smh.com.au Filipinos living in areas devastated by the world's strongest storm on record last year have begun panic buying as another powerful storm bears down on the central Philippine islands.

smh.com.au Christmas has arrived early for hundreds of travellers after Singapore Airlines business-class tickets were mistakenly sold for flights to destinations in Europe for as much as half their actual price. The mistake has led to a dispute between the airline and travel agents around Australia over who should foot the bill.


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



euronews.com Sweden is to hold its first snap election in over half a century after the new minority centre-left government's first budget was defeated in parliament. It comes after the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats sided with the centre-right opposition.

cityam.com Merlin Entertainments warned that its two attractions in Bangkok were still suffering from poor trading after months of political unrest and a military coup in Thailand. The amusement park operator said that while the rest of its Midway portfolio performed well, its Siam Ocean World and Madame Tussauds in Bangkok showed ''little sign of improvement'' and continued to drag on growth.



nationmultimedia.com The National Anti-Corruption Commission is satisfied with the latest Corruption Perceptions Index of 175 nations. Thailand jumped to 85th place from 102nd. The NACC believes Thailand could improve to 50th in 2017.



afp Thai prosecutors say two Myanmar men will stand trial for the brutal killing of a pair of British holidaymakers on a tourist resort after finally accepting murder charges against them.



thephuketnews.com A newly constructed SuperCheap store near Phuket International Airport may be torn down if it is found the building violates building regulations following complaints by a local resident. Meanwhile, aged buildings along Yaowarat Road in Old Phuket Town are at risk of collapse after renovation to one caused cracks in others.

dailymail.co.uk Boris Johnson has been caught up in a dramatic mid-air scuffle as an abusive passenger had to be restrained at 35,000 feet while on a flight from Kuala Lumpur. The Mayor of London, who was on the flight, joined efforts to restrain the man who was described as ''off his head'' by one of Mr Johnson's delegation.

nationmultimedia.com This year only three Thai higher-education institutes have made it to the list of top 100 universities in emerging economies, down from five last year. Those still on the prestigious list are King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Mahidol University (MU) and Chulalongkorn University (CU), ranked 49, 63, and 90. Their rankings have slipped from 29, 52 and 85 last year.

thejakartapost.com As many as 11 foreigners have drowned in Bali from January to October this year, an official said. He said the victims were from Australia, Malaysia, India, China, the Netherlands and Germany. [Officials on Phuket are more reticent about revealing the number of tourists who drown.]

cnn.com This year is on track to be one of the hottest, if not the hottest, year on record, a UN agency reported, citing preliminary estimates.

ibtimes.co.uk A former Boeing 777 pilot has claimed missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 could have only veered off course due to sabotage. Writing in Australia's Daily Telegraph, Byron Bailey made the explosive remarks in response to new information that the plane's search had moved further south, based on new drift modelling by Australia.

bangkokpost.com A video clip showing a nine-year old Thai girl driving a car to school posted on a Facebook page has drawn widespread criticism of the parents.

mirror.co.uk Bill Cosby has broken his silence to thank Whoopi Goldberg and singer Jill Scott. The two women have appeared to defend Cosby amid the ongoing sexual abuse allegations against him.

wsj.com To feed its growing hunger for fuel, Thailand is close to completing one of Southeast Asia's largest coal-fired power plants. The location? Just over the border in neighboring Laos. The $3.7 billion project can supply power for two million households in Thailand. But heavy resistance to toxic emissions from burning coal, the dirtiest of all fossil fuels, has prompted power companies there to turn to Laos where standards and opposition are weaker.

livemint.com The globalisation of the car industry also means the globalisation of auto safety problems. And unlike the US, with its network of federal and state safety agencies, recall notices and lawyers willing to pursue cases against manufacturers, drivers are at risk in Asian countries where auto safety regulations lag and authorities wash their hands of any duty to alert drivers of potentially lethal defects.

scmp.com Cathay Pacific's pilot's union has decided to press ahead with work-to-rule action today over a long-standing pay dispute.

dw.de The premiers of Thailand and Malaysia have discussed prospects for resuming talks to end a bloody insurgency in southern Thailand. But analyst Zachary Abuza tells DW the move is unlikely to lead to peace anytime soon.

news.com.au A year ago, a grieving mother set up a Facebook page asking people to scatter her son's ashes around the world. Thanks to the kindness of strangers, CJ Twomey's ashes have been taken to more than 100 countries - and even to outer space.



irrawaddy.org An annual global survey by watchdog Transparency International said Burma remains one of the worst countries in Southeast Asia for public sector graft and ranked it as the 19th most corrupt country in the world. The Berlin-based organisation put Burma 156 out of 174 countries.

todayonline.com Singapore has dropped two places to seventh in this year's edition of the Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International.

freemalaysiatoday.com It is deeply disappointing that the Corruption Perception Index for Malaysia registered only minimal improvement in 2014, as announced by the Transparency International. The ranking is still low at 50 out of 175.

kyodo The index ranks Cambodia 156 out of 175 countries this year, up from a 160 ranking last year.

cnbc.com While lower oil prices are set to give many of Asia's economies a fillip, Malaysia could face serious headwinds due to its heavy reliance on state-owned oil company Petronas.



skysports.com Chelsea maintained their perfect Premier League record at Stamford Bridge this season with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

telegraph.co.uk This was the night Manchester City banished talk of Sunderland being their bogey team and sent a powerful message to Chelsea that they are not going to let them out of their sight at the top of the table. Sunderland 1-4 Man City.

theguardian.com Southampton's luck was out when Alderweireld signalled that he could not continue. How Arsenal made him and his team pay. Arsenal 1-0 Southampton.

sports.inquirer.net Expect an attack-minded Thailand side to show up against the Philippines in the first leg of their AFF Suzuki Cup semifinal clash on Saturday at Rizal Memorial Stadium. The War Elephants, who will host the second leg in Bangkok on Wednesday, vowed not to pull their punches.



Until December 6 King's Cup Regatta

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



February 13-15 Phuket Yacht Show