Phuketwan PhuketWATCH
A daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media.
afp Thailand should swiftly investigate the treatment of almost a hundred boat people amid claims the group was set adrift in a vessel without an engine, rights organisations said. 91 people believed to be Rohingya landed in India's Andaman islands in early February.
usatoday.com President Obama condemned reports of violent reprisals against protesters in Bahrain, Libya and Yemen and called for government restraint as unrest swept the volatile Middle East in the wake of Egypt's uprising.
aolnews.com Libyan security forces waged an escalating crackdown on protesters demanding the ousting of leader Moammar Gadhafi in several eastern cities. In the country's second largest city, a stream of 35 bodies was brought to one hospital, reportedly of protesters shot while trying to march on one of Gadhafi's residences, a doctor said.
scmp.com Bahraini security forces fired tear gas and opened fire on protesters as thousands of demonstrators defied a government ban and streamed towards the landmark square that had been the symbolic centre of the uprising against the Gulf nation's leaders
cnn.com Japan has canceled the rest of its winter whaling season, with a top official reasoning that environmentalists' obstructive efforts made it dangerous for whalers to stay on the high seas.
Phuket Update Friends report a ''great response'' to a call through Phuketwan and other Phuket media for O negative blood to save a Danish man seriously injured in a motorcycle fall on Patong Hill. ''Bleeding has stopped and he is off the ventilator and has been transferred out of the ICU ward in Vachira Hospital Phuket to the orthopaedics ward,'' one friend said. He is expected to remain in traction for at least a month to allow his broken pelvis to heal.
dailymail.co.uk Authorities at JFK Airport became suspicious of the innocuous-looking shipment from Thailand and decided to crack open one of the porcelain cats, which contained brown, tar-like raw opium. In the shipment of 30 feline figures was opium with an estimated street value of $9 million.
smh.com.au Long after blowing itself out, the spectre of cyclone Yasi continues to haunt tourism operators all over Far North Queensland. While restaurants, tour operators and hotels in most popular tourism areas, including Cairns and the Whitsunday Islands, are back up and running, the effect of the images of devastation flashed around the world are still being felt.
wsj.com The Singapore government announced a $6.6 billion Singapore package to enable its citizens to overcome inflationary pressures caused by rising commodity prices and wages. "Inflation is a key concern for everyone this year," Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in his budget speech in Parliament.
traveldailynews.com Hilton Worldwide announced the signing of two management agreements with TCC Hotel Group for a new build Hilton and a conversion project to be rebranded as a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel. Both properties in the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok are due for completion in 2012.
afp Former veteran CNN talk show host Larry King said that his successor, British journalist Piers Morgan, had been "oversold" to television audiences. King bowed out in December after 25 years as host of "Larry King Live" and the Atlanta-based news network launched a huge advertising campaign to publicise Morgan's debut the following month.
Phuket Coming Events
February 20 Pink Floyd charity tribute by New Machine, Zantika, Khao Lak
February 23-26 Phuket Gay Pride Festival, Patong
February 25-26 Phuket International Blues and Rock Festival 2011
February 26-27 Phuket Spicy Soccer 7s, Phuket International Academy
March4-6 Pool Asia Expo and Conference, Hilton, Phuket
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
Phuket Coming Events 2014
Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket
