bangkokpost.com Phuket's tourism sector is predicting a truly happy new year with hotel occupancy expected to reach the 90 percent mark.

Twitter Samui court finds Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo guilty and sentences to death. Defense will appeal.

theguardian.com After an extended trial on the neighboring island of Samui, bar workers Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, both 22, were found guilty of the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge and the murder of David Miller.


PHUKET: The daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. Phuketwan closes on December 31.



bangkokpost.com Academic activists say the military is using harsh search-and-destroy tactics to keep material off the internet and out of the reach of Thai citizens.

nationmultimedia.com A key defence lawyer in the high-profile Koh Tao double-murder case expects good news for the two suspects, both Myanmar nationals, when the Samui court delivers its verdict this morning.

bangkokpost.com Upper and middle income people need to come out and vote if they want to stop parties pitching populist policies to the poor from regaining office, says Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha.



straitstimes.com The largest human-trafficking trial in Thai history will begin today, with more than 88 defendants who were implicated after the discovery of mass graves of migrants in camps by the Thai-Malaysian border. There are fears that the case may eventually collapse because key police investigator Paween Pongsirin is seeking asylum in Australia and unlikely to return to testify.

bangkokpost.com After a two-day investigation, police say Pol Maj Gen Paween lied when he told the Australian ABC about death threats by human traffickers.



Phuket Update Briton Paul Henry Fortuna, 30, has told Phuket police that Elizabeth Corrigan, 29, felt sick, moved to the entry of a tuk-tuk then slipped and fell to her death in Kamala about 3.30am on Sunday after a night out in Patong: '' Mr Fortuna said he reached out to grab her, but missed.'' An inquest will follow in Britain.

nationmultimedia.com The Land Transport Department cancelled bus driver Somporn Bualuang's driving licence and suspended his boss's tour bus licence following the deadly accident in Chiang Mai's Doi Saket district on Sunday that killed 14 people.

bangkokpost.com Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has filed a lawsuit with the Central Administrative Court against the state's revocation of his two regular Thai passports.

sundaytimes.lk SriLankan Airlines says it ''acted swiftly'' to arrange a new flight - among other measures - after the Bangkok-Colombo UL883 flight was cancelled when a baggage loader damaged an aircraft engine cowling on the ground at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.

telegraph.co.uk French anti-terror police have detained a woman found with a fake pregnant belly which they suspect she may have been planning to use to conceal explosives for a suicide attack. The arrest of the 25-year-old Muslim convert and her 34-year-old partner came as France remains on high terror alert during the Christmas holiday season.

reuters One person was killed when an explosion hit an Istanbul airport overnight and damaged five planes, but authorities say it's still too early to confirm whether the blast was caused by a bomb.

washingtonpost.com The government of Somalia has banned Christmas and New Year's celebrations, calling them ''contrary to Islamic culture'' and citing such festivities as potential targets for terrorists.

belfasttelegraph.co.uk Dublin Airport has confirmed that it had to evacuate because someone had a smoke in the toilets.

latimes.com Rescue workers in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen found a survivor of a devastating landslide, 67 hours after a massive pile of construction waste collapsed and covered factories, worker dormitories and apartment blocks in a sea of red earth.

telegraph.co.uk A growing number of British Muslims are being stopped from going to America as the country's presidential race is being dominated by Donald Trump's controversial call to prevent Muslims entering the country, an imam has claimed.



toofab.com Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were spotted in Vietnam earlier this week, spending some quality time together without their six kids - Shiloh, Maddox, Vivienne, Zahara, Pax and Knox. The couple flashed big grins as they took a private boat ride through Halong Bay. They also were snapped kayaking into caves together to get a closer look at the stunning scenery.



Phuket Update People across Phuket and along the Andaman coast will commemorate the 2004 tsunami that killed 5400 tourists and Thais and about 220,000 around the Indian Ocean with services at memorial sites on Saturday. Eleven years on, authorities have yet to clarify that nearly all the original 3000 ''missing'' were eventually identified among the 5400 bodies.

December 25 Christmas Day

December 26 2004 Tsunami memorial ceremonies

December 26-January 5 Red Cross Fair, Saphan Hin, Phuket City



January 7-10 Phuket International Boat Show