reuters Thailand's military government said it had begun an overhaul of the electoral system following an announcement by junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha that polls could take place by late 2015.

smh.com.au Hijackers may have tampered with vital cockpit equipment on the missing Malaysia Airlines jet mid-journey in a bid to avoid radar detection. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has released a report detailing evidence of a ''not common'' power outage occurring on the plane less than 90 minutes after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur.

Phuket Update Phuket FC suffered a 3-2 defeat away to Pattaya United, the third loss in a row. The loss led the island team to slip to 10th on the Division One ladder.

bangkokpost.com Total passenger traffic through AoT-operated airports including Suvarnabhumi, Don Muang, Phuket and Chiang Mai in fiscal 2013 grew 20.4 percent. But AoT expects to record only 2-3 percent growth in fiscal 2014.

ft.com Facebook has angered users after it emerged that a psychology experiment was conducted on hundreds of thousands of the social network's members without their awareness or consent in 2012.


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



time.com The extremist Sunni group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) declared a new Caliphate - or an Islamic state to claim dominion over Muslims across the globe - on the territory it holds in the two countries.

bangkokpost.com Montara sees many small islands in the Andaman Sea off Phuket, Krabi and Trang as suitable for developing boutique hotels. In the next few months, Montara will open another luxury boutique hotel under the Trisara brand in a southern beach destination. The occupancy rate for the Trisara and the Boathouse Resort in Phuket will be at least 70 percent this year, up 10 percent.

nationmultimedia.com Weapons confiscated over the past month include 144 rifles, 258 shotguns, 2490 pistols, 23 M79 grenade launchers, 9 RPG launchers, 330 hand grenades, 134 items of TNT explosive material and more than 50,000 types of ammunition. The junta has already linked the war weapons to fugitive Jakrapob Penkair, a former spokesman for the Thaksin Shinawatra government.

bangkokpost.com Two Algerians were arrested on charges of breaking into resorts and bungalows across Samui and stealing money and valuables. Carrop Lacher, 43, and Cherouana Hicham, 33, had a screw driver, keys belonging to different bungalows, 15,000 euros (about 660,000 baht), 5000 baht in cash and a laptop computer when stopped at a checkpoint.

nationmultimedia.com The US embassy in Bangkok has not extended an invitation to any key member of the junta to attend its Independence Day celebration this week.



skysports.com Costa Rica booked a World Cup quarter-final date with Holland as they held on with 10 men to see off Greece 5-3 on penalties.

smh.com.au The Netherlands scored twice in the dying minutes through Wesley Sneijder and a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar penalty to move into the quarter-finals of the World Cup with a 2-1 win over Mexico.

Tonight's World Cup Games
France v Nigeria; Germany v Algeria



stickmanweekly.com Quote of the week comes from Steve Rosse, ''The expatriates who live on Phuket have way too much free time, and nothing to talk about except each other.''

bangkokpost.com Pattaya police missed a chance to capture alleged Russian mafia kingpin Alexander Matusov more than a year ago, when the high-profile fugitive filed a robbery complaint against a transgender prostitute. Mr Matusov, arrested on multiple murder charges, went to police in December 2012 after being drugged and robbed of what he claimed was more than 1.5 million baht by the prostitute he picked up on Jomtien beach.

PA Police in southern India have detained five construction company officials as rescuers using gas cutters and shovels searched for dozens of workers believed buried in the rubble of a building that collapsed during monsoon rains. It was one of two weekend building collapses that killed at least 22 people.

pti To check radicalisation, mosques across Britain have joined hands to call on young Muslims citizens to stay away from the civil war in Syria. Imams involved in the nationwide anti-terror campaign are instead encouraging donations to Syrian cause through legitimate charities.

abc.net.au With reports that police want to interview Rupert Murdoch in the wake of phone-hacking trials, the ABC's Four Corners program can reveal that British police began actively pursuing corporate charges against his UK company and its directors two years ago.

reuters Chinese police have accused Britain's biggest drugmaker of transferring as much as 3 billion yuan (282.94 million pounds) through travel agencies to bribe doctors and officials. GlaxoSmithKline has confirmed the existence an intimate video recording of its former China head Mark Reilly, who is separated from his wife, with his Chinese girlfriend.

stickmanweekly.com For me, the most annoying local trait adopted by foreigners in Thailand who go native is poor timekeeping. The concept of Thai time is not universally Thai at all - many Thais are aghast at the concept. When one Westerner meeting another Westerner says ''Thai time'' when they are late, run. They've gone totally native!



smh.com.au The Australian government will question Brunei over its new criminal law regime - punishments include amputation for theft and stoning to death for adultery or homosexuality - before deciding whether to proceed with trade negotiations with the tiny oil-rich Sultanate. Amnesty International said Brunei's ''shocking new penal code will take the country back to the Dark Ages when it comes to human rights''.

news.com.au Malaysia Airlines only twice attempted to make phone contact with its unresponsive airliner over six hours as it flew to its doom, causing vital clues to its final location to be lost and painting a woeful picture of air safety in the region.

freemalaysiatoday.com Former Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat has warned that a standoff between the ailing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and its employees' unions will only hasten the airline's downfall.

reuters Indonesia has for the first time surpassed Brazil in clearing tropical forests and losses are accelerating despite a 2011 moratorium meant to protect wildlife and combat climate change, scientists said.

afp Muslims in much of Asia began celebrating the holy month of Ramadan on Sunday, but in Indonesia even threats by hardliners to raid ''sinful'' bars could not stop football fans heading to nightspots to watch the World Cup.



news.com.au Australian rugby star Todd Carney has been sacked from his $650,000 a year contract after a shocking lewd picture went viral, allegedly showing Carney urinating into his own mouth, an act also known as ''bubbling.''



July 11 Arsanha Bucha Day

July 16-20 Phuket Race Week yachting, Cape Panwa

August 12 Queen's Birthday

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