UPDATING All Day, Every Day
bangkokpost.com Malaysia and Indonesia said Wednesday they would stop turning away boatpeople and let thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants stranded at sea come ashore to stay temporarily.
aljazeera.com More than 100 refugees have been rescued by local fishermen off Indonesia's Aceh province, and about 400 more are still believed to be at sea, an official said.
Full story here http://goo.gl/y58y5L
The vessel may be the ''green boat'' encountered by journalists off Thailand last week, according to reports.
usatoday.com A cruise ship carrying more than 2000 passengers ran aground in Bermuda after losing power. Norwegian Cruise Line's 12-year-old Norwegian Dawn had just pulled out of Bermuda's King's Wharf.
PhuketWATCH Daily Media Wrap
PHUKET: The daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. Beware of inconsistent imitations.
Today's Top Stories
nationmultimedia.com UN agencies for refugees and human rights and the International Organisation for Migration urged Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia to save and protect hundreds of boat people from Bangladesh and Myanmar stranded on vessels in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. Foreign ministers from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia meet today in Kuala Lumpur.
bangkokpost.com Arrest warrants have been issued for six more suspects in connection with the trafficking of Rohingya in southern Thailand, Provincial Police Region 9 said.
nationmultimedia.com Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra pleaded not guilty before Supreme Court judges to charges of negligence in the rice-pledging scheme that allegedly cost the country more than 600 billion baht.
Phuket World of People
Phuket Update Lifeguards are due to return to Phuket's prime tourist beaches today having left them almost eight weeks ago on March 26 during the annual breakdown in contract renewal negotiations. The annual negotiations make a farce of any commitment Phuket has to safeguard and protect tourists and local residents. It won't be clear until next year whether the craziness will cease.
Phuket Update Reports that Phuket City is running short of water are likely to be denied today by officials who usually gauge their predictions on the return of monsoon rains early in May. Phuket's lack of commitment to capturing the heaven-sent deluge of rain that falls between May and October is one of the holiday island's largest handicaps.
bangkokpost.com Japan has granted a second one-month reprieve for Thai AirAsia X to operate scheduled flights to and from Sapporo as it waits to see how Thailand's controversial aviation safety issue unfolds.
channelnewsasia.com Thai government officials have denied media reports that Bangkok has signed an agreement with Beijing to construct a shipping canal through the Kra Isthmus that could allow ships to bypass the Straits of Malacca.
nationmultimedia.com Movenpick Hotels & Resorts plans to manage an additional seven hotels in Asia, including one in Thailand, over the next three years in order to meet rising demand from a recovery in the tourism sector. Movenpick operates 83 properties in 25 countries, two on Phuket.
abc.net.au A notorious paedophile priest abused every boy at a regional Australian school between the age of 10 and 16, the child sex abuse inquiry has heard. Ballarat was one of the most horrific sites of abuse and it was revealed that in 1971, all male teachers and the chaplain at the St Alipius primary school were molesting children. Of 33 boys in a photograph, 12 had committed suicide.
afp Teachers in France went on strike to protest against a proposed reform of secondary education that has become a bitter battleground.
thetimes.co.uk Two pensioners in their 70s are alleged to be part of an ageing crew of criminals suspected of the audacious Hatton Garden jewellery heist, police have said. Scotland Yard arrested nine suspects with an average age of 59 over the raid in which up to 200 million worth of precious stones, gold and cash was looted.
independent.ie On the opening day of Prince Charles's trip to Ireland, the republican leader Gerry Adams and Prince Charles shared a historic handshake before a 10-minute private discussion. Mr Adams said the two men expressed regrets over deaths in the Troubles and spoke about the 1979 IRA bombing in which his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten was murdered, and other atrocities.
scmp.com The countdown to lift-off for Shanghai Disneyland begins in earnest today with the opening of its flagship Shanghai store, the first of its kind on the mainland and the biggest in the world.
huffingtonpost.com If you sit on the toilet seat and go about your business - which is pretty much what everyone does - then you've been doing it wrong, says German scientist and author Giulia Enders. In fact, squatting is the key to a healthy bowel movement, she explains. [Ed: Amazing ignorance about Asia's bowel habits. Most of the world still squats.]
Around the Region
Try Phuketwan's Asean Today daily:
http://phuketwan.com/tourism/asean-today-haven-offered-philippines-refugee-crisis-talks-today-burma-remains-key-22502/
Phuket World of Sport
aap Long touted as Australian golf's next big thing, teenager Minjee Lee has delivered with a stunning final round surge to claim her maiden LPGA title at the weather-delayed Kingsmill Championship. Lee shot a final round six-under-65 on Monday to finish at 15-under-par, good enough for a two-shot win over Korean So Yeon Ryu.
Coming Events on Phuket 2015
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
The BP headline is misleading.
TAAX is not allowed to operate the flights. They must use the Malaysian Air Asia X airplanes, flight and cabin crews and even flight numbers.
The only connection to Thailand or TAAX is that the flight originates in Thailand.
Given that the most serious complaint about DCA involves the lack of professionally trained staff and the fact that such training can take years to complete, there's virtually no chance that DCA can avoid being demoted to Tier 2 category when the 90 day eadline expires next month.
In the past this has led to EU blacklisting all the airlines from such a country (most recently Indonesia and the Philippines) entering their airspace and the FAA has either banned them outright too or limited them to operating their current flights with the same equipment and frequency.
FAA audit of Thai airlines and DCA is pending in July. Subsequent audits after an initial failure are far more stringent and difficult to pass.
Booking an international flight on a Thai registered airline beyond this month comes with serious risk of it being cancelled.
Posted by Herbert on May 20, 2015 09:24