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

telegraph.co.uk Arctic conditions forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights from terminals up and down Britain on what is traditionally the busiest weekend of the year for the travelling public. Runway closures at Heathrow and Gatwick led to delays of several hours for those who did manage to fly, but with more heavy snow forecast for today, travellers have been warned that many more flights could be axed.

reuters Heavy snow and freezing temperatures caused travel chaos across northern Europe, with hundreds of German flights canceled and icy roads wreaking havoc in Poland and the Netherlands ahead of Christmas. A spokesman for Frankfurt airport operator Fraport said 400 of 1400 scheduled flights had been canceled at continental Europe's busiest airport, even though Germany's financial capital escaped the worst of the winter weather.

guardian.co.uk Documents seen by the Guardian reveal for the first time the full details of the allegations of rape and sexual assault that have led to extradition hearings against the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. The case against Assange, which has been the subject of intense speculation and dispute in mainstream media and on the internet, is laid out in police material held in Stockholm to which the Guardian received unauthorised access.

Associated Press The Dutch government moved a step closer to barring tourists from Holland's signature marijuana bars with a ruling by the European Court of Justice that the ban would not violate European laws. The Luxembourg-based court said the southern Dutch city of Maastricht was within its rights when it briefly banned non-Dutch residents from its soft drugs dens in 2005.

bloomberg North Korea warned the South to cancel an artillery drill planned to begin as early as today that it said would provoke stronger retaliation than shelling last month that killed four people.

Phuket Update Phuket tuk-tuk driver Somkuan Petmanee, 40, went to Patong police on Thursday when he found an expensive video camera had been left in his vehicle. Police at Kathu Police Station called the Hilton Arcadia Phuket Resort and Spa, where management managed to find the owner, holidaymaker Renjie Wu, 26, who was delighted to meet Khun Somkuan and be reunited with his camera.

aap Indonesian police said there was no criminal element to the boat wreck which claimed 30 lives off Australia's Christmas Island this week, despite suspicions of people smuggling.

etravelblackboard.com Guests at the 1st Annual Hainan Tourism and Mice trade show, held in Sydney this week, have been told to get to Hainan now. ''Hainan is a place that you need to get your clients to,'' Planetdwellers co-founder and lead guide Barry Warner said. ''In five years time you'll be selling [the city of] Sanya like you're currently selling Phuket,'' Mr Warner added. ''In Sanya you'll see the best of China.''

expresstravelworld.com Thai Airways is looking to increase its Mumbai-Bangkok flights to 14 per week by April 2011. It recently added three new flights from Mumbai taking the current number of weekly flights from Mumbai to Bangkok to a total of 10. Plans are also on in the future to link Mumbai directly to Phuket and Thai Airways is looking to launch a direct connection by around October 2011.

todayonline.com Japan is seeking to boost air traffic to and from Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea starting March 2012. The nation already has open skies pacts with the three nations, as well as seven other Asian countries but the existing pacts do not cover Tokyo's two airports, Narita and Haneda.

Associated Press Two presidents, four television news anchors and a 10-year-old son who looked ready to take dad's place behind the microphone turned out to bid Larry King farewell as he pulled the curtain down on his CNN talk show after 25 years.



ARCHERS and spectators are invited to an outdoor competition at Saphan Hin public park in Phuket City from 12.30 on Sunday. The opportunity to try bow and arrow is the first public event highlighting the opening of Phuket's first permanent archery site earlier in 2010. The arrows will fly just opposite the Chinese Shrine, at the end of the Saphan Hin park.

THE Southern Big Bike Party Charity 2010 event on Saturday involves riders wearing national flag-colored shirts and at 4pm they will go on a ride to campaign for helmet-wearing in Phuket City.

Until December 20 Patong Carnival
Until December 18 2010 Asia Superyacht Rendezvous
Until December 19 Phuket Street Show Festival, Old Phuket Town
December 22-24 Disaster warning drills
December 26 Tsunami sixth anniversary
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


Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket