itar-tass.com Russian tourists who failed to leave Thailand on Saturday because their flight had been delayed are expected to fly home at 10:00 Moscow time on Sunday, Russian Consul in Thailand Vladimir Sosnov told Tass.

famagusta-gazette.com Flight 2722 (Bangkok-Moscow) of the Northern Wind air company was allegedly delayed because of the plane's poor technical state.

bangkokpost.com At least half of all Japanese companies operating in Thailand would be forced to surrender operational control or relocate if proposed changes to the Foreign Business Act go ahead, a Japanese envoy warns.


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 Authorities in 16 provinces have been placed on full alert until Monday as a low-pressure system moves in over the Gulf of Thailand and the lower South. The 16 provinces include the two lower central provinces of Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan and 14 southern provinces: Ranong, Phang Nga, Phuket, Krabi, Trang, Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Satun.

bbc.com The world is on the brink of a new Cold War, and trust should be restored by dialogue with Russia, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has said. At an event to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Sunday, Mr Gorbachev said the West had ''succumbed to triumphalism''.

irishtimes.com ''I've never seen such euphoria, before or since,'' said Harald Jager, the border guard whose snap decision 25 years ago allowed East Germans to flood into West Berlin.



andrew-drummond.com Phuket's ''multi-agency task'' force which was set up three years ago to deal with Time Share Touts along Patong and Karon Beaches appears to have melted away soon after its formation. Fighting talk to abolish the cheats, as per jet-skis, taxis, tuk-tuks and other scams appears to have been just that.

nationmultimedia.com Asia Pacific countries agreed yesterday to cooperate on the extradition of corrupt officials, enhance asset recovery efforts and establish an anti-corruption transparency network to share intelligence on graft.

AP A US citizen living in Thailand has pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting teenage girls. The US Attorney's office says Ronny Lee Waldrip, 63, admitted to traveling to Thailand to engage in sexually explicit conduct with girls aged 14 and 15.

nationmultimedia.com Dishonesty in Thailand sprouts roots at an early age - with 81 percent of youths admitting they cheat in exams and 63 percent saying they signed a class attendance form for an absent classmate, a new study has found. And what's more, it is behavior that most of respondents did not regard as seriously wrong.

bangkokpost.com Rock icon Add Carabao, famed for songs about social injustice and political issues, stands to become a baht billionaire when his energy drinks company enters the stock market.

smh.com.au Indonesia is set to overtake New Zealand as Australia's favorite overseas destination, with more than a million tourists scheduled to visit the country by the end of the year. News of the major tourism growth has coincided with confirmation, from the Indonesian Government, that it will scrap its US$35 visa entry fee for Australian nationals from January 1.

watoday.com.au The Australian couple who allegedly abandoned their surrogate baby Gammy in Thailand will retain custody of his twin sister Pipah under strict conditions. State Child Protection Minister Helen Morton said her department conducted a ''comprehensive safety and wellbeing assessment'' of the infant after revelations her father David Farnell had been jailed for child sex offences in the 1990s.

csmonitor.com Drug gang members in police custody in Mexico led investigators to the San Juan River in Guerrero state, where they say they burned and dumped the bodies of 43 students missing since September.

scmp.com Clean air in Beijing for Apec resulting from massive factory shutdowns and traffic bans in the city and six neighboring provinces shows the capital's notorious smog problem is ''curable,'' the People's Daily said.

smh.com.au Women are claiming to have had sex with more people than they did a decade ago and are more likely to report having sex in their mid-teens, in what researchers believe is an indication that sexual double standards are breaking down.



straitstimes.com A handphone shop owner who allegedly caused a Vietnamese tourist to go down to his knees in tears after being ripped off in purchasing an iPhone 6 has become the target of anger and harassment in Singapore.

AP Malaysia's top court delayed giving a verdict in opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's appeal against his sodomy conviction, the country's most sensitive trial. Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria said the verdict, which will have far reaching implications for Malaysia's politics, would be announced at a later, unspecified date.



afp A second-half strike by Diego Costa gave Chelsea a 2-1 win over a disorganised Liverpool side at Anfield and helped them pad their Barclays Premier League lead.

theguardian.com The match began amid relentless rain and ended with gloomy forecasts for Leicester, who have now collected a solitary point from their past six matches and failed to even score in the past four. Southampton 2-0 Leicester.

dailytimes.com.pk A 17-member Pakistan ju-jitsu squad, 14 players and three officials, will leave for Thailand on Sunday to participate in the 4th Asian Beach Games starting in Phuket from November 12 till 24.

xinhua The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) General Assembly has approved the creation of the world beach games, but the hosting city has yet to be decided.



bangkokpost.com Entrance fees to all 147 national parks will be waived on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day as part of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's ''happiness'' campaign.

November 14-23 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket

December 5 King's Birthday

December 10 Constitution Day

December 25 Christmas Day

December 26 10th Anniversary, 2004 Tsunami

December 31 New Year's Eve



February 13-15 Phuket Yacht Show