Cambodia, Thailand to Share Visa; Video Rape Dad Speaks; CIA Chief Quits; Futsal 'Miracle'; Phuket Events

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

bangkokpost.com Thailand and Cambodia are ready to implement a single visa agreement, which would enable tourists to use only one visa for both countries from November 21, an immigration bureau chief says. Laos, Vietnam and Burma are now developing computer networks and will adopt the single visa system later.

nationmultimedia.com Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said that in 1991, only 20 million travellers from outside the region visited Southeast Asia, but now they number 82 million a year. Tourism will play a rising role in the future if Asean is combined as a single destination.

andrew-drummond.com The Dutch father who composed a song called 'Evil Man From Krabi' about a Thai tour guide charged with brutally attacking and raping his daughter said that he was willing to go on Thai television to defend his action: ''Why should parents send their children to Thailand if people like this are left to roam around?'' The father said he would remove a YouTube video when justice had been done in Thailand.

bangkokpost.com The World Health Organisation has urged Thailand to strengthen the enforcement of traffic regulations to improve road safety. Even though the country has some of the best accident prevention laws in the region, they are not being enforced, according to Ho Yong Kim, the UN agency's representative in Thailand.

nationmultimedia.com Centel is negotiating with a JV partner to buy its stakes in two hotels on Karon and Kata beaches, Phuket (it already has 84pc of the Karon Beach hotel and 50pc of the Kata property). Full ownership of the two properties ''would make for two percent upside to our FY13 model.''

bloomberg CIA Director David Petraeus, 60, the retired four-star general who oversaw US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has resigned from his position due to an extramarital affair.

cnn.com According to a US official, the FBI had a tip he was involved with a woman and investigated the affair to determine whether it posed a security risk.

aap A Sydney man has been arrested in Thailand on paedophile-related charges after Australian Federal Police allegedly intercepted photographs emailed to Australia. However Ian Potterton, 51, who was detained by Thai authorities, says he's the victim of over-zealous policing: ''It is reprehensible behavior by the Australian Federal Police.''

smh.com.au Australian nurse Emma Louise L'Aiguille, 34, facing the death penalty in Malaysia over the discovery of a kilogram of methamphetamine has been sensationally freed in Kuala Lumpur. The deal was made in return for her agreeing to assist in the prosecution of the second accused, Anthony Ndidi Esikalam.

guardian.co.uk With Barack Obama due to visit Burma in a fortnight, renewed scrutiny will be placed on Washington's warming relations with the Thein Sein administration. ''He absolutely has to raise the issue [of the Rohingya],'' said Chris Lewa, head of the Arakan Project, a Thailand-based NGO monitoring abuses in western Burma.

theage.com.au The White House press secretary, Jay Carney, said Mr Obama intended to ''speak to civil society to encourage Burma's ongoing democratic transition''. Tens of thousands of Rohingya have been forced to flee their homes and critics say Thein Sein's government is not doing enough to protect them.

aljazeera.com Official estimates put the number of people displaced in this year's ethnic violence in Burma's Rakhine state at more than 110,000 people. Diplomatic efforts to find a solution to the ethnic violence in Myanmar have made little progress.

travelmole.com IAG has announced plans to cut 4500 jobs at Iberia as part of a major restructuring of the Spanish carrier. The airline group, which also owns British Airways, plans to get rid of a quarter of Iberia's fleet and cut its capacity by 15 percent, keeping the most profitable routes.

lowyinterpreter.org The often cited fact that an increasing number of Australians holiday in such places as Bali and Phuket does not mean much in terms of their gaining an appreciation of the history, politics or culture of these locations.

bangkokpost.com Thailand reached the second round at the Futsal World Cup for the first time yesterday following the Solomon Islands' shock win over Guatemala. The Thais will next meet favorites Spain in the last-16 round tomorrow.

nationmultimedia.com Fifa's rejection of the Bangkok Futsal Arena should serve as a lesson to Thailand, should the country plan to host another international sporting event. The delay in the completion of the stadium and an inadequate public-relations campaign show that success will require full cooperation from all parties involved in organisation.

smh.com.au Australia's fast bowlers, so ferocious last summer and so full of bravado leading into this one, let two of the world's most formidable batsmen off the hook. Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis led South Africa to 2-255 at stumps on day one of the First Test.

bbc.co.uk The Singapore Open could be cut to 54 holes for the second year running after thunderstorms forced play to be halted early for the second day. Some greens were under water with more rain forecast.

Sourced: phuketwan