UPDATING All Day, Every Day
theguardian.com Revealed: Thailand's most senior human trafficking investigator to seek political asylum in Australia. Major General Paween Pongsirin says his investigations into human trafficking implicated senior figures in police and military and he now fears for his life.
bangkokpost.com The police major-general who led the investigation into the widespread trafficking of Rohingya Muslim migrants is seeking political asylum in Australia, saying influential figures in the government, military and police want him dead, Australian media reported. The asylum case likely will reverberate loudly around the world.
abc.net.au ''Unfortunately the bad police and the bad military are the ones that have power,'' he told journalists. And he believes the police have lost their nerve to prosecute the human trafficking cases cases properly in Thailand.
nationmultimedia.com ''I had sought help from the highers-up, but there was no help, no protection, no mercy and no compassion,'' he told The Nation.
bangkokpost.com Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha called on all anti-graft agencies Wednesday to strictly enforce the laws and stressed the need for cooperation to improve the country's anti-corruption efforts.
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
bangkokpost.com The Immigration Bureau plans to fine and blacklist foreigners who overstay their visas from March or April next year. Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn Prausoontorn said that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha had approved the bureau's proposal to fine and ban overstayers from re-entering the country for some years depending on the length of their overstay.
bangkokpost.com Police tell ultra-nationalists the US ambassador cannot be prosecuted or even questioned over remarks about ''harsh sentences'' under lese majeste laws.
reuters A report by Swedish groups Schyst Resande and Fair Action found evidence that many migrant workers from Thailand's poorer neighbor Myanmar are being exploited in the southern resorts of Khao Lak and Phuket, at hotels used by three of Sweden's top tour operators. Thai workers, by contrast, received higher salaries and better benefits, including better accommodation, longer holidays and maternity and sick leave, the report said.
Human Trafficking in Thailand
mmtimes.com According to the International Organisation for Migration, Myanmar has repatriated more than 600 fishermen so far, who had facing brutal, slave-like conditions mainly on Thai vessels. Thousands more are believed to still be on the remote Indonesian islands. Over 100 fishermen at the embassy in Jakarta are still awaiting repatriation.
Phuket World of People
nationmultimedia.com The Russian ambassador to Thailand, Kirill Barsky, said his embassy had found no imminent threat to Russian citizens in Thailand from possible attacks by Islamic State operatives reported to have entered the Kingdom. ''We do not have any official information in this regard,'' the envoy said in response to a query from The Nation.
Phuket Update A 40-million baht ''movie museum'' that residents rejected for the beach foreshore at Phuket's Nai Harn has been fasvorably embraced by community leaders in Karon and is likely to be built there, according to Phuket Governor Jamleran Tipayapongtada.
Phuket Update Police have yet to start arrests over the riot by hundreds of people at Phuket's Thalang Police Station on October 10 but the number of warrants has grown to 80, according to in vestigators. Three arrests have been made by chance over minor drugs offences.
time.com Time magazine named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as its ''Person of the Year 2015,'' hailing her leadership during Europe's debt, refugee and migrant crises, as well as Russia's intervention in Ukraine.
khaosodenglish.com Soldiers arrested a Facebook user for sharing an infographic about alleged corruption in the army-built royal monument complex. Sriwarah Rangsipramnakul, deputy police chief, said the suspect - identified in media reports as a 27-year-old factory worker - is being interrogated in military custody and will be charged with inciting unrest in the country for sharing the graphic.
reuters Economically stricken Greece is racing to cash in on a potential bonanza of Russian tourists deprived of their favorite holiday destinations by a Kremlin boycott of Turkey and violence in Egypt, but it may be too expensive. Egypt and Turkey topped the holiday destinations for Russians in 2014, jointly drawing more than 7 million. Thailand and Greece came third and fourth neck-and-neck.
straitstimes.com A rainfall deficit has left a series of reservoirs that are crucial sources of Thailand's dry-season water at between a third and half of their capacities. Experts say the capital itself may run short of tap water. From rubber to rice, embattled farmers are facing a perfect storm of water shortage, low commodity prices and an economy hit by domestic political uncertainty.
reuters More than a quarter of a million Britons have signed an online petition to ban US Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump from the country following his proposal to stop Muslims from entering the United States. Mr Trump owns two golf courses in Scotland which he visited earlier this year.
afp A UN watchdog on Wednesday urged China to end the rampant use of torture in its prisons, close all ''black jails'' and halt a large-scale crackdown on lawyers and activists.
afp Tanzanian President John Magufuli surprised onlookers when he walked out of State House to collect rubbish off the streets, after cancelling independence day celebrations for a national cleanup.
smh.com.au A diving trip turned into an animal rescue when a group encountered a swamp wallaby swimming a kilometre from shore off the NSW North Coast near Coffs Harbor.
Around the Region
travelpulse.com During the first half of 2015, Vietnam's travel industry was in the midst of a slump. In June, after the 13th month of the slump, Vietnam enacted some changes that now seem to have paid off. The National Administration of Tourism has just announced a huge November. With more than 730,000 international arrivals, the country had 20 percent more visitors last month than they did in November of 2014.
Phuket World of Sport
afp Arsenal and Chelsea eased into the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday to make it three English sides in the knockout round.
Coming Events on Phuket 2015
TOMORROW will see more than half a million cyclists in Thailand and 66 cities around the world joining the ''Bike for Dad'' celebration of the 88th birthday of His Majesty the King, the world's longest-reigning monarch.
December 10 Constitution Day
December 11 Thailand Bike for Dad
December 11-13 2015 Wake Park World Series on Phuket
December 26 Tsunami memorial ceremonies
December 26-January 5 Red Cross Fair, Saphan Hin, Phuket City
Coming Events on Phuket 2016
January 7-10 Phuket International Boat Show
Merkel getting the person of the year award for her handling of the refugee crisis has to be the sick joke of the year. Sher opened the flood gates, realised too late what a mistake that was, closed them and demanded all other EU countries take them against the standing EU rules. Whether you believe a fair number of these were terrorists or not there is nothing commendable about it and shows what a farce these awards are. I would put this in a similar league to when Kissinger was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
Posted by Stuart on December 10, 2015 08:09
Editor Comment:
As a bigot, your views are inevitably bound to be a little different to those of reasonable people, Stuart. All of those terrorists so far identified as being connected with the Paris atrocity have been found to be citizens of France or Belgium. In other words, your view on refugees is total BS. The farce is with you.