theage.com.au Air Australia failure victim Victor Manusov, 23, who flew to Melbourne on Singapore Airlines, described chaotic scenes at Phuket airport: ”There were people crying saying they had no money to book new flights.” Thousands remain stranded overseas. reuters A Swedish man was dug out alive after being snowed in to his car on a forest track for two months with no food, police and local media reported.
PHUKET: A daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media.
birminghammail.net Two senior British judges have allowed Lee Aldhouse to appeal against a ruling that he could be extradited to Thailand and Phuket where he stands accused of murdering former US Marine Dashawn Longfellow in 2010. Mr Aldhouse has argued conditions in Thai jails breach the Human Rights Convention, which prohibits ”inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.
bangkokpost.com Edwin Wiek says his Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand faced five days of ”’harassment, intimidation and unnecessary violence”’ after he spoke out in the media about the involvement of wildlife officials and powerful figures in the illegal elephant trade: ”I would say between 100 to 250 baby elephants are smuggled from the wild each year. But why did they go to all these lengths? You know, making stories up about Phuket restaurants? It all seems a bit fishy to me.”
nationmultimedia.com Phetchaburi police have asked the provincial court for permission to detain without bail two suspects accused of killing an elephant in Kaeng Krachan National Park while they search for the person who hired them and the intended buyer of the elephant’s ivory and other parts.
mtv.com ”You wait for a voice like that for a lifetime,” said Whitney Houston’s mentor Clive Davis at her funeral. ”A face like that. A smile like that. A presence like that for a lifetime. And when one person embodies it all – well, it takes my breath away.”
cnn.com Two Iranian warships sailed through Egypt’s Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported, amid heightened tensions in the region.
Associated Press Within days of the terror scare, the Thai Tourism Ministry put on hold a plan to allow visas on arrival to citizens of Middle Eastern countries, including Iran. Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubumrung said he would order immigration authorities to ”closely check people who enter the country, especially from countries that might have problems.”
nationmultimedia.com Authorities in Pattaya have stepped up security measures because bomb blast suspects were believed to have stayed there. Komsan Ekachai, governor of Chonburi province, and Pattaya Mayor Ittipol Khunpleum said operators of hotels and other types of accommodation had been asked to strictly follow regulations.
andrew-drummond.com The Australian charity, The Grey Man, which raised funds on the alleged rescue of 22 Akha Hill tribe children last year, claiming the children were destined for brothels in Pattaya and Thai sweatshops, is being investigated by the Queensland Police for alleged misleading advertising.
antara Bali’s tourist police officers will take English-language immersion classes after their bosses admitted very few of them can communicate with the visitors they are charged with protecting.
nst.com.my Sleeping disorders affect 30 percent of 300 bus drivers in Malaysia, with eight percent categorised as chronic, raising fears that this situation impairs driving performance. The statistics were obtained in a study with the Road Safety Department.
bangkokpost.com A war of words erupted between Big C and Tesco-Lotus as both claim their prices are lower.
guardian.co.uk The spectacle of the lumpen spewing and brawling their way across British cities and market towns is certainly depressing and disgusting, and to skid across a pile of sick on a Sunday morning when, say, on one’s way to church, or some other socially praiseworthy activity, does much to awaken one’s own fastidiousness.
thestar.com.my The minute I stepped foot onto Phuket after a 14-hour flight, I felt the warm sea breeze caress my face as I let out a sigh of relief and left the hustle and bustle of London behind. You can do as much or as little as you like in Phuket.
asiaone.com Radio DJ Yasminne Cheng told The New Paper: ”I recently came back from a trip to Phuket. The beaches and the ocean at Phuket are very nice, don’t get me wrong, but once you’ve been to Bora Bora, you’re spoilt. I remember looking at the water at Phuket and thinking, ‘That’s not crystal clear.”’
telegraph.co.uk After 90 minutes in which they played with all the conviction and fortitude of a damp paper bag, Arsenal proved themselves as wretched and hapless a bunch as coach Arsene Wenger can have ever encountered. Arsenal 0-2 Sunderland.
telegraph.co.uk Kevin Pietersen came good at last with his first fifty of England’s tour and his first century in one-day internationals since 2008 against a flat Pakistan.
scmp.com A court in Tieling , Liaoning province, sentenced a top soccer official and a referee instructor to long jail terms for taking bribes and match-fixing.
February 23-26 10th Thai International Travel Fair, Bangkok
February 24-25 Phuket Blues Festival, Laguna Phuket
March 29-April 1 Phuket International Boat Show, Royal Phuket Marina
April Opening of Gardens by the Bay, Singapore, three waterfront gardens that will dwarf Kew in London and provide ”green lungs” for the city.
May 5 Krabi celebrates the province’s 140th anniversary
November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket
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