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
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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