thephuketinsider.com The current Phuket measures need to be applauded and perhaps John Kerry should set his feet on the ground before waging a war of travel advisories which continue to hamper the broad tourism sector.


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 Five Russian gangsters were detained before the recent arrest in Chon Buri's Sattahip district of Alexander Matusov, an alleged Russian mafia gang leader wanted by Interpol in connection with numerous murders, police said.

ap Thailand's military junta will install an interim constitution next month, and elections will be held around October 2015, its leader announced: ''I truly hope that the EU and the US will understand the situation the same way the majority of Thais do and I hope they will be satisfied with our solutions right now.''

nationmultimedia.com General Prayuth Chan-ocha, chief of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), said a provisional charter would be promulgated next month and a new constitution could be announced by August next year: ''You will get a democratically elected government by 2015. Please take it easy. We need some time for reforms. Things should be done by next year.''

bangkokpost.com Media groups urge the junta to clarify what it thinks journalists should and shouldn't report following the establishment of five ''monitoring'' panels.

wsj.com A court in Thailand has given the go-ahead to a regulation requiring packs of cigarettes sold in the Southeast Asian country to be 85 percent covered with graphic health warnings from September.

news.com.au 100 years ago today, the world changed forever. On June 28, 1914, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, in an event that triggered the outbreak of World War I.



bbc.com Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said he will resign from two Fifa posts in protest at the ''excessive severity'' of Luis Suarez's ban. Tabarez said Suarez had been made a ''scapegoat'' following his punishment for a third incident of biting.



telegraph.co.uk British travel documents were cited as among the most powerful in the world, with passport holders in the UK, along with those in Finland and Sweden, able to enter 173 countries either without a visa or with a visa-on-arrival, according to research by movehub.com, a website for people moving abroad.

irrawaddy.org Burma plans to launch an online application system for tourist visas later this year, according to the Ministry of Immigration and Population, which announced that it was opening a tender for the project.

nationmultimedia.com Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra's wealth increased by some Bt33 million while she was in office, according to the anti-graft agency.

pattayamail.com Suicide over financial issues is suspected in the case of older Italian man Antonio Lardo whose body washed ashore in North Pattaya.

news.com.au State-controlled media say a court in southern Vietnam has sentenced Australian citizen Pham Trung Dung to death for possessing more than four kilograms of heroin.

nytimes.com Despite bitter opposition from Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, European Union leaders voted to name Jean-Claude Juncker as the next president of the bloc's powerful bureaucracy, bringing an end to a struggle that had pitted some of the group???s top leaders against each other.

washingtonpost.com Shrugging off Russian threats and a burgeoning civil war, Ukraine signed a landmark trade deal binding it to the European Union, a monumental step that came in defiance of months of Kremlin efforts to prevent the country from turning westward.

news.com.au Gordon Stevenson and Peter Fraser, a dual Australian/British citizen, were the first to be married in Australia under British same-sex marriage laws when they tied the knot at the British consulate in Sydney.



reuters The passengers and crew of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 most likely died from suffocation and coasted lifelessly into the ocean on autopilot, said a new report released by Australia's Transport Safety Board.

bbc.com Malaysia is the most obese country in Asia, according to a study by British medical journal, The Lancet.

pinknews.co.uk Organisers of Singapore's annual gay rights rally are to deploy security personnel for the first time, amid fears that increased religious opposition might blight this year's event.

channelnewsasia.com Singapore was named the top International Meeting Country and International Meeting City for 2013 by the Union of International Associations (UIA).



theguardian.com If brilliance can appear routine, Andy Murray managed it on Centre Court at Wimbledon. In a little over an hour and a half of often breathtaking tennis that contained only a handful of flaws, the defending champion advanced to the fourth round by embarrassing the accomplished Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

belfasttelegraph.co.uk Luke Shaw, 18, has become the most expensive teenage footballer in history after he completed his 27million pound move to Manchester United.

sportinglife.com Barbora Zahlavova Strycova caused the sensation of Wimbledon so far by sending second seed Li Na crashing out in the third round.

eurosport.yahoo.com Former champion Lleyton Hewitt drew on every ounce of his Wimbledon experience to battle from two sets down before succumbing 7-5 6-4 6-7(7) 4-6 6-3 in a memorable second-round tussle with big-serving Jerzy Janowicz, 10 years his junior.



July 11 Arsanha Bucha Day

July 16-20 Phuket Race Week yachting, Cape Panwa

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