foxnews.com Passengers taking international flights to the US now must have their cellphones and other electronic devices pass additional inspection before boarding planes.

bangkokpost.com National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) head Prayuth Chan-ocha's threat to not renew lottery ticket sale contracts to large distributors in an attempt to cap ticket prices at 80 baht is a decisive move, but many doubt its efficacy.

wsj.com Expedia, Inc. announced that it entered into an agreement to acquire Wotif.com Holdings Limited, an Australian-based online travel company, for A$703 million. Wotif holdings include phuket.com and bangkok.com.

heraldsun.com.au Fugitive Aussie Lisa Marie Smith, on the run for 18 years after she fled Thailand while facing drug charges and a possible death sentence, has been tracked down in Ireland, according to British newspaper The Sun.


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 KResearch predicted that more tourists, especially from East Asia, would come to Thailand in the current third quarter, even though it is low season, to benefit from lower prices. European tourists are expected to flock to beach resorts in Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga and Surat Thani in the fourth quarter.

bangkokpost.com The military has decided to change the look of Bangkok motorcycle taxi drivers by giving them free jackets colored green and getting rid of the orange vests that are sold to them at extortionate prices by the taxi mafia.

bbc.com Wild elephants are being held in horrific conditions in Burma by smugglers looking to resume a lucrative trade, a report says. It claims the animals, mainly calves, are being brutally treated as they are ''tamed'' for tourist camps in Thailand. Campaigners TRAFFIC are calling on the Thai government to urgently strengthen laws.

bangkokpost.com The military regime has reacted angrily to a welcome-home party for nationalist Veera Somkhwamkid, saying those who ignored its order not to hold gatherings with political overtones may be summoned.



ibnlive.in.com Indian actor Kunal Kapoor, who was in Thailand, has returned from the country with a black eye and broken tooth which he sustained while trying his hands at a local combat sport Muay Thai.

bangkokpost.com Soldiers saved 1580 turtles and 34 pangolins from being shipped to China where they were destined to be served up as exotic meals. The animals were in plastic boxes hidden under containers filled with fruit in a six-wheel truck being searched at a Chumpon checkpoint.

tourism-review.com Long haul bookings did not suffer as badly to begin with and there is steady progress in Asia Pacific bookings. Estimates for expected arrivals have also been reassessed. The coup was undeniably damaging to Thai tourism but things are perhaps not as bad as first thought as the road to recovery seems reassuringly stable.

Phuket Update The manslaughter trial over the deaths of a British tourist, a French tourist and two Thais in a fire at Patong's Tiger Disco in August 2012 has been scheduled to begin in April 2015.

nationmultimedia.com Aiming to become the first publicly listed spa company in Thailand by the end of this year, Siam Wellness Group has weathered the Kingdom's tourism slowdown and expects to post 20-per-cent revenue growth this year. Only four of its spas are in Bangkok, while the rest are in Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Phuket and Samui.

nytimes.com Israeli police have arrested a group of Israeli suspects in connection with the kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager from East Jerusalem who was found beaten and burned in a Jerusalem forest last week.

afp Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi says he wishes three Aljazeera journalists, including Australian Peter Greste, had not been put on trial, conceding the case has been damaging.

themalaymailonline.com After years of construction, the long-anticipated Cartoon Network Amazone will open July 31 for a soft launch. Located on Thailand's east coast in Bang Saray Bay, 20 minutes from Pattaya City and a two-hour drive from Bangkok, the sprawling water park features 10 themed zones.



channelnewsasia.com A Singapore Airlines (SIA) plane leaving Houston flew too close to another aircraft on Friday, resulting in a near collision. The SIA pilot did not level off when he reached 4000 feet as required, resulting in the aircraft being less than 2000 feet away from a Delta Air Lines plane that was preparing to land.

wsj.com In their final push ahead of Wednesday's presidential vote, Prabowo Subianto, a former army general, and Joko Widodo, governor of the megacity of Jakarta, touted their Islam credentials to the nation with the world's largest Muslim population.

afp Three people died in a well in eastern Cambodia after trying to rescue a dog which had fallen inside, police said.

nytimes.com The Malaysian government said that it would step up efforts to search the southern Indian Ocean for Malaysia Airlines' missing Flight 370, in the latest indication that a broad international effort to find the plane will continue for many months.



theage.com.au Novak Djokovic wobbled and teetered before he courageously found what he needed to beat Roger Federer in five memorable sets, his seventh grand slam title denying Federer a Wimbledon men's record of eight. 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-4.

thetimes.co.uk There may come a moment a few months from now when Lewis Hamilton will allow his mind to drift back to Silverstone and decide that this was the day he rescued the World Championship. The dreams and ambitions were slipping away until victory at the British Grand Prix.

bbc.com Liverpool have agreed a deal with Lille for Belgium striker Divock Origi and are in advanced talks to sign Serbia winger Lazar Markovic from Benfica.



July 11 Arsanha Bucha Day

July 16-20 Phuket Race Week yachting, Cape Panwa

August 11 Special holiday for Queen's Birthday

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