Phuket Weather Bleak; Boracay No 1 Island; Phuket People; David Lloyd a Dad; Federer's Title

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

PHUKET'S weather is predicted to remain cloudy early this week, with a 70 percent chance of rain and small boats advised to take care offshore.

telegraph.co.uk Communities around Britain devastated by flooding after more than two months' worth of rain fell in a 24-hour period have begun counting the cost.

ukpa Russia's president has ordered investigators to determine whether more could have been done to prevent the deaths of at least 170 people in severe flooding in the Black Sea region that turned streets into rivers, swept away bridges and inundated thousands of homes as many residents were sleeping.

bangkokpost.com Travel agents warned the government that Burma's rapidly growing tourism sector could put Thailand's position as a major regional gateway at risk. The comments came as Burma (Myanmar) tourism minister U Htay Aung told the Sasin Bangkok Forum that his country was ramping up its tourism infrastructure with a new international airport, 15km from Yangon, to be constructed.

inquirer.net Boracay, known for its powdery-white sand and clear waters, topped Travel + Leisure magazine's 2012 World's Best Beach Awards with a rating of 93.10, beating Bali, which ranked second with 90.41. Boracay ranked fourth in the same category in 2011. Galapagos, Ecuador; Maui, Hawaii; Great Barrier Reef Islands, Australia; Santorini, Greece; Kauai, Hawaii; Big Island, Hawaii; Sicily, Italy; and Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The biggest challenge has been the island's environmental problems, blamed on decades of unregulated construction and development projects.

dailymercury.com.au [Australian] residents are still travelling to destinations like Bali, Phuket and Egypt despite terrorist attacks, murders and political unrest. "When things like that (the Phuket stabbing, June 20) happen people are a lot more immune to it," a travel agent said.

dpa Burma, whose recent political and economic reforms have been welcomed by the West and Asian neighbors, will host the South-East Asian Games in 2013 and its first summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations in 2014.

standard.cu.uk British Airways faced a backlash from privacy campaigners after it revealed plans to use the internet to create ''dossiers'' on passengers.Nick Pickles, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: ''Since when has buying a flight ticket meant giving your airline permission to start hunting for information about you on the internet?''

Phuket People


dailymail.co.uk Former tennis star David Lloyd was last week telling pals in Wimbledon's members' restaurant - including Sir Cliff Richard - of his joy at the birth of his fourth child. David, 64, said he and his Moldovan fiancee Theodosia have named the boy Dennis, after David's father. ''At six months, Dennis weighs a whopping 1st 10lb,'' said a friend of the founder of the David Lloyd tennis clubs, who now lives on Phuket.

intoday.com A 38-year-old homemaker has become the first Indian woman to qualify as a Master Scuba Diving Trainer. Archana Sardana, based in New Delhi, qualified for the MSDT in Phuket last week. She is also India's only woman base jumper.

dailymail.co.uk Carla Bruni was so 'hopelessly stuck' on Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger that she travelled to Phuket with him just a day after his wife Jerry Hall gave birth to their daughter Georgia.In 'Mick: The Wild Life and Mad Genius of Jagger,' writer Christopher Andersen details the affair which would play a part in ending Jagger's nine year marriage to Hall.

blackbookmag.com For her part, Bruni promised her boyfriend in a note (which was found by Hall), ''I'll be your mistress forever.''

bloomberg The investigation of a mystery disease that has killed dozens of children in Cambodia is advancing after the discovery in patient samples of a virus that causes hand, foot and mouth disease. The Institut Pasteur du Cambodge found enterovirus 71 in 15 of 24 patients sampled since mid-June.

cnngo.com A new Bangkok-based group called Knowing Buddha Organisation is calling for an international boycott against the Disney films and their Buddha dog. The group also demands an end to all commercialisation of Buddha, including retail statues, wall hangings, T-shirts, sex toys, furniture, tattoos and other decorations within Thailand and worldwide.

bikyamasr.com Thailand's government should scrap the labor minister's proposed regulation to deport migrant workers who become pregnant, Human Rights Watch said.

Phuket World Sports Wrap

theage.com.au Swiss genius Roger Federer won his record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title and 17th major overall 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 to confirm a third sitting as world No.1 for the player Rod Laver declared pre-match to be the greatest of all time.

afp Mark Webber claimed the ninth win of his career when he swept past Fernando Alonso to a dramatic and perfectly-judged victory in an incident-filled British Grand Prix.

Sourced: phuketwan