bangkokpost.com A 66-year-old American yachtsman living in Phuket died on his boat Tuesday from an apparent heart attack. A maid reportedly called a Phuket International Hospital ambulance to bring the American from his boat at the Yacht Haven Marina in Mai Khao.

afp Thai journalist Mutita Chuachang has won the 2015 Agence France-Presse Kate Webb Prize for her powerful and persistent reporting of royal defamation cases that have multiplied under the country's military rulers. Mutita, 33, was recognised for her dogged efforts to record cases of alleged lese majeste for the online newspaper Prachatai.

bangkokpost.com Cabinet approves two new government holidays in mid-2016 to allow two long holiday weekends in the expectation it will boost domestic tourism.


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 The World Bank and the SCB Economic Intelligence Center (EIC) have jumped on the forecast-cutting bandwagon for this year and next, fanning fears that there is no light at the end of tunnel for the Thai economy.

ft.com The absence of a short-term nosedive for tourism saves the underachieving Thai economy from even worse performance. GDP expanded just 2.8 percent year-on-year in the first half, far behind the 4 to 5 percent growth posted by Thailand's Asean peers.

todayonline.com Two people were killed in a speedboat crash caused by poor visibility in the Indonesian province of Jambi, which has been enveloped in thick haze for months. Skipper Daenk Manggata, 45, said he was unable to see well when docking the vessel amid thick haze sending the speedboat into a column before it capsized with 18 on board.



bbc.com The two suspects in custody have yet to be charged. When they are, they face trial in a military court, which human rights groups have warned would not be equipped to judge a complex case like this.



bangkokpost.com The latest visitor-catering proposal by Minister Kobkarn is for students from 3,000 schools to use their new ''off'' time to train as tourist guides.

bangkokpost.com Smoky haze from Indonesian forest fires clouded the skies of southern Thailand Monday, reaching unhealthful levels in Songkhla, Yala and Pattani provinces. Haze also covered Narathiwat, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phuket, Satun and Surat Thani provinces but levels there did not breach the hazardous threshold.

Krabi Update A Thai man from Phuket shared his anger on Facebook after he was forced to pay the ridiculously inflated tourist fee to enter the popular Emerald Pool at Krabi because of his skin color. Grittapohn Chattreesagoon wrote that he was asked to pay the tourist entrance fee of 200 baht at the Emerald Pool and unable to persuade officials he was a Thai.

Phuket Update A beach business owner has filed a law suit against Cherng Talay Mayor Ma-ann Samran alleging dereliction of duty. Kanokpon ''Tony'' Somrak, owner of Tony Restaurant, which was saved from demolition after Interior Ministry intervention from Bangkok., brought the action against Khun Ma-ann last month.

reuters The United States and NATO denounced Russia for violating Turkish airspace and Ankara threatened to respond, reporting two incursions in two days and raising the prospect of direct confrontation between the former Cold War adversaries.

reuters A pilot fell ill and died on an American Airlines flight headed to Boston from Phoenix on Monday and the copilot landed the plane safely in Syracuse, New York, airline and police officials said.

afp Officials negotiating an ambitious Pacific trade pact could announce a deal ''in principle'' after days of grueling talks, Japan's Economy Minister Akira Amari said in Atlanta.

news.sky.com Asylum seekers being held in a controversial centre in the South Pacific are to be allowed to roam free, effectively ending their detention. All 600 people at the centre on Nauru will be allowed to move around the tiny island nation, it has been announced.

bbc.com All people who try to get to Australia by boat as refugees are detained in offshore centres like Nauru.

theguardian.com German authorities expect up to 1.5 million asylum seekers to arrive in Germany this year, the Bild daily said in a report, up from a previous estimate of 800,000 to 1 million.

independent.co.uk A mob of airline workers has attacked two senior Air France executives and tore off their shirts during talks on job cuts at the company's headquarters near Paris.

aranews.com ISIS militants have reportedly blown up the Arch of Triumph in the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria: ''Palmyra symbolises everything that extremists abhor; cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue, the encounter of different peoples in this centre of trading between Europe and Asia.''



afp A coalition of Muslim groups has filed suit in New York against Myanmar President Thein Sein and other government officials for alleged crimes against the Rohingya minority, which they say amount to genocide.



October 15-23 Phuket Vegetarian Festival

November Patong Festival

November 20 Laguna Phuket Triathlon

November 25 Loy Kratong festival

November 29 Challenge Laguna Phuket 2015

November 29 Phuket King's Cup Regatta

December 5 HM The King's Birthday

December 26 Tsunami memorial ceremonies




January 7-10 Phuket International Boat Show