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

reuters North Korea threatened a nuclear "sacred war" and South Korea vowed a "merciless counterattack" if it was attacked again as both sides raised the rhetoric on a day of more military exercises in the South.

bangkokpost.com The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau will continue its "Believe in Thailand" campaign in 2011, aiming to lure more business travellers from overseas and boost the domestic market to generate income of 75 billion baht. President Akapol Sorasuchart said: "Next year, TCEB will promote the provinces of Phuket, Krabi and Phang Nga for the premium target group."

bangkokpost.com Amari Group continues to invest in resort destinations with a budget in 2011 of at least three billion baht to develop condominiums and villas for sale in Phuket and a three-star hotel on Koh Samui. In Phuket, it has two plots of beachfront land: a 70-rai plot on Patong Beach and a 15-rai site on Nai Harn Beach. It plans to develop 18 rai of the first plot for leasehold condominiums and villas with an investment of around 2.5 billion baht.

celebrity-gossip.net He's currently shooting the film, 'The Impossible,' but recently production was brought to a halt after Ewan McGregor received a shocking death threat from an extra on set. The movie is being filmed in Phang Nga [north of Phuket] and when the extra was found in the studly actor's trailer writing poetic death odes, the producers were forced to shut down filming.

thesun.co.uk The warped prose included a line about facing the Scots actor before "twisting the knife as I look into your eyes". Bosses stopped filming on the set of The Impossible - about a family caught up in the 2004 tsunami - following the disturbing find.

thisislondon.co.uk A member of production crew, Santa Films, said: "He looked a little wide-eyed and preoccupied. The producers decided he was a serious risk. We could not call Thai police because he had only written poetry, and they would be unlikely to understand. The actor was told he ... would be called when it was time. He was not called. I understand he later applied for a position on 'Scorpion King 3.' I hope there is no further problem."

dailymail.co.uk 'The Impossible' stars Ewan McGregor with Naomi Watts. The pair play a couple called Henry and Marta, who on holiday with their three sons Tom, Simon and Thomas, and are enjoying time by the swimming pool when they are swept away by the tsunami.

bangkokpost.com Thai Airways International's renewed bid to set up a low-cost carrier with Singapore's Tiger Airways faces a new impediment from the Transport Ministry. Ministry officials raised their eyebrows when the THAI-Tiger deal was signed without their prior knowledge. A TTA launch could be delayed until June.

Associated Press Internet calling and messaging service Skype has mostly recovered from an outage caused by an undisclosed glitch, but problems lingered for its worldwide user base. Features such as offline instant messaging and group video chats, are still down.

bernama.com.my With the rising popularity of digitally mobile devices, Thailand now turns to hand-held electronic equipment to promote its tourism campaign. The state Tourism Authority of Thailand officially launched its mobile application to promote the country's tourism campaign, known as "Amazing Thailand," on popular platforms such as iPhone, BlackBerry and Android.

Associated Press A Norwegian newspaper says it has obtained the entire trove of 250,000 uncensored US diplomatic documents that WikiLeaks has been distributing. Aftenposten has no restrictions on how to use the material, and will be publishing articles about the US documents that it finds relevant in its online and paper editions.

cathnewsasioa.com Catholics and Protestants in West Java are defying a request by authorities not to hold their planned Christmas services. ''We will celebrate Christmas Mass in our church,'' Father Bartholomeus Gatot Wotoseputro, parish priest of St. John the Baptist Church in Parung, Bogor, told ucanews.com.

afp East Asia's booming economies have for years been the envy of the world, but a shortfall in one crucial area - babies - threatens to render the tigers toothless. Some of the world's lowest birth rates look set to slash labor forces in Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, where fewer workers will support more retirees and their ballooning health care and pension costs.

wsj.com Consumer prices in Singapore rose at their fastest pace since January 2009, underscoring inflationary pressures being felt across the region. The consumer price index was up 3.8 percent year-to-year in November, after logging a 3.5 percent increase in October.

todayonline.com Singapore's growth baton is expected to pass from manufacturing to services next year, as the two integrated resorts add new features to attract more tourists and as financial services companies hire aggressively to tap new opportunities in wealth management and investment banking.

bbc.co.uk The marriage of an 11-year-old Muslim girl to a 41-year-old man has been ruled illegal in Malaysia. An Islamic court judge found the father of the child had had no intention of marrying her off, and that there were elements of threat and force involved.

ukpa Spanish banking giant Santander has sent bank statements for up to 35,000 customers to the wrong addresses. The group said a printing glitch led to customers being sent the first page of their own bank statement but pages two and three of another customer's.

upi Thai officials say they've asked China to allow a giant panda cub, a celebrity at a northern Thailand zoo, to stay for two more years. They've been working to extend the contract signed with China to keep the cub Lhinping at the Chiang Mai Zoo.

smh.com.au Wayne Swan, Australian Treasurer, writes: The truth is, no matter how successful we are as a country right now, Australia is a patchwork economy. About 105,000 Australians do not have anywhere to call home. One in seven children grow up in families where no one in the house has a job.

indyweekly.com Emma Larkin's books, first 'Finding George Orwell in Burma' and now 'Everything Is Broken,' are a reminder to writers - and readers - that words are powerful and have to do more than just paint pretty pictures and get us to turn pages. They are political tools, and they have to be used to make the world better.



PHUKET is to join in marking Earth Hour on March 27 at 8.30pm. The growing international gesture that emphasises energy conservation involves cities around the world switching off electric lighting for an hour.

PHUKET International Academy is to handle all Phuket Soccer 7s tournaments at their 11-a-side astroturf pitch for the next three years. The Phuket Spicy Soccer 7s will be held on February 26 and 27 with Open Age and Women's caregories.

December 24 Tsunami disaster warning drill on Phuket
December 26 Tsunami sixth anniversary: Memorial commemorations at Patong, Kamala and Mai Khao. Others in Phang Nga.
December 30-January 9 Phuket Red Cross Fair, Saphan Hin park, Phuket City


January 6-9 PIMEX boat show, Royal Phuket Marina
January 22 QSI International fun run day at Bang Wad Dam, Kathu
January 23 The Great Phuket Rubber Duck Race Day, Laguna Phuket
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi
February 26-27 Phuket Spicy Soccer 7s, Phuket International Academy
March 14-19 ADFEST 2011 at Movenpick Resort, Phuket
March 27 Earth Hour commemmoration on Phuket


Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket