TSUNAMI after 8.9 quake sends big wave across Japan's east coast, hitting Japan's most populous island: damage described as ''extraordinary.'' Houses, cars, swept away, whole towns swamped. Japan's two major international airports closed.

Toll at 378 as of early Saturday and expected to rise. Japan was well-prepared for earthquakes.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also issued a tsunami warning for Russia, the Marcus Islands and Northern Marianas - then later upgraded it to include virtually the entire Pacific.

Tsunami waves are predicted to possibly reach South America in 21 hours' time, and to still be capable of destruction.

The initial disturbance was described as ''the strongest quake in Japan in 300 years.'' Japan's PM says no damage to nuclear power stations reported. One oil refinery burning. Electricity to four million people fails. Entire east coast of Japan evacuated.

Evacuations ordered from Hawaii and from Guam in the western Pacific. Lines of cars began to form at service stations on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

heraldsun.com.au Residents living near a nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan have been urged to evacuate, Kyodo News Agency reports. Officials in Fukushima issued the advice within a two-kilometre radius of the No. 2 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 plant.

bbc.co.uk Japan TV showed cars, ships and even buildings being swept away in the Fukushima prefecture. Officials said a wave as high as 6m could strike the coast.


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

PHUKET lifesavers are to be given almost double the budget - 20 million baht for the next 12 months - and should be back on the beaches in April, Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation chief executive Paiboon Upatising told Phuketwan at ITB Berlin. Some lifeguards are still working as volunteers on key beaches although the formal contract has expired.

heraldsun.com.au A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the Indonesian resort island of Bali early today but was located too deep to generate a tsunami in the Indian Ocean, seismologists said. The tremor hit at 1.08am.

ukpa Malaysian authorities have arrested seven Indonesians who allegedly tried to rob a tanker off southern Malaysia. First Admiral Zulkifli Abu Bakar of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said the men, who were armed with axes and bayonets, boarded the Majuro-registered vessel anchored off Johor state before dawn on Wednesday.

nationmultimedia.com The Provincial Electricity Authority will invest 400 billion baht to create its smart-grid system for a nationwide intelligent power network over the next 15 years. The PEA will pilot the system in high-power-consuming areas including Phuket, Chiang Mai and Pattaya.

Phuket Update Seven Phuket resorts - including the Evason Phuket and Bon Island Resort, Anantara Phuket Villas at Mai Khao and Royal Phuket City - have been awarded a certificate from the Phuket Natural Resources and Environment Department for good environmental standards.

scoop.co.nz Prime Minister Abhisit is to be saluted for his opinion. Thailand needs to move away from its dependence on increasingly irrelevant, low yield mass tourism. A new and unsustainable trend has emerged. The country has to run faster to stay still. Empty hotel rooms and low load factors are causing price dumping and desperate short-term marketing pitches to mass market suppliers.

Phuket Update Indigo Pearl, the stylish resort at Nai Yang, has confirmed at ITB Berlin that it is to renovate and reduce its room numbers, upgrading to suites in search of a high-end market. The Nai Yang beachfront, though, is in the midst of an unedifying ''greed rush.''

newstalkzb.co.nz A survivor of the Thailand poisonings has been asked to supply more blood samples to Thai health officials. Amanda Eliason and two of her friends ended up in intensive care in Chiang Mai after falling ill in their hotel room. Miss Eilason's friend Sarah Carter died. It has since been revealed four other people have also died in similar circumstances, although officials claim it's a coincidence.

stuff.co.nz The families of three young Kiwis struck down by a mystery illness that killed one of them while on holiday in Thailand say they fear a conspiracy of silence from Thai authorities and hope continued pressure from the New Zealand Government will provide answers.

nzherald.co.nz Father Peter Eliason said Amanda would supply more blood for Thai health officials. "When I was over there I asked how many similar cases they had and I was told, 'Not many'. "You just wonder now what is being covered up."

wsj.com Saudi police fired rubber bullets to disperse at least 200 Shiite protesters in Qatif, a town in the oil-rich Eastern Province, local human rights activists said.

reuters.com Apparently Thai Airways is trying to boost the self-esteem of their staff by telling them they are too big to work. I've flown Thai Airways and personally don't see a problem with the personality of their staff. In fact, my flights to and from Thailand from LA were the best flights I've ever taken.

nationmultimedia.com Children need to be empowered, with stakeholders working closing together and being vigilant in order to tackle the issue of child-sex offenders, said Peter Davies, CEO of the London-based Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

Associated Press A Cambodian court has convicted a British man of sexually abusing two girls and sentenced him to seven years in prison. Authorities say 38-year-old Matthew Harland was arrested in May last year at the house he rented in the capital, Phnom Penh. He was found to be living with two girls aged 11 and 12.

Phuketwan Update The organisation behind ITB Berlin supports children's rights and is due to sign a code of conduct on Friday pledging to protect children against sexual exploitation in tourism, the Child Protection Code.

perthnow.com.au Two men have been charged with child sex offences after allegedly planning to travel to Vietnam and Thailand to have sex with children. Police will allege the two men former pre-primary teacher Mark Pendleton, 51 and Robert Gordon Cummins, 45, devised a plan to travel to Thailand and Vietnam for the purposes of having sex with children.

bangkokpost.com Since opening in September 2006, Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport has seen at least six suicide attempts, two of them successful. Hundreds of foreign passengers passing through the airport have fallen seriously ill or suffered accidents, requiring immediate medical attention. The vice-president of AoT's Medical Department suggests the Thai government require foreign visitors to Thailand buy health and travel insurance.

mct A new study published in the Journal of Travel Medicine found that 44 percent of international travellers don't seek any health advice before their trips. Only 36 percent carry medication against travellers' diarrhea. Just 20 percent of people travelling to countries with malaria risk take medication to prevent it.

jakartaglobe.com From July 1, foreign professional and skilled workers will have to meet a higher qualifying salary before they can get a pass to work in Singapore. The change is prompted by the improving profile of the local workforce and to encourage companies to hire more qualified foreigners, said Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong.

dvb.no Britain's former PM Gordon Brown has been denied for the second time a visa to travel to Burma, where he says he had hoped to meet ''the greatest fighter for democracy of our generation, Aung San Suu Kyi.''

wsj.com This tablet saved me $200 compared to the cheapest of its competitors. Tablets are probably going to become cheap, near-commodity items, and maybe sooner than you think.

goldcoast.com.au Australia's Gold Coast is poised to be a one-stop hop from the rest of the world, with the city's tourism and airline bosses saying flights directly linking Singapore and China are only a matter of time.

nytimes.com Maureen Dowd: Mark Twain once wrote the first letter of topics that he wanted to cover in a lecture on his fingernails. Soon we may be able to get Google on our fingernails to retrieve forgotten facts at a dinner party.



MALAYSIA Truly Fun Truly Asia 2011 will take place on March 11-13 at Central Festival Phuket second floor, near Power Buy Shop. Special packages for travel to Malaysia, including airlines Firefly, Quatar Air and MAS, will be on offer from 11am-8 pm.

LIVERPOOL Legends, a team made up of ex Liverpool Football Club players, are set to play two friendly games against the Legends of Thailand. The first match is scheduled for June 15 at Bangkok's Yamaha stadium followed by a second game at Surakul Stadium on Phuket on June 18.

Until March 19 Heroine's Monument Festival
March 14-19 ADFEST 2011 at Movenpick Resort, Phuket
March 26 St Patrick's Day Ball, Movenpick Resort and Spa, Karon. Details 081 3979809 or 086 9469232
March 27 Earth Hour commemoration on Phuket
April 13-15 Songkran Festival
May New PPAO Hospital to open, Phuket City
June 12 Laguna Phuket International Marathon
June 23-26 Phuket Fun Fly paragliding, Nai Harn


March 18-28 National Youth Games, Phuket

Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket