seemingly float on the water. The place was clearly an inspiration for James Cameron's Avatar. With some of the best climbing and diving in the world, it's an adventurer's paradise.

traveller.com.au Como Phuket, Thailand: Phuket's oldest luxury resorts lie on its west coast; by comparison, the east has been slow to develop. Taking a lead now, though, is the new Point Yamu by Como. Located at the end of a peninsula it looks out into the Andaman Sea and the distinctly unpolished limestones of Phang Nga Bay. The whole resort has a serene vibe, just the right side of sterile, as though it's all be designed by Apple.

independent.co.uk Smoking groups have accused public health officials of ''scaremongering,'' as graphic new adverts showing roll-up cigarettes made of rotting human flesh were released.

Around the Asean Region


bangkokpost.com The Indonesian navy sank two Thai fishing boats found to have encroached its territorial waters. Indonesia vowed to sink all ships stealing its fish in a bid by President Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi, to protect domestic marine resources.

nehandaradio.com While most parts of Zimbabwe wallow in poverty, President Robert Mugabe, his wife Grace and their children are living the good life in Singapore where the 90 year old Zanu PF leader is on holiday.

channelnews.asia.com Malaysia's Education Ministry announced the postponement of the start of the 2015 school session for the whole country by one week because of the floods in several states.

Phuket World of Sport


independent.co.uk The way Liverpool passed and pressed, the way they flowed towards goal for the 4-1 win over Swansea could have come from virtually any fixture in the first five months of 2014 rather than from a season that has become awash with disappointments.

smh.com.au The Boxing Day Test is set for an explosive conclusion on Tuesday as tensions between Australia and India threaten to boil over with the series on the line. And Ian Chappell has warned it is only a matter of time before sledging morphs into on-field biff.

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 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

Comments

Comments have been disabled for this article.

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The Andaman coast as a World Heritage Site is a complete and utter joke - has the Natl Reform Council actually been to Phi Phi, Lipe or other islands in the region lately? First thing you see getting off the boat on Phi Phi now is a huge shopping plaza construction site. And this same coast has been described as a "superhighway" for human trafficking. If they gave out World Greed & Corruption Sites titles, then the Andaman coast would be a winner for sure. What a joke!

Posted by Lana on December 30, 2014 12:04

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@ Lana

Could not agree more with you.

Posted by Herbert on December 30, 2014 12:46

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(moderated)

Posted by Herbert on December 30, 2014 15:53

Editor Comment:

The answer you are looking for, Herbert, is currents. We don't intend to speculate about causes.

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Ring 191 in an emergency, advise us of your problem and we will come. I can understand his confusion but 500 times in one month to deal with his stress. He obviously needs a helping hand.

Posted by Manowar on December 30, 2014 16:16

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Rubbish.

Currents do not carry one set of debris one way and others in the opposite direction.

If you want to keep your readers from receiving valid and educated information on the subject, fine, but don't pretend to be an expert on everything. Especially anything related to aviation.

Posted by Herbert on December 30, 2014 17:39

Editor Comment:

I'm far from an expert on everything, But unless you've been flying sorties over the area in the past day or so, your comment is speculation from a considerable distance and adds no value. Anyone with experience in aviation knows the worst possible information is guesswork.

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Really ? (moderated)

Posted by Herbert on December 30, 2014 18:24

Editor Comment:

Yes, really. We have no interest in publishing your guesswork.

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Herbert,
But currents are not laminar in flow, they are effected by variation in depth, channel width, water temperature, induced eddies, convection, tides, wind, chop and swell just to name a few.
The direction of movement of an object suspended in water is also effected by its shape, density, displacement, surface roughness, amount exposed above the water line, drag, direction and stability.
It is likely that an object having higher density would follow the current direction but an object with low density and floating would more likely follow the direction of the wind. Separation of any two objects will increase proportionally with time whether the current and wind acts in the same direct or moreso when opposed.

Posted by Manowar on December 30, 2014 18:52

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If you approach everyone with the same level of disrespect and contempt, I can see how your own government seems to go to quite some lengths NOT to help you.

Sour grapes.

Posted by Herbert on December 30, 2014 19:00

Editor Comment:

Well of course you're right, Herbert. I can't imagine why anyone would say something like this:
''It never seizes to amaze me how stupid the Phuket officials seem to think the local expat population is.''
Disrespect? Contempt? You're the expert.


Wednesday November 27, 2024
Horizon Karon Beach Resort & Spa

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