Associated Press Suspected militants have detonated a roadside bomb in Narathiwat in Thailand's restive south, killing four soldiers.


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

sky.com The brother of former EastEnders star Gemma McCluskie has been arrested after a headless torso believed to be that of the missing actress was dragged from a canal in east London. Miss McCluskie's brother Tony was arrested at around 4.15am in Bethnal Green, east London, where he lives and where his sister was living until she disappeared last week, sources say.

Phuket Update Tears were shed by the family of Turkish Airlines flight attendant Nergis (Narcissus) Tinc as her body arrived back in Turkey after she was killed instantly with three other tourists in a minibus crash north of Phuket. Her body was taken to the Forensic Medicine Institution for an autopsy before a funeral, Turkish media reported.

thejakartaglobe.com Bali's all-important tourism industry has been ruined by a litany of problems including corruption that have gone unresolved, Governor Made Mangku Pastika said. ''The sad thing is that no one has the guts to take action,'' he said.

smh.com.au Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler says while he sometimes questions the good versus harm ratio of tourism - he names places such as Phuket and Samui as having suffered from over-development and a lack of planning - he still sees many positives.

straitstimes.com Taxi companies will have to meet higher service standards under a push by the Government to improve cab services in Singapore. Among other things, they will have to cut waiting times for call bookings and ensure more bookings are successful.

bangkokpost.com The mobile Cabinet in Phuket is scheduled to consider a proposal from five southern provinces seeking a combined budget of almost 1.5 billion baht. At the meeting, scheduled for March 19-20, the five provinces - Phuket, Phangnga, Krabi, Trang and Ranong - plan to ask for approval for 18 projects.

independent.co.uk Apple announced its third iPad, a tablet computer with an inviting touchscreen interface and virtual onscreen keyboard. It is fractionally thicker, heavier and faster. It's just called the new iPad.
The screen has to be seen to be believed: it looks terrific, especially for photo and video playback which is pin-sharp, vibrant and eye-poppingly rich.

guardian.co.uk The British mission in Afghanistan will continue despite the loss of six soldiers who were caught in a huge explosion that destroyed their armored vehicle, defence officials have said.

mcot.net Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra boosted confidence among Japanese investors and affirmed Thailand's readiness to be Japan's strong economic partner during her official visit, which ends on Saturday.

AP Carlos Slim of Mexico remained the world's richest man for the third year in a row on the Forbes list with a $69 billion fortune, down $5 billion from last year. At 41, Sara Blakely, founder of women's slimming undergarments company Spanx Inc., became the world's youngest self-made female billionaire among 1226 worldwide.

abc.net.au Malaysian police are investigating whether an Australian man arrested in Kuala Lumpur last week was trying to set up an international drug-trafficking operation. Police have not yet formally charged former Perth man Dominic Bird after he was arrested for allegedly selling methamphetamine to undercover Malaysian police.

afp Women's groups expressed outrage after Indonesia's parliament said it would draft rules banning female lawmakers from wearing "provocative" clothing such as miniskirts to work, claiming it invited rape.

bangkokpost.com Thailand was the perfect place to conduct business, as it is not a communist country and is conveniently located. But Thailand has been in decline over the past 40 years as it lacks good leadership, said Dr Kriengsak Chareonwongsak, president of the Institute of Future Studies for Development.

denverpost.com The sixth-busiest Asian airport will install a wind-hazard detection system developed by a Louisville company. Called the WindTracer Doppler lidar, the system will be a key part of of the windshear-alert network at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

nytimes.com Machine Guns Vegas - an upscale indoor shooting range complete with skimpily dressed, gun-toting hostesses - opened near the Las Vegas Strip, with an armory of weapons and a promise to fulfil the desires of anyone wanting to fire an Uzi or vintage Thompson sub-machinegun.

pattayapeople.com Pattaya United Football Club had found a number of generous sponsors to aim for the championships in 2012. Chairman of the Club, Pattaya Mayor Ittipol Khunplume announced that a total of 70 million baht has been raised from True, Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, Grand Sports, Thai Beverages Limited, That Namtip Limited, Hutchinson, Lam Chabang Port and AIA Assurance.



bbc.co.uk Lionel Messi became the first player to score five goals in a Champions League fixture as brilliant Barcelona crushed Bayer Leverkusen 7-1 to cruise into the last eight.

telegraph.co.uk Two goals from Jermain Defoe and an Emmanuel Adebayor effort helped Spurs progress with a score of 3-1 to the sixth round of the FA Cup at the expense of Stevenage.

independent.co.uk Arsene Wenger has been charged with improper conduct by Uefa after confronting referee Damir Skomina following Arsenal's 3-0 win over AC Milan.



Until March 15 Festival of the Two Heroines, Thalang

March 8 Turtle release, Laguna Phuket

March 10-11 Weekend fairs begin at Boat Lagoon, Phuket City

March 29-April 1 Phuket International Boat Show, Royal Phuket Marina

April 6-8 Phuket Bike Week

April 12-13 Songkran New Year Festival

April 23-28 Phuket Pride Festival

April Opening of Gardens by the Bay, Singapore, three waterfront gardens that will dwarf Kew in London and provide ''green lungs'' for the city.

May 5 Krabi celebrates the province's 140th anniversary

May 26-June 5 National Youth Games, Phuket



November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket