reuters Thailand's Constitutional Court said it will rule in an abuse of power case against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Wednesday, with a guilty verdict likely to force her from office and possibly bring her supporters on to the streets.

nationmultimedia.com PM Yingluck Tuesday told the Constitutional Court that she did not abuse the power of the prime minister in the transfer of National Security Council cief Thawil Pliensri. Yingluck defended herself after Thawil and Senator Paibul Nititawan testified.

nytimes.com Ukrainian security forces and antigovernment rebels clashed on the edges of one rebel-controlled city as the acting president, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, said roadblocks were being set up around Ukraine's capital, Kiev, because of fears of disturbances or violence during an emotionally charged holiday later in the week.


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 People in Chiang Rai's Phan district ran from their homes in panic as ground in the far North shook during a 6.1-magnitude earthquake: ''The earth shook so violently that it felt like the end of world.'' It was believed to be the biggest quake recorded with an epicentre in Thailand.

Thailand Update One death reported turned out to be a hoax by a female student who posed for a photograph falling downstairs. Phuketwan was among outlets initially fooled. However, one real death of a woman was also recorded. Aftershocks followed: three at magnitude 5.9, 10 at magnitude 4 to 4.9, three between 3.20 and 3.9, and more than 20 at less than 3 magnitude.

reuters The US Geological Survey initially said the quake was of 6.3 magnitude but later downgraded it. It was at the relatively shallow depth of 7.4 km.



ft.com Thailand must escape its limbo: The time may have come for Yingluck to quit office. Thailand is one of the few countries in the world where people pour on to the streets in an effort to stop elections from happening - not to demand that they be held.

afp Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej made a rare public appearance to mark the 64th anniversary of his coronation as the political turmoil gripping his kingdom enters a critical phase.

bangkokpost.com Suthep Thaugsuban, secretary-general of the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), led his followers from Lumpini Park to the Sanam Luang grounds where the 64th anniversary of HM The King's coronation was marked.



cnn.com Australian, Malaysian and Chinese officials will meet in Canberra, Australia, on Wednesday to hash out plans for the next stage of the hunt.



scmp.com Etihad Airways, a fast-growing Mideast carrier that flies daily to Phuket, has laid out plans to offer passengers who find first-class seats a bit too tight a miniature suite featuring a closed-off bedroom, private bathroom and a dedicated butler.

independent.co.uk Parts of the vast ice sheet of East Antarctica - which collectively holds enough water to raise global sea levels by 53 metres - could begin an irreversible slide into the sea this century, causing an unstoppable process of global coastal destruction, scientists have warned.

latimes.com Ever notice how global problems and the it's-a-small-world we actually live in sometimes collide? Take, for example, global warming - and my wife's desire to live at the beach.

travelnews.com.au You couldn't blame the Balinese for writing off Australians as obnoxious drunks and druggies with questionable morals. While more than 16,000 Australians a week pour into the island seeking sun and fun, the recent newspaper splash of another Aussie in the clinker dominated the news.

news.com.au An angry text fired off by billionaire James Packer to Channel 9 boss David Gyngell ignited a sensational street brawl between two of Sydney's highest-profile businessmen.

channelnewsasia.com Starting on Tuesday, every household in Singapore will receive free N95 masks in their mailbox - courtesy of a community program by Singapore Power, SingPost, and Temasek Cares, the philanthropic arm of Temasek Holdings. Organisers said 1.2 million kits will be distributed at a cost of $4 million.

huffingtonpost.co.uk Legal experts, academics, and NGOs working in Burma identified key elements of genocide which are taking place there. These included denying Rohingya legal existence and right to nationality; access to medicine, food, and other basic necessities to sustain life; policies of extensive structures of discrimination, and allowing and facilitating hatred and popular violence against the Rohingya. Combined, these threaten to lead to the extermination of Rohingya as an ethnic group in Burma.

elevenmyanmar.com The government has responded to the speech of Vijay Nambiar, UN Secretary General's Special Advisor to Myanmar requesting citizenship rights be granted to Rohingya muslims in Myanmar saying such suggestions were impractical and impossible.



bbc.co.uk Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram has threatened to ''sell'' the 230 schoolgirls it abducted three weeks ago.

ft.com The RMT union called off a three-day Tube strike over cuts to ticket office staff that was due to start on Monday but a much bigger fight is just beginning over plans for driverless trains on the London Underground.

cnn.com The death toll in the South Korean ferry disaster has jumped to 259, with 43 people still missing, the government reported.

nytimes.com The Vatican faced sharp questioning by a United Nations panel in Geneva about whether it had failed to abide by an international treaty against torture in its response to the sexual abuse of children by priests.

bloomberg Eleven people are missing after a container ship collided with a much smaller vessel carrying cement off Hong Kong's Po Toi Islands.

thetimes.co.uk Nine acrobats were seriously injured when a platform collapsed during an aerial hair-hanging act during a circus performance in Providence, Rhode Island.

theregister.co.uk In the early hours of Saturday morning an asteroid whizzed past Earth at what in astronomical terms a very close shave, skimming just 186,000 miles over our planet's surface.

skynews.com.au The Indonesian navy says it has found a group of 20 stranded asylum seekers whose boat was apparently turned back by Australian authorities. The discovery follows Prime Minister Tony Abbott postponing a meeting with Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that was scheduled for Tuesday.

smh.com.au The asylum seeker boat that allegedly deterred Tony Abbott from meeting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono this week has been found in Indonesia after the Australian navy reportedly put three extra people on board then turned it back.

couriermail.com.au Backyard et exhumations are a growing business as more people move house and take their loved but dead animals with them.



dailymail.co.uk Crystal Palace scored three times in the final 11 minutes to somehow secure a point against Liverpool who - despite going back to the top of the Premier League - have seen their tilt towards the title effectively ended.

independent.co.uk Luis Suarez was in tears at the end of the game, his head buried in his shirt as he left the pitch. This is what it feels like to throw away the first chance of a title in 24 years.

belfasttelegraph.co.uk Liverpool forward Luis Suarez has been voted the 2014 Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers' Association.

theguardian.comThe former British No1 Elena Baltacha died of liver cancer early on Sunday morning. She was 30.

afp The city of Madrid declared world number one Rafael Nadal as its adopted son on Monday in honor of his trophy-laden tennis career.



May 13 Visakha Bucha Day

May 14 Bangkok street protesters' ''final battle''

July 11 Arsanha Bucha Day

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