aap A Qantas jet carrying 459 people has made a dramatic emergency landing in Singapore after one of its engines exploded over Indonesia. Indonesian authorities said there had been some sort of blast over the island of Batam, south of Singapore, about 9.15am. (see images above.)

straits times.com A Qantas Airbus A380 plane made an emergency landing with smoke coming out of its underside and was quickly surrounded by six fire engines. ''There were metal shards coming down from the sky into an industrial area in Batam,'' witness Noor Kanwa told AFP.

smh.com.au Qantas has suspended all A380 flights in its fleet after a dramatic engine failure today.

independent.ie The latest incident comes just days before Qantas was due to celebrate its 90th anniversary. Alan Joyce, chief executive, said the airline had opened an investigation but in the meantime was taking no risks.

Reuters Qantas (Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services) the national airline of Australia, has never had a fatal crash.


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

smh.com.au The Australian dollar was trading above parity with its US counterpart after the US central bank announced a controversial plan to pump money in to stimulate growth. By 6am (Bangkok time), it was buying $US1.0065. [The higher the $A, the better for Phuket.]

nationmultimedia.com Dusit is planning to open three more hotels to handle an expected upsurge in tourism. One of the hotels will join the Dusit Thani Laguna in Phuket. It will probably be a trendy hotel, possibly a D2, one of the newer Dusit brands, with Dusits also likely for Phang Nga and Samui. [Could D2 emerge as the eighth long-planned resort within the Laguna Phuket sanctuary?]

mcot.net Thailand's Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department reported 107 deaths from flooding in 20 provinces in the upper regions of the country from October 10 to November 2 with eight more deaths recorded in southern flooding.

bbc.co.uk In Had Yai cars were submerged, power supplies were interrupted and transport links cut. In northern Malaysia, 28,000 people have been displaced and an airport closed.

dailymail.co.uk [With shocking photographs] This is the cruel moment an elephant is forced to walk across a metal tightrope to form a tourist attraction in Thailand. The fully-grown animals are being trained to teeter across reinforced ropes in front of hordes of tourists at the controversial Safari World on the outskirts of Bangkok.

[This typo is a real Phuket howler.] blogs.bettor.com The Koran Beach in Phuket, Thailand is the host of wonderful beach activities this month. The major attraction for the beach volleyball duos and enthusiastic fans is the Phuket Open Tournament, which is underway in full intensity.

smh.com.au US President Barack Obama said the sweeping Republican takeover in the House of Representatives was a humbling episode and he was at fault. At the centre of the upheaval that also seriously diminished the Democratic majority in the Senate, Obama said, was his inability to move quickly to create jobs in a prolonged period of near-10 percent unemployment and deep economic anxiety.

ft.com Since Win Viriyaprapaikit signed in late August to buy a steelworks in northern England, the price has fallen by over $22m in baht terms. Thailand's baht is up by 11.4 percent against the dollar this year but in spite of a reliance on exports for 65 percent of gross domestic product, the economy is booming.

blackbookmag.com When I visited Thailand last year, I obeyed two general rules imparted to me by the locals: don't buy drugs and don't visit Phi Phi Island.

amnesty.org.uk Singapore's conviction of the author Alan Shadrake for contempt of court will further stifle freedom of expression and legitimate criticism of the Singaporean judiciary, Amnesty International said. Shadrake, a 75 year-old British citizen based in Malaysia, was convicted of contempt of court over his book 'Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock.'

voanews.com Fear is rising among Burmese refugee groups living in Thailand that Burma's military is preparing to launch operations against armed ethnic groups following elections on November 7 - a vote that refugees think will bring few benefits for Burma's minority communities.

guardian.co.uk Despite restrictions on movement, marriage and education, Rohingya in Burma's northern Rakhine State have been given the right to vote on November 7, and many of the more than 200,000 Rohingya refugees in neighboring Bangladesh see in this a semblance of hope.

ft.com The election rules, determined by a junta-concocted constitution, are rigged to ensure the generals cannot lose. The world tends to see the junta as a monolithic Orwellian force. From all accounts, it is more like a nest of vipers.

heraldsun.com.au Why, when visiting conservative Islamic countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, did Australian PM Julia Gillard decide to bring her de facto partner, and flaunt a non-marital domestic situation that is in strict contravention of the mores and laws of her host societies? In Malaysia, every Valentine's Day the modesty police go around town raiding budget hotel rooms, arresting unmarried couples and charging them with "khalwat" or "close proximity," a sexual misconduct offence that carries a maximum two-year jail sentence.

smh.com.au An Indonesian pilot was suspended after a jet carrying nearly 170 passengers skidded off a runway and plunged into a muddy field at the Supadio airport in West Kalimantan province.

bbc.co.uk Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano has erupted again, with greater force than last week's eruptions in which 36 people died. An estimated 75,000 people have been evacuated.

nationmultimedia.com Krungthai Card, widely known as KTC, expects to increase the proportion of its credit cards issued for travel and leisure use to 20 percent next year from the current 16 percent. Thais are now spending more on travel.



MORE than 100 Laguna Phuket staff, led by managing director Michael Ayling participated in a day of activities designed to promote education for students and positive relationship building at Baan Jao Krua School in Phang Nga province. This activity is part of the ongoing two-year Baan Jao Krua School Development Project aimed to provide safe infrastructure and improve education quality for students.

Until November 7 Phuket womens' beach volleyball, Karon beach
November 5 Phuket Charity Pro Am Golf, Blue Canyon
November 5-6 BIS Phuket seven-a-side football tournament, BIS Phuket
November 6 Charity golf at Tab Lamu, near Khao Lak: Call Sam on 089 875 1995 E: sam@khaolakappeal.com
November 6 Thailand Property Awards, Bangkok
November 12 IBAP meets at Thai Naan restaurant to hear Woody Leonard on what's best for internet access on Phuket.
November 19 AustCham at the new Westin Hotel at Koh Sireh from 3pm. E: harry@ladypie.com Tel: 081 2731740
November 21 Loy Kratong Festival
November 28 Laguna Phuket triathlon
December 4-11 Phuket King's Cup Regatta
December 5 Laguna Ironman title
December 15-20 Patong Carnival
December 30-January 9 Phuket Red Cross fair, Saphan Hin park, Phuket City
2011
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