TUESDAY MORNING NEWS BRIEFING – All your local news in 3 minutes

Boxing Day in Phuket. Where did the name Boxing Day come from? We’ve done the Googling for you. Have a read HERE. There’s another of these pesky tropical storms heading over the South China Sea at the moment, making landfall with Vietnam today then heading over the Gulf of Thailand and affecting the southern coastal provinces from tomorrow and Thursday. The forecast says it will be affecting Phuket’s weather on Friday and Saturday. We’ll keep you up to date. Let’s check today’s other main local news stories….

Toon crosses the finish line in Mae Sai

Toon’s epic journey from Thailands south to north is now over. Antiwara crossed the finish line in Mae Sai district at 20 past six last night, completing a 2,191 kilometre charity run that has raised upwards of 1.1 billion baht in donations that have been showered on him as he’s made his way along the journey. On top of the more than 12 million in donations Artiwara received during his run in Mae Sai district yesterday, another 10 million baht came at the end of the day from the president of the company Asian Seafoods Coldstorage. Today, the Army will fly Toon and his team back to Bangkok.

The donations raised by Artiwara’s charity run are about 0.33 per cent of the total all state hospitals receive from the government every year via the Public Health Ministry and National Health Security Office. The 11 hospitals that will receive a share of funds raised by Artiwara’s run are: Saraburi Hospital, Surat Thani Hospital, Khon Kaen Hospital, Chaophraya Yommaraj Hospital, Nakornping Hospital, Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital, Chaopraya Abhaiphubejhr Hospital, Ratchaburi Hospital, Nan Hospital, Phramongkutklao Hospital and Yala Hospital.

60 year old British man drowns off Similans

60 year old Dennis Michael from Britain was pulled out of the seas off the Similan islands on Sunday. The incident happened off the beach in front of Koh Si. Navy officers tried CPR but were unable to revive him and sped him to shore in a speedboat.

An ambulance was on standby at Tub Lamu Pier. However, when the team arrived onshore at the pier the doctor announced that the man had died.

Phang Nga locals concerned about tsunami preparedness

Locals are raising concerns about the lack of preparation for tsunami evacuations and regular maintenance of warning systems and evacuation facilities on the 13th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

A community leader in Ban Namkem in Phang Nga’s Tukua Pa district, says besides his community, there were few communities that arranged regular tsunami evacuation drills, expressing worry that the lack of preparation would endanger people if another tsunami hits Thailand’s Andaman Coast. Ban Namkem was one of the areas that suffered the greatest loss of life in Thailand when the destructive tidal wave slammed into six provinces on the Andaman Coast on December 26, 2004.

18 year old under arrest over weekend shootings in Thalang

An 18 year old, who allegedly shot a 17 year old couple over the weekend, killing the girl, has been arrested along with 33 other people who illegally possesed guns and bullets. Another 20 people have been nabbed in drug-related cases. All this follows crackdown measures during the Christmas and New Year period. All the arrests were made over last weekend.

Reporting to the media yesterday police said they’d seized 33 cases of illegal guns and bullets and arrested an 18 year old over the shooting of the 17 year old couple. Police claim that the 18 year old and his friend used his father’s gun to attack the couple on the night of December 22.

Tropical storm Tembin heading towards the Gulf of Thailand

A weather warning for Tropical Storm Tembin has been issued for the southern provinces, as the storm is expected to pass through southern Vietnam today and hit Thailand later in the week.

The weather prediction from the Meteorological Department says the storm would land in southern Vietnam today and weaken, but will probably be strong enough to affect many parts of Thailand. The upper part of the country including the Bangkok Metropolitan area would receive precipitation, whilst it’s forecast there would be heavy rain in the South from Prachuap Khiri Khan to Songkhla starting on Wednesday and Thursday.