zeenews.india.com Hours after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinwatra was ordered to step down by a court for abuse of power, a new caretaker PM was appointed. He is former Deputy PM and Minister of Commerce Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan.

bangkokpost.com Lese majeste fugitive Wutthipong ''Ko Tee'' Kochthammakhun - the hard-core Pathum Thani red shirt - has called on his ''red guard army'' and red shirts to wage an underground war against opposition groups.

Thailand Update The Auditor General's office has asked Ms Yingluck to explain why she went ahead with a risky national poll on February 2 that produced no result and cost Thailand 3.8 billion baht.

Thailand Update Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and nine members of Cabinet were removed from office today by Thailand's Constitutional Court.

reuters Yingluck's removal is likely to bring her supporters into the streets in protest.

nytimes.com The court's decision, which highlights its overtly political role, was the coup de grace in a six-month campaign to remove Ms Yingluck from power. It throws into question elections announced for July 20, which the governing party were likely to win because of their strong support in northern provinces.


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 Yingluck Shinawatra has been prime minister for exactly 1000 days, but within hours, she faces a Constitutional Court ruling on the Thawil Pliensri case that could immediately end her term in office.

wsj.com Thailand's Constitutional Court will rule Wednesday whether Thai Prime Minister Yingluck abused her power when she dismissed the national security chief, in a verdict that could plunge the country into further political chaos.

reuters Thailand's Constitutional Court is almost certain to rule against PM Yingluck on abuse of power charges, forcing her from office and raising the possibility of fresh mass protests by her supporters.

bloomberg The court in Bangkok will probably deliver its verdict after 12:00 local time today. The impact of a decision to oust Yingluck ''will depend on how fast and with what sort of regime she is replaced,'' said Michael Montesano, a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

bangkokpost.com At the Constitutional Court, Ms Yingluck was adamant. ''I didn't violate any laws, and I didn't receive any benefit from the appointment,'' a composed prime minister told the judges. The court could also extend its verdict to cabinet members who endorsed the decision to remove Mr Thawil Pliensri.

scmp.com A 49-year-old man in Sichuan has died of H5N6 bird flu in the first known human infection of the strain in the world. The man from Nanchong, Nanbu county, had been in contact with dead poultry that had the disease.



gulfnews.com The Malaysian government will not support its troubled national carrier, Malaysia Airlines, with a capital injection, a senior government minister has said two months after flight MH370 went missing.



Phuket Update The Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission is reported to be investigating the case of Australians John Cohen and Mark Shea, who attempted to shoot a Danish man last year in Patong's Soi Sansabai but wounded two German tourists instead. The two men were given suspended sentences for carrying a weapon and were back on the streets of Phuket with months of the shooting.

theage.com.au Cathay Pacific flight attendants want the Hong Kong airline to redesign their uniforms because they are too revealing and may provoke sexual harassment, a union said. Female cabin crew members say the white blouses are too short and the red skirts too tight, leaving them uncomfortable at work, according to the Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union (FAU).

sail-world.com After a 55ft yacht hit a mysterious submerged object last month and confirmed its position as 7'45''58.38'N, 98'19''53.58'E, sailors navigating around the south of Phuket are urged to exercise caution in the waters between Rawai Beach and Koh Bon.

bangkokpost.com It was business as usual at most tourism spots in Chiang Rai but the 6.3-magnitude earthquake and hundreds of aftershocks in several northern provinces on Monday night have left locals in shock.

thephuketinsider.com Phuket's first luxury hotel, The Royal Phuket Yacht Club in Nai Harn, will close on May 31 for a substantial upgrade. It's expected the property will reopen in time for high season 2015.

smh.com.au Sharia police in the Indonesian province of Aceh will publicly flog a young woman for adultery after she was turned in by eight vigilantes who had already gang-raped her as punishment. The eight, who included a 13-year-old boy, tied up and beat the 25-year-old widow's partner and repeatedly raped the woman before dousing both in raw sewage. The rapists are facing investigation and conviction by the ordinary criminal courts.

nationmultimedia.com After keeping Thailand on its Priority Watch List for intellectual-property violations for six consecutive years, the United States will soon send a team to help Thailand improve protection of intellectual-property rights. The Intellectual Property Department recently destroyed more than 1.7 million illegal items worth almost Bt2 billion in Bangkok and Phuket.

traveldailynews.com Best out of the way beaches. 1. Banana Beach - Phuket, Thailand. Locals know it as Haad Hin Gluai, or Banana Rock Beach, for the shape of a rock formation jutting out of the sea on the bay's south end. While savvy tourists know it for being one of Phuket's last secret beaches and a peaceful escape from the city's tourist hustle. Found on a tiny bay, the beach is reached only by long tail boat or a jungle path. Although it may be a little tricky to get to, it promises tranquillity and beauty with its crystal clear waters.



afp Flights were disrupted at Melbourne Airport after an engine failure on a Vietnam Airlines plane left debris on the runway, officials and reports said.

voanews.com The third attack at a train station in China in a little more than two months is sparking fears of terrorism. The midday stabbing attack left six people injured at a train station the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

buzzfeed.com Goldman Sachs' recruitment of LGBT students in Singapore has attracted the ire of the country's conservative government in the latest collision between increasingly pro-LGBT global business norms and conservative local governments.

bbc.co.uk Ex-BBC presenter Stuart Hall has admitted indecently assaulting a girl under 16 but denies 20 further charges. Mr Hall, 84, is to go on trial accused of 15 rapes and five indecent assault offences against two young girls more than two decades ago.

ft.com People from ethnic minority backgrounds could potentially double in numbers to up to 30 percent of Britain's population by the middle of the century, according to a new study.

phnompenhpost.com In Save the Children's '2014 State of the World's Mothers' report, Singapore has again been ranked 15th out of 178 countries, ahead of Japan, New Zealand, the UK and the US. Children in Thailand (ranked 72nd) are now 40 per cent less likely to die before their fifth birthday than they were 15 years ago.

voanews.com US intelligence officials will head to Nigeria to help with the search for 276 schoolgirls abducted last month by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, Secretary of State John Kerry announced.

cnn.com Excessive cargo, and a failure to bind it properly, contributed to last month's sinking of the South Korean ferry Sewol, the joint police and prosecuting team said.

abcnews.go.com A Chinese fish farm manager in eastern Malaysia was kidnapped by gunmen and believed taken to the southern Philippines, where suspected insurgents are holding another Chinese and a Filipino also seized from Malaysia.

smh.com.au ABC staff across Australia have been warned to prepare for painful budget cuts, job losses and the ''tragedy'' of the government scrapping the Australia Network international broadcasting service. [Australia Network is carried throughout Asia and the Pacific.]

andrew-drummond.com Journalist and film-maker David Walker whose body was found last week outside the Gate of Death at Angkor Thom died of a heart attack, the Cambodia Daily is reporting.



theage.com.au Roger Federer announced on Tuesday that has wife Mirka had given birth to the couple's second set of twins, this time boys named Leo and Lenny.



May 13 Visakha Bucha Day

May 14 Bangkok street protesters' ''final battle''

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