bangkokpost.com The army has vowed not to spare any soldiers if they are found to have been involved in the abduction and extortion of a Ukrainian couple on Phuket.

AP A gunman who announced online that he was planning to shoot two ''pigs'' in retaliation for the police chokehold death of Eric Garner ambushed two officers in a patrol car and shot them to death in broad daylight before running to a subway station and killing himself, authorities said.


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 Thailand took a sweet loss in the second leg of the AFF Suzuki Cup final in Kuala Lumpur as their two away goals were enough to lift the trophy for the first time since 2002.

smh.com.au The tales of Sydney hostages in the Lindt cafe are chilling.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-siege-how-the-hostage-drama-played-out-20141220-12b1km.html

bangkokpost.com A former British athlete working as a language teacher in Trang province has died of suspected leptospirosis, a water-borne rat urine disease, after falling ill for just 10 days.



worldbulletin.net Eight Arakan Muslims (Rohingya) from Northern Maungdaw Township in Arakan State were sentenced to two years for refusing to participate in a census conducted by Myanmar (Burma) Border Guard Police, Rohingya Blogger reported. Myanmar's national government gave around a million members of the persecuted Arakan Muslims a bleak choice: accept ethnic reclassification and the prospect of citizenship, or be detained.



nationalpost.com An armed man walked up to two New York Police Department officers sitting inside a patrol car and opened fire, killing one and critically injuring a second before running into a nearby subway station and committing suicide.

news.com.au Two Australian brothers could face four years jail in Bali for being accused of glassing a local restaurater after urinating in front of him while on a drunken night out. Tim and Scott O'Hehir of Perth are in police custody after they allegedly attacked Wayan Mudipa, who owns the Apa Kabar Restaurant in North Kuta.
http://www.news.com.au/world/asia/australian-brothers-scott-and-tim-ohehir-accused-of-bali-glassing/story-fnh81fz8-1227163103387

bangkokpost.com A Swedish man fell to his death from a building on Sukhumvit Road in the early hours on Saturday. A Briton who owned the condo unit where Jen Viktor Bengtsson, 24, had stayed said the Swedish man had been agitated all day.

reuters North Korea said US accusations that it was involved in a cyber attack on Sony Pictures were ''groundless slander'' and that it was wanted a joint investigation into the incident with the United States.

dw.de The US has reasserted its claim that North Korea was responsible for hacking attacks on the movie studio Sony Pictures. The remarks came in response to Pyongyang's call for a joint probe.

washingtonpost.com With shouts of ''Viva Fidel,'' Cuban President Raul Castro said that the easing of tensions with the US did not mean he was abandoning the communist ideals that his brother brought to the island nation a half century ago.

euronews.com Tensions between Israel and the Palestinian territories are expected to heighten after Israeli aircraft bombed a site in the Khan Younis area of the southern Gaza Strip.The target is believed to have been a Hamas base.

watoday.com.au A Jetstar employee labelled on Facebook those complaining about delays ''a bunch of whingers'' and ''nuts freaking about delays''. A Jetstar spokesman said the company was in the process of contacting Emily Capewell. Between 60,000 and 70,000 people had been affected by delays and 15 flight cancellations.

independent.co.uk Australian Muslim funeral directors have vowed not to accept the body of Sydney gunman Man Haron Monis, saying authorities should dump his corpse at sea or ''chuck him in the bloody s***house''.

scmp.com President Xi Jinping has urged Macau to put its gambling house in order by exerting greater control over the casino industry which has turned the city into the world's biggest gaming location.

thephuketinsider.com Given the virtual sinking of the Russian ruble, the impact is expected to hit not only Pattaya but all of Thailand.



smh.com.au A report by Oxfam released to coincide with the anniversary called The Indian Ocean Tsunami 10 Years On says international donations came in at a record rate following the disaster. It estimates a total $13.5 billion was raised worldwide for the relief and recovery effort with $5.5 billion of that - about 40 per cent - from private donors. Australia's generosity was exceptional.

theage.com.au Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, the only woman in Cabinet, now carries another distinction: she is the minister who has presided over the biggest cuts to Australia's foreign aid budget in history, one that reduces Australia's foreign aid to its lowest level since records began in 1954.

theage.com.au Editorial: Could Australia's government find the money for another disaster like the Boxing Day tsunami, which so galvanised the Australian public? Probably. But emergencies that don't have the same care factor may find Australia less generous than ever. The opportunity to build relationships and our reputation will be lost. And, more importantly, so will lives.

thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com Thailand prepares to mark the tenth anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, the deadliest on the record, that killed at least 226,000 people in 13 Asian and African countries. In Thailand, over 5300 people were killed, including several thousand foreign tourists.
http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/multimedia/eyewitness/tenth-anniversary-thailand-tsunami/

themalaysianinsider.com Dilla was just five years old when the Indian Ocean tsunami slammed into her small village near the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province. She and her family survived the waves, but from her refuge on the mosque's second floor she saw something she would never forget - her young school friend, a girl named Nadia, washed away in the deluge.

theguardian.com All along Thailand's Andaman coast, tourism businesses were rebuilt after the tsunami. What's extraordinary about Ban Talae Nok is that the villagers had no tourism experience beforehand, yet they've won medals for ecotourism in the Thailand Tourism Awards.



balidiscovery.com Beritadewata.com reports that Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika told the media that the military and police in Bali had increased their level of readiness in the wake of the Sydney, Australia hostage crisis and the arrest of 12 Indonesians in Malaysia with connections to ISIS.

dvb.no The Burmese government is currently ranked as the eighth most repressive regime for jailing reporters; with ten media workers listed behind bars, it is surpassed only by China, Iran, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Egypt and Syria.

balidiscovery.com Balidiscovery.com projects the final figure on foreign visitors to Bali for 2014 will be close to 3.75 million. Bali is therefore projecting between 4 to 4.25 million foreign visitors in 2015. [Phuket's governor this week quite rightly rejected the figure of 11.9 million tourist visitors to Phuket in 2014 as ''impossible'' and called on the TAT to do proper research to provide an authentic, believable figure.]



theguardian.com Goals from Sergio Ramos and Gareth Bale were enough for Real Madrid to secure the Club World Cup, beating San Lorenzo 2-0 in Marrakesh.

nationmultimedia.com Thailand's 12-year wait for major international silverware came to the end in dramatic fashion when they were crowned the Asean Championship winners after a nerve-jangling 4-3 aggregate win. Last night's result was 3-2 in Malaysia's favor but Thailand had a 2-0 advantage from the first final match on Wednesday.

goal.com Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says he is "very frustrated" and believes his team's 1-1 draw at Aston Villa is the kind of result which can cost a club the Premier League title.

afp Manchester City beat Crystal Palace 3-0 at home to go level on points with Premier League leaders Chelsea.

watoday.com.au Mitch Johnson stepped in with a devastating spell of 3/10 to rip the heart out of India's top order and win the second cricket Test for Australia by four wickets.



The ''Colorful Countdown Phuket 2015'' will usher in the New Year with light shows and live concerts at Sanam Chai Park, across the road from Phuket Provincial Hall, from December 29-31.

December 25 Christmas Day

December 26 10th Anniversary, 2004 Tsunami

December 29-31 Colorful Countdown Phuket 2015 to New Year's Eve



February 12-15 Phuket Yacht Show