Phuket Floods Alert; Phuket Wins New Scandi Green Mall; Burma Bangkok Road Coming; Sports Latest

Water was at knee level outside the TOT offices and HomePro in Chao Fa Road West by 10am, impassable by motorcycles and difficult for all vehicles. Stormy weather is predicted to continue on Phuket until the middle of next week, according to meteorological forecasters. Experts warn of the potential for landslips and floods on Phuket and in other Andaman provinces, too.




PhuketWatch Daily Media Wrap
PHUKET: A daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media.

nationmultimedia.com The Tourism Authority of Thailand is still confident that the number of Europeans travelling to Thailand will grow by 5-7 percent this year to 5.12 million. Charter flights will be promoted more aggressively to increase traffic, especially from Manchester to Phuket and from some parts of Russia such as Siberia.

bangkokpost.com High Traffic Media Co, the operator of Jatujak Green mall, will co-invest with a Scandinavian private fund to develop a 220 million baht community mall in Phuket by the end of the year. They will spend 120 million baht to acquire an eight-rai site near Ao Makham on the route to Sri Panwa, while construction costs will be around 100 million baht. The joint venture will be 51 percent held by the Thai firm and 49 percent by the Scandinavian partner.

nationmultimedia.com The Meteorological Department has issued a warning about heavy downpours and possible flash floods in 21 provinces including Phuket, Krabi, Ranong and Phangnga.

irrawaddy.org Burma's Railways Minister Aung Min has confirmed plans to begin construction later this year of a railway linking Rangoon and Bangkok along the route of the notorious ''Death Railway'' - built by Japanese-held prisoners of war during the Second World War.

telegraph.co.uk Burma's hardline vice-president has stepped down in a development widely regarded as bolstering the position of the country's reformist president Thein Sein and his allies. Former General Tin Aung Myint Oo wanted to become a Buddhist monk, it was reported.

bangkokpost.com Don Muang airport, Bangkok's second airport, will reopen for commercial aviation on August 1, not on October 1 as earlier planned, Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said.

nationmultimedia.com Energy Minister Arak Chonlatanon ruled out any plans to relocate Bangchak Petroleum's refinery complex from Bangkok's densely populated Phra Khanong district even though its distillation unit caught fire for the second time.

bangkokpost.com British Airways is offering more upgraded first-class cabins on the London-Bangkok route in an effort to attract high-yielding passengers.

bloomberg Clayton Osbon, the JetBlue pilot arrested in March after his erratic behavior led to the diversion of a flight, was found not guilty in the US by reason of insanity of interfering with his flight crew.

abc.net.au Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, has flown to Singapore for what his aides insist is a routine medical check-up. In April, speculation was rife that the 88-year-old was close to death when he reportedly went to Singapore for cancer treatment. A US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks last year claimed Mr Mugabe had advanced prostate cancer.

Phuket People

asiatraveltips.com Khiri Travel has opened an office in Phuket. Mr Marc Ruffet, 28, a Swiss national, has been appointed as Branch Manager to run the Khiri Phuket office, which is located near the Heroines' Monument.

cnn.com Flooding described by India's prime minister as the worst in recent times, has left at least 95 people dead and almost two million others homeless in the country's remote Assam state.

theage.com.au Scientists have taken a giant leap in their understanding of how the universe was formed, with a joint announcement in Geneva and Melbourne that a new particle has been discovered. The discovery has significant implications, as physicists say it is consistent with the elusive Higgs boson, or ''God particle''.

bangkokpost.com After launching its Thai operation five months ago, AirAsia Expedia Inc, the world's leading online travel company, set a marketing budget of 100 million baht to build brand awareness among local travellers.The company sees high potential to grow the online travel business in Thailand thanks to low competition and growing internet users.

Phuket World Sports Wrap

telegraph.co.uk Novak Djokovic was too polite to suggest that he now has a bit of a psychological hold over Federer but after beating him six times in their last seven meetings, you could scent in his demeanour a man who believed nothing was going to stop him defending his crown.

Sourced: phuketwan