TAT Action Plan; Burma MoU Today; Wiggins Wins Tour; Aussie Blows Open; Phuket Events

bangkokpost.com A sample of Enterovirus-71, or EV-71, is being tested for mutation after it was found in the body of a toddler suspected of being the first fatal case of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Thailand this year.

afp Burma's president made his first official trip to Thailand since taking power in a visit likely to focus on economic ties. Thein Sein arrived in Bangkok for a three-day trip that will include talks with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Monday.

bangkokpost.com Thailand and Burma will sign three memorandums of understanding today to reaffirm their economic cooperation, particularly on the development of Dawei deep-sea port and its strategic link with the Thai Eastern Seaboard.

cnbc.com "The Tourism Authority of Thailand think numbers are going up so people must like it here, but the problem is the quality of their visit has gone down," said Larry Cunningham, Australia's Honorary Consul to Phuket, an island described by travel guide Lonely Planet as "one of the world's most famous dream destinations". The government has vowed to tackle "mafias" in tourist areas, while in February, Cunningham appealed to Phuket's government to stop jet-ski operators who hire thugs and demand compensation for equipment damage renters did not cause.

tvnz.co.nz Other headlines are less dramatic but equally troubling: taxi driver mafias, transvestite thieves, pollution, tourist brawls, traffic accidents, and at airports, radar glitches, flight delays and long immigration queues.

reuters Phuket, for example, is at risk of sharing the same fate as another beach destination: Pattaya. Pattaya struggles to shake off a seedy reputation as Thailand's ''Sin City'' and with red-light entertainment, crime and unchecked development, it is synonymous with sleaze and spoiled beaches.

theglobeandmail.com Tourism's contribution to GDP has barely increased since 2003 and now hovers at 6 percent. And with unspoiled destinations in neighboring Burma (Myanmar) opening up, Thailand is under pressure to decide what type of tourism it wants.

4hoteliers.com The Tourism Authority of Thailand has divided its action plan into five implementation categories under the acronym, 'DISCO Plan.' The five categories include: Digital marketing, Image-building, Sustainable Development, Crystallisation/Crisis Management, and Organisation Management.

dnaindia.com Thanks to indiscriminate construction, there's not much of a beach left in Pattaya. What's left is crammed with hundreds of deck chairs. There's hardly any room on the beach, but out at sea, there's entertainment in the form of water scooters, speedboats, jet-skiing, and parasailing.

nationmultimedia.com Dragonair, part of the Cathay Pacific Group, plans to play an increasing role in Southeast Asia after the establishment of the Asean Economic Community in 2015. The airline flies from Hong Kong to Phuket and Chiang Mai.

pattayadailynews.com Yasin Sharif, 63, an Australian, was found unconscious in a Pattaya hotel room, believed to be a victim of a prostitute who drugged him. Police did not know what she had taken because Mr Yasin could not speak.

bbc.co.uk US President Barack Obama has arrived in Colorado to honor victims of Friday's gun attack at a Batman film screening that left 12 people dead.

pattayadailynews.com Two Lithuanian university students made numerous attempts to illegally withdraw cash from ATM machines in Pattaya. An alert bank officer notified the police, who later arrested the two while they were getting on the tour bus from Pattaya to the Bankgok airport.

thenewstribe.com Afghan Taliban has strongly condemned the massacre of Muslims in Burma (Myanmar), calling upon the world to immediately take steps to stop the killings.

saudigazette.com.sa While most of the media's attention is focused on Syria, the state of the euro or the US presidential elections, very little is being said about state sponsored ethnic cleansing in Burma. Perhaps it is because the unfortunate victims happen to be Muslims and there are no strategic gains to be garnered by allying with them.

scmp.com At least 37 people were killed as the heaviest downpour in six decades hit Beijing, causing chaos and sparking criticism of officials ill-prepared to deal with an emergency situation.

todayonline.com Twelve Bruneian military personnel were killed when the helicopter they were in crashed while flying home after jungle training. Two military cadets survived the crash.

telegraph.co.uk Simon Ward, the actor best known for portraying Churchill in Richard Attenborough's 1972 film Young Winston, has died aged 70.

Phuket World Sports Wrap


telegraph.co.uk Bradley Wiggins, 32, became the first British cyclist ever to win the world's grandest bike race, the Tour de France, cheered on by thousands of fans who had made the pilgrimage from the UK because they were determined to be able to say they were there for a moment of unbeatable theatre, to salute perhaps the greatest individual sporting feat by any British sportsman in history.

reuters South African Ernie Els won the British Open by one stroke from Adam Scott after the Australian suffered an extraordinary late collapse. Scott, chasing his first major championship, started the last round with a four-shot lead and seemed to be cruising to victory as he maintained that cushion with six holes to play.

afp A triple century by Hashim Amla and four strikes by South Africa's bowlers had England reeling on the fourth day of the first Test match at the Oval. England were 4-102 at the close, needing another 150 runs to avoid an innings defeat.

Sourced: phuketwan