Phuket Update Phuket is one of 14 provinces in the South, East and central region where Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation officials are warning of heavy rain producing floods and landslips.

bangkokpost.com A 61-year-old Hungarian woman was killed and 22 other foreign passengers injured when a tourist boat they were travelling on was hit by a boat in the Mae Klong River near a popular floating market in Samut Songkhram's Amphawa district on Friday night.


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 Anti-graft authorities are expanding investigation into the 29.93bn baht scheme to build local stadiums nationwide as an initial probe revealed poor construction and inflated prices.

nationmultimedia.com PM Prayuth Chan-o-cha is being greeted in New York with a mixture of support and protest at the start of his mission to attend the UN General Assembly and related events, which run until the end of the month.

bangkokpost.com Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has ordered tigher security in the Far South after the US and Australia warned of a possible terrorist attack on a Kuala Lumpur market.



bbc.com Thai police say a man they arrested over a deadly bombing at Bangkok's Erawan shrine is indeed the bomber, contradicting earlier statements. A police spokesman said the man - earlier named as Adem Karadag - was the figure in a yellow shirt seen on CCTV leaving a bag at the shrine.

cnn.com A man who has been in police custody in Thailand since August 29 has been identified as the primary suspect in a bombing that killed 20 people at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine, Thai police said. After the man admitted he was the suspect seen in video in a yellow shirt, he confessed to the bombing, Thailand national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri told reporters.



worldbulletin.net Thailand is to send 29 Muslim Rohingya ''refugees'' to the US as part of a resettlement plan, an official confirmed. The Rohingya were either rescued from people trafficking camps, or arrived on Thai shores in the aftermath of May's regional clampdown on people smuggling.

theage.com.au When the young Rohingya men of his village were targeted for assassination, his family urged him to flee to Bangladesh but that border was closed. So he took four dangerous boats trips before arriving at Christmas Island just four days after [former Australian PM] Kevin Rudd announced that future arrivals would be resettled in PNG, a country he had no idea existed.



gmanetwork.com Former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes and his brother former Coron Mayor Mario Reyes were living it up at a villa in Phuket, Thailand for years before they were arrested by authorities and extradited to the Philipines. Joel Reyes was going by the name ''Johnny.'' Mario Reyes was using the name ''Nicky.'' The pair are accused of masterminding a murder.

philstar.com Joel and Mario Reyes lived liked tourists in Rawai, on the southern tip of Phuket, Thailand, police said. When confronted by the Thai police, Mario made the mistake of showing his old Philippine passport while Joel showed a medical record in the name of ''Johnny Leong.''

nationmultimedia.com Hotels on Phuket have witnessed a slowdown in revenue and profits because of a reduction in tourists from Europe and Russia, who are regarded as high-spending. Chinese tourists tend to spend less, dragging down the profitability of small and medium-sized hotels on Phuket, which affects their ability to repay debts, said Sutharntip Phisitbuntoon, senior executive vice president of Land and Houses Bank.

reuters Lawyers for two Myanmar migrant workers accused of killing two British tourists in Thailand were granted more time to organise their defence, which could put back a verdict that had been expected next month, one of the lawyers said.

PA A lawyer for two Burmese migrant workers accused of murdering two British tourists in Thailand has claimed that official questioning of the suspects was flawed and unprofessional.

reuters Pope Francis condemned the craving for material gains and power, warning an annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations that greed is destroying the Earth's resources and aggravating poverty.

independent.co.uk After addressing world leaders at the UN and praying with victims at the 9/11 memorial, the pope paid a visit to poverty stricken areas in the city.

scmp.com The leaders of China and the US agreed to take new steps to address cyberspying, vowing that neither country's government would conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property.

theguardian.com Reverberations from the hajj disaster that killed at least 717 pilgrims in Mecca were felt across the Middle East and beyond as Iran blamed its rival Saudi Arabia for fatally mismanaging the most important event in the Muslim calendar. Pilgrims from Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, Senegal and Mali were reported to be among the dead and an estimated 850 who were injured during the symbolic stoning of the devil at Mina.

thephuketinsider.com US-based economy hotel brand Red Roof Inns has entered into an agreement with Bangkok's Paragon Hotels to expand the brand across Asia.

bbc.com One of two tourists who have died while kayaking on a lake in New Zealand's South Island was British, the Foreign Office (FCO) has confirmed. The pair were killed after being hit by strong winds that tipped them into the cold water. Nine others were rescued.

theage.com.au Australia's new Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, says one of the most important qualities for a leader is to possess ''emotional intelligence and the empathy and the imagination that enables you to walk in somebody else's shoes''. But he added: ''People who come via the people-smuggling route will never settle in Australia.''

smh.com.au The Egyptian government says it will grant the Australian Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste a full pardon, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has said after an informal meeting with the Egyptian delegation at the United Nations in New York.

express.co.uk A meerkat keeper has been found guilty of assaulting a monkey keeper in a vicious brawl at London Zoo's Christmas party which saw the two love rivals fight over the llama keeper.



cnn.com Singapore ordered the emergency closure of its primary and secondary schools as smoke from fires burning in Indonesia caused air pollution in the city to reach hazardous levels.



bbc.com Swiss prosecutors say they are investigating Sepp Blatter, the head of football's world governing body Fifa, on suspicion of criminal mismanagement. The attorney general's office said he was suspected of signing a contract that was ''unfavourable to Fifa'' and making a ''disloyal payment'' to European football chief Michel Platini.



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