AP Thousands of Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis abandoned at sea had nowhere to turn Thursday as Malaysia turned away two boats crammed with more than 800 migrants, saying it could not afford to keep being nice.

dpa AirAsia has added the Kuala Lumpur-Pattaya route to its extensive network, effective July 16, with four weekly flights.

bangkokpost.com Police arrested three alleged members of a sex-trafficking ring and rescued five Chiang Mai women who were forced into the flesh trade in Hat Yai district of Songkhla province.

afp Johnny Depp's pet dogs Pistol and Boo face being put down unless they ''bugger off'' back to Hollywood after he brought them into Australia illegally on his private jet.


PHUKET: The daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. Beware of inconsistent imitations.



rfa.org International organisations warned that thousands of men, women and children could be crammed aboard boats drifting at sea between Myanmar and Malaysia, and pleaded with governments in the region to assist them.

nationmultimedia.com Thailand's involvement is merely as a transit point for Rohingya being trafficked to Malaysia. It is a bunch of despicable and greedy Thai officials in the South who have brought this shame upon us. The Thai government should be praised for its efforts to combat and publicise the misery.

bangkokpost.com Compassion fatigue: People in the South may feel sorry for Rohingya boat people, but they want no part of the government's plan to set up shelters.



bangkokpost.com A 29-year-old Thai woman was arrested in Bangkok after allegedly stealing more than 90,000 baht from a 62-year-old Finnish man who flew to see her in Nakhon Sawan province after some Facebook chat.
http://bangkokpost.com/news/crime/560603/woman-arrested-over-theft-from-elderly-finn

Phuket Update A four-metre-long, 35 kilo king cobra was found inside a guest room at the Stars of Phuket Resort in Chalong. Ruamjai Kupai Rescue Foundation snake expert, Sayan Thampan, took just three minutes to bag the cobra for release in the wild.

bangkokpost.com No-frills carrier Thai AirAsia's first-quarter earnings nearly quadrupled, thanks mainly to the general upturn in traffic demand. TAA posted a net profit of 923 million baht for the January-March period, up from 245 million baht.

nationmultimedia.com Flight frequencies were also increased from Don Muang to Phnom Penh (twice daily), to Nakhon Phanom (twice |daily), and to Phuket (13 times daily).

leicestermercury.co.uk A couple from Leicester has returned home after a nightmare holiday in Thailand facing debts totalling at least 10,000 pounds. Contractor Carlos Nunez, 34, suffered a fractured spine, eight broken ribs and two punctured lungs in a motorcycle crash on Koh Chang. But his insurance did not cover road accidents.

bangkokpost.com Chinese direct-sales firm Infinitus (China) Ltd has rewarded its 12,700 employees for their work with a trip to Thailand, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

indiatimes.com In Pakistan's worst sectarian attack in the past four months, six terrorists disguised as cops stormed a bus in Pakistan's port city of Karachi and gunned down at least 43 passengers belonging to the minority Ismaili Shia community.

afp The US military might deploy warships and surveillance aircraft near artificial islands being built by China to challenge Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea, officials said.

nationmultimedia.com Thailand's Cabinet approved 14 billion baht to develop parks and fitness areas on the banks of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok.



smh.com.au Female military applicants in Indonesia are subjected to virginity tests in order to recruit the "best people'' to the armed forces. Human Rights Watch is lobbying countries attending an international conference on military medicine in Bali next week, to urge Indonesian president Joko Widodo to abolish the ''discriminatory and invasive testing''.

Try Phuketwan's Asean Today daily:
http://phuketwan.com/tourism/asean-today-call-virginity-tests-scores-die-slipper-fire-singapore-top-education-22459/



theguardian.com Gareth Bale sounded a defiant tone about his form after missing a string of chances in Real Madrid's aggregate defeat to Juventus in the Champions League semi-final.



June 20-21 Baba wedding at Old Phuket Town

July 14-16 Trial of Phuketwan journalists at Phuket Provincial Court

July 15-19 Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek