UPDATING All Day, Every Day
news.com.au A Qantas plane carrying 266 people has made an emergency landing at Adelaide Airport after smoke was reported in the cargo hold.
bangkokpost.com Two Phuket-based journalists will seek help from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today as prosecutors weigh whether to charge them with defamation for their report implicating the Royal Thai Navy.
news.com.au The longstanding host of The Late Show, David Letterman, will quit next year. The stalwart of American late-night TV, who turns 67 on April 12, has been the host of the show since 1982.
bangkokpost.com The shattered corpse of a three-year-old girl and another unexploded bomb were found at the city site where a World War II bomb killed eight.
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 The Criminal Court ordered the withdrawal of arrest warrants for 18 leaders of the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) and Network of Students and People for the Reform of Thailand (NSPRT), including Suthep Thaugsuban, for violating the emergency decree.
nationmultimedia.com The red shirts may stage a rally that could turn violent if the Constitutional Court rules against the caretaker premier over her unlawful transfer of the security czar, caretaker foreign minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said.
bangkokpost.com The army is preparing to deploy 58 companies of troops if needed to counter protest threats in coming days. The weekend United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) protest site on Utthayan Road in Thawi Watthana district is across town from the anti-government venue at Lumpini Park, sparking fears of a confrontation between the rival groups.
ft.com A group of mainly Muslim refugees from western China has become the focus of an international tug-of-war in Thailand as Beijing flexes its diplomatic muscle and western powers warn Bangkok not to send them home. China has stepped up pressure on Thai authorities to repatriate more than 400 Uighur refugees who have been detained as illegal immigrants in Thailand after fleeing the increasingly restive Chinese territory of Xinjiang.
reuters Xinjiang is home to the Uighur Muslim minority, who have long complained about what they say are Chinese restrictions on their culture and religion. Relations between Uighurs and ethnic Han Chinese are increasingly tense.
elevenmyanmar.com Myanmar workers in Thailand are face difficulties renewing their visas to remain in the country legally, according to embassy officials. One-stop service centres for migrant workers are being undermined by employers and agents who charge huge fees to renew workers' papers and keep them dependant.
Latest on Lost Flight MH370
bbc.com Malaysia will not give up on the search for missing flight MH370, its prime minister said as he visited the search hub in Perth. Prime Minister Najib Razak's comments came at a joint news conference with Australian leader Tony Abbott.
usatoday.com Investigators are checking on the provider of the food delivered to the plane before takeoff to eliminate the possibility that it had been poisoned, and are looking into the cargo loaded onto the jet.
Phuket World of People
Phuket Update The Kardashian celebrity tv klan have flown from Phuket after spending six days at the Iniala Resort on a beach in Phang Nga, the province north of the Thai holiday island.
hellomagazine.com Situated on the beautiful golden sands of Natai beach facing the turquoise waters of the Andaman Sea and offering all guests their own personal driver, butler, chef, spa therapist and housekeeper for the duration of their stay, this luxurious beach house resort has us planning our next Asia-bound holiday.
bangkokpost.com Mobile phones are the number one item that Asian travellers take with them when they go on holiday, according to the latest survey by Agoda.com.
couriermail.com.au Keep your passport safe! That's the message from travel safety specialist Phil Sylvester. It's the standard procedure in places such as Thailand for tourists to be asked to provide their passport as a surety when hiring a motorbike - and this practice recently made the news when one of the passports used by a passenger on the missing MH370 flight was found to have been traced to one reported stolen by an Italian man who'd left it a motorbike shop in Phuket.
heraldsun.com.au So how best to avoid such a scam without giving up your dream of riding a motorbike around Thailand's islands? Again, it's not actually the passport that's necessary, but the guarantee that you'll return to pick it up (and bring back the bike). Options for getting around this obstacle include offering a substantial cash deposit, handing over your wallet or Australian driver's licence, along with a copy of your passport.
theguardian.com A Chinese tourist and hotel receptionist have been kidnapped by suspected Filipino insurgents in Malaysia, officials say Six men armed with pistols are said to have raided the Singamata Reef resort l before fleeing in a speedboat. A police report said the Chinese victim was a 28-year-old woman from Shanghai, while the receptionist was a 40-year-old woman from the Philippines.
reuters China demanded that Malaysia ensures the safety of its nationals after armed men abducted two women, a Chinese tourist and a Philippine hotel worker, from a Malaysian diving resort on Borneo island.
andrew-drummond.com A British ''bigamy'' inquiry seems to have to come to a close after a misunderstanding by British police over the Thai acceptance of mia nois or mistresses. Peter Leonard, 54, went through a wedding ceremony with his Thai girlfriend Jaija, who had a baby with him and is reported to be expecting twins, but it was not a legal ceremony.
wsj.com Census takers in Burma (Myanmar) aren't collecting data from anyone identifying themselves as Rohingya Muslim, underscoring deep ethnic tensions clouding the country's first census in three decades and prompting condemnation by a UN group.
Phuket Update The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok will hold an Outreach Visit at Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort between Patong and Karon from 8am to noon on April 30.
barrie.ctvnews.ca Ontario's chief medical officer of health Arlene King is warning people to be careful when travelling outside Canada especially to Thailand, the Philippines, or Europe, where the measles virus has been circulating.
telegraph.co.uk British Public Health Minister Jane Ellison has announced that shops will only sell cigarettes in plain packaging in England, calling smoking a "cruel waste of human potential".
metro.co.uk Horse tranquiliser ketamine has been ''successfully'' used at an NHS clinic to treat people with depression. The hallucinogenic party drug - set to be upgraded to a class B drug - is a ''promising treatment,'' psychiatrist Dr Rupert McShane said.
reuters China's foreign ministry expressed anger after a prominent detained Uighur academic won a human rights award in the US, saying that he was a suspected criminal.
traveldailynews.asia Underlining the achievements of Thailand's exhibition industry, TCEB will focus on multiplying success by winning New Shows to host in Thailand, especially those industries that are in demand by Asean including the health and beauty industry (Beyond Beauty Asean 2014, Cosmobeaute 2014 and Cosmex 2014); the transportation and automobile Industry (Automotive Aftermarket Industry and Tuning Trade Fair - AAITF, and Smart Rail Congress & Expo 2014); and other industries (Pulier Asia Pacific 2014, International, Security & Safety Expo & Forum 2014 and Pharmex Asia 2014).
Phuket World Sports Wrap
Sri Lanka bowler Lasith Malinga insists the nation are only focused on Sunday's World Twenty20 final and not who they might face.
skysports.com Sri Lanka secured their place in this year's T20 final courtesy of a 27-run win over reigning champions West Indies and will now meet either India or South Africa.
afp Bahrain tightened security as the three-day Formula One Grand Prix was about to get under way, with the country's Shiite opposition planning protests to seize world attention for pro-reform demands.
Phuket Coming Events 2014
April 6 Chakri Memorial Day
April 7 Substitute holiday for Chakri day
April 10-20 Phuket International Cricket, Republic Ground, Chalong
April 11-19 Phuket Bike Week
April 13-16 Songkran New Year Water Festival
April 20-27 Phuket Pride Week
April 26 Vote for mayor in Patong, alcohol sales banned in election area from 6pm April 25 to midnight April 26
May 24 Visakha Bucha Day
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
