Phuket Trash 'Worth Millions'; Patong Upgrade Nears; Greater Phuket Resort For Sale; Chelsea Protest Over Ref

reuters Hurricane Sandy blew the US presidential race off course even before it came ashore, forcing Republican Mitt Romney to shift his campaign inland and fueling fears that the massive ''frankenstorm'' bearing down on the East Coast could disrupt an election that is already under way.

PhuketWATCH Daily Media Wrap

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

bangkokpost.com Emirates will turn Phuket into its second Thai port of call after Bangkok with a direct service from its Dubai home base from December 10. Most passengers for Phuket will be transferring from Scandinavia, the UK, Germany, Switzerland and the UAE. Emirates' growing presence is regarded as a threat by other airlines.

saudigazette.com.sa Qatar Auirways will be the only Middle Eastern carrier to operate into Cambodia with services due to start on February 20 next year.

indiatimes.com SilkAir launched its first direct flight between Singapore and Visakhapatnam in India's Andhra Pradesh.

Phuket Muck: There's Money In It

thesundaily.my Iris Corp will commission a waste incineration plant on Phuket by year-end. The incinerator is capable of burning 700 tonnes of rubbish per day to generate eight mega-watts of power. MD Datuk Tan Say Jim said Iris has been guaranteed flow of waste of 700 tonnes per day by the local Phuket council for the next 15 years at the rate of 300 baht per tonne, which would generate a revenue of between 550 million baht and 600 million baht per year for the group.

bangkokpost.com A total of 29 tourism sites have been selected for upgrades as part of a larger plan to generate more tourism revenue. The sites include Phi Phi, Patong Beach on Phuket, Jomthien beach in Pattaya and Samui.

nationmultimedia.com The Department of Tourism is going ahead with its initiative to launch big tourism projects to achieve at least two trillion baht in tourism earnings in 2015. Four key projects costing up to 1.5 billion baht each include a movie world, boat trips between Pattaya, Hua Hin and Cha-am, a mock ancient city showing the traditional way of life and a giant theme park.

onemorething.nl Steve Jobs' yacht was has been unveiled in a Dutch shipyard, where the unusual boat designed by Jobs and famed minimalist designer Philippe Starck was christened Venus, after the Roman goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility, prosperity and victory.

thephuketinsider.com Greater Phuket's hospitality asset transaction market continues to be a hot commodity with news that the 83-key beachfront Anyavee Tubkaek Beach Resort in Krabi is for sale.

Editor's Choice: Today's Must Reading

The cost of being 'pretty' in Thailand
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20027379/

bbc.co.uk More than 22,000 people have been displaced by violence in Burma's Rakhine state, mostly from the Muslim Rohingya minority, the government says. UN officials who joined a government tour said many of the displaced, who are in squalid camps, boats, or on islands or hilltops, needed urgent aid.

reuters ''We were told to stay in our homes but then they were set on fire,'' said Ashra Banu, 33, a mother of four who fled the coastal town of Kyaukpyu after its Muslim quarter was razed on October 24. ''When we ran out people were being shot at by Rakhines and police,'' she said. ''We couldn't put out the fires. We just tried to run.''

guardian.co.uk Burma's president, Thein Sein, has admitted his country's Rohingya Muslim population has been subjected to an unprecedented wave of ethnic violence. Whole villages and large sections of towns have been destroyed. Thein Sein's admission follows release of shocking satellite images showing the scale of the destruction in one coastal town, where most - if not all - of the Muslim population appears to have been displaced and their homes wrecked.

pattayadailynews.com German Hartmut Lothof, 66, was drugged and robbed of cash worth 500,000 baht in his room at Sweet Dream Place. He told police he invited a Thai lady to his room, and she served coffee that knocked him out. Both the lady and cash from his safe vanished.

afp New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered the mandatory evacuation of 375,000 people in low-lying areas of the city and announced its subways, buses and trains would stop running.

cnn.com Millions of Americans could experience flash flooding or river flooding by the time ''Frankenstorm'' Hurricane Sandy has passed, which might not happen until Wednesday, said Rick Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center.

bangkokpost.com Buoyed by what it calls a big turn-out, the Siam Pitak group is planning to hold its next rally against the Pheu Thai-ed government within a month. The rally organiser claimed the crowd swelled to 20,000 while the city police gave an estimate of 6000.

nationmultimedia.com ''We can't let the government go on working or else the country will suffer more damage,'' retired Army general Boonlert Kaewprasit told the stadium, which was at near full capacity of 20,000 seats.

news.sky.com Former pop star Gary Glitter has been released on bail after he was questioned on suspicion of sexual offences. He was bailed to return to the police station in mid-December.

dailymail.com Saddam Hussain gave 840,000 pounds to the family of the British engineer who was murdered with his wife in the Alps, it was claimed. The former Iraqi dictator is said to have deposited the sum in a Swiss bank account in the name of Saad Al-Hilli's father.

ft.com Wen Jiabao's family has threatened legal action over a media report which claimed his relatives amassed vast wealth during his tenure as Chinese premier. Lawyers representing the family said a New York Times story alleging that Mr Wen's relatives had a $2.7bn fortune was ''untrue,'' according to Hong Kong media.

reuters Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has indicated it will make a ''substantial cash offer'' for media conglomerate Pearson's Penguin Group, joining the race for the book publisher, the Sunday Times reported. News Corp owns book publisher HarperCollins.

guardian.co.uk Authors and literary agents, who declined to be named for fear of future publishing prospects, were concerned to be associated with the Murdoch brand. One agent said: ''Authors have told me they are frightened by a Random House takeover, but terrified by a HarperCollins one.''

afr,com The Australian government has for the first time listed its five key relationships in Asia, singling out China, India, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea as its most important.

latimes.com Sony Pictures is spying a hit in its latest James Bond film as 'Skyfall' debuted at No. 1 in 25 foreign countries this weekend.

smh.com.au It will not matter in what format the journalism is delivered. It doesn't matter if newspapers survive without paper - or even without news. It matters a great deal, however, if the ozone layer in the public debate formed by quality journalism is degraded into irrelevance.

Phuket World Sports Wrap


telegraph.co.uk Chelsea made a formal complaint against referee Mark Clattenburg after accusing him of using "inappropriate language" to two of their players in the controversial defeat to Manchester United.

goal.com Roberto Di Matteo laid the blame for his Chelsea side's 3-2 defeat to Manchester United firmly at the door of referee Mark Clattenburg. The Chelsea manager is adamant that the referee got two key decisions wrong in Sunday's game at Stamford Bridge and cost his team any chance of winning the game.

boxscorenews.com USA's Kessy and Ross claimed their third Thailand Open title on the FIVB SWATCH World Tourin Pattaya. In the first ever USA-Russia final in women's FIVB World Tour history they beat Russia's Evgenia Ukolova and Ekaterina Khomyakova in two sets: 21-17 21-19.

nationmultimedia.com Thailand faces an anxious wait today to discover whether Fifa will grant approval to the multi-million dollar Bangkok Futsal Arena for use at the Futsal World Cup, which kicks off on Thursday.

AP American Nick Watney missed a chance for a 59 in his CIMB Classic victory, closing with a course-record 10-under 61 at The Mines despite a bogey at the 18th.

telegraph.co.uk Sebastian Vettel made it four consecutive wins for the first time in a season in his Formula One career by winnnig the Indian Grand Prix to strengthen his grip on securing a third successive world title.

Sourced: phuketwan