Noppawan Lertcheewakarn wins junior Wimbledon girls' title

Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand won the girls' title at Wimbledon on Saturday, using a steady serve to beat Kristina Mladenovic of France 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.



The Chiang Mai-born, 17, became the first Thai to win a Grand Slam singles trophy. Previously she collected two doubles titles from the 2008 junior US Open and this year's French Open.

Noppawan, who ended the 2008 season as the top junior player, settled score over the French Open junior champion who easily beat her in two sets in a warm-up tournament on grass in Roehampton last week. She finally made amends at the All England Club losing the final to Laura Robson of Great Britain in the final a year ago.

Noppawan landed 69 percent of her first serves against Mladenovic on Court No. 1, far better than her opponent's 40 percent.



Although Noppawan had only nine winners in the match, she was helped by Mladenovic's 39 unforced errors.

Noppawan, who won the girls' doubles title with Elena Bogdan of Romania at the French Open, is also still alive in the doubles competition at the All England Club. She is playing with Sally Peers of Australia.

Noppawan lost in the Wimbledon girls final last year, but then won the girls' doubles title at the U.S. Open with Sandra Roma. In December, she was named girls' ITF World Champion.

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Tamarine Tanasugarn wins Ordina Open

Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand has become the first player to successfully defended her title in the U$220,000 Ordina Open in Den Bosch, Netherlands after she beat Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer 6-3 7-5 in the final.



Tammy, the 32 year old Thai ranked No. 47 in the world, relied on her experience to beat the young rival for her third career title.

Tammy beat Dinara Safina, the current world No. 1, in last years' final. Tammy underlined her supremacy over Safina once again in the semi-final on Friday to record her first win over a world No 1, proving too much for the Russian.

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Pregnant man Beattie delivers second child

Pregnant man Thomas Beattie - the transgender man born a woman - has given birth to his second child, this time a baby boy.



The American transsexual, born Tracey Lagondino, 35, became the first pregnant man when he had Susan last July.



Now bearded Beatie and wife Nancy, 46, are parents again.

Hospital sources told US TV channel ABC that it was a "natural childbirth".



Beattie had sex swap op, including breast removal, in his 20s then married Nancy - but kept his ovaries.

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David Carradine found dead in Bangkok hotel

Actor David Carradine was found dead in a hotel room in Bangkok on Wednesday.



"Kung Fu" and "Kill Bill" star Carradine, 72, was in Bangkok to shoot his latest movie, Stretch, and stayed at the Nai Lert Park Hotel on Wireless Road at Suite Room 352 since June 2.

Thai police believed he committed suicide.

The film crew were aware of his absence when they went to dine out at a restaurant on Sathorn Road on June 3.

Carradine did not show up at the dinner and the team could not reach him. They assumed that he took a rest because of his age.

It was the hotel's maid who opened his suite on Thursday at 10 am only to find Carradine in a closet. He was described as behind half naked.

Police investigation showed that he hung himself with a rope, the kind used with curtains.

Police said he was dead for not less than 12 hours and found no sign of fighting and assaults.

His personal manager, Chuck Binder, told BBC that the news was "shocking", adding: "He was full of life, always wanting to work... a great person."



Aside from Quentin Tarantino's two-part "Kill Bill" in 2003 and 2004, Carradine was perhaps best known for his role as the fugitive half-Chinese Shaolin monk Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s easternwestern TV drama "Kung Fu". He also starred in Martin Scorsese's "Boxcar Bertha" in 1972, portrayed folksinger Woody Guthrie in "Bound for Glory" in 1976, acted in Ingmar Bergman's "The Serpent's Egg" in 1977 and co-starred with half brothers Keith Carradine and Robert Carradine in the 1980 western "The Long Riders".

His father was the noted actor John Carradine.

In Thai cinemas, Carradine was recently seen as a martial arts guru in the Rob Schneider comedy "Big Stan" and as a perverted elderly Chinese mobster in "Crank: High Voltage" starring Jason Statham.

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Emirates A380 Dubai-Bangkok launched

Emirates launches its Airbus A380 Dubai-Bangkok daily service from June 1, 2009.

Emirates will operate two A380s on flights EK 372 from Dubai to Bangkok and EK 373 from Bangkok to Dubai, daily.

Flight Schedules:
Dubai - Bangkok (Daily)
EK372 - Departure 9:40 - Arrival 19:00

Bangkok - Dubai (Daily)
EK373 - Departure 21:25 - Arrival 00:30

Tourist arrivals from the Middle East to Thailand are expected to dramatically increase following the launch of the daily A380 Emirates service to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Typically, super-jumbos are reserved for long-haul flights only, and the Dubai-Bangkok flight, with a duration of six hours, is considered short-haul.

Emirates' A380 aircraft is configured to carry 489 passengers and features luxurious facilities including lounges, flat beds, shower spas and massage-equipped suites in the first class cabin.

Emirates A380 comprises of a three-class configuration with flat-bed massage-equipped private suites and an onboard lounge in First Class, new generation intelligent seating in Business Class and an award-winning entertainment system in Economy Class.

Emirates is offering special fares for Bangkok travellers on its brand new A380 planes set to launch at the start of June.

Until 20 June 2009, return fares from Bangkok to Dubai on the A380 will cost 11,155 Baht in Economy Class or 27,645 Baht in Business Class.

There are also early bird offers for travelers connecting from Dubai to destinations in the USA (New York, Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles) with Economy Class from 36,830 Baht, Business Class from 111,500 Baht and First Class from 194,000 Baht.



The promotion is valid for travel by June 30. The special fares are available only to online booking at www.emirates.com/th

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