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

UNCONFIRMED reports say protesters are camping out near Egypt's presidential palace as anger grows over a nationally televised speech in which President Hosni Mubarak told demonstrators to go home. Aljazeera now headlines its coverage 'The Revolution.'

guardian.co.uk President Mubarak dashed the hopes of hundreds of thousands of Egyptians celebrating what they expected would be his resignation speech by defiantly telling them on national tv that he would not bow to domestic or foreign pressure to quit.

telegraph.co.uk Huge chants of discontent rose up from the crowd. Protesters waved shoes in dismay and pledged to march on the presidential palace.

nationalpost.com US President Barack Obama held an emergency meeting of his national security team as tensions soared in Egypt after President Hosni Mubarak defied mass demands for his resignation.

afp The time for Egypt to secure a change in government "is now," the European Union's chief diplomat Catherine Ashton says after President Hosni Mubarak clung on in a televised speech.

channelnewsasia.com The UN Security Council will hold a closed meeting on Monday on border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia with the foreign ministers from the two nations, diplomats said. Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, Cambodia's Hor Namhong and Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who has been trying to mediate in the dispute, are expected to speak to the council, diplomats said.

afp A commuter plane crashed and burst into flames, killing six people and injuring another six as it tried to land in heavy fog at Cork Airport in Ireland.

scmp.com A boy in a school uniform blew himself up at a Pakistani army recruitment centre, killing 31 cadets and wounding 42.

reuters Geneva's international airport, often swamped in winter by skiers heading for the Alpine slopes, unveiled what officials said was the world's first mobile passenger terminal. The tent-style construction, with check-in desks and computers for self-registration, was conceived and built by an Austrian company for airports with temporary capacity problems.

cnn.com Online travel bookings accounted for just 22 percent of the Asian market in 2010, well below the 32 percent in Europe or the 38 percent in the US, according to PhoCusWright, a travel consultancy. Analysts predict that while online travel in the West is leveling off, Asia's industry is lifting, particularly in India and China.

todayonline.com While a record number of visitors spent a record sum of money in Singapore last year, the Singapore Tourism Board said it is expecting a slower pace of growth this year. Receipts from sightseeing and entertainment in particular - which includes money spent in the casinos - grew a jaw-dropping 1834 percent from the previous year to hit $4 billion.

cri.cn More Chinese tourists decided to spend their Spring Festival holidays overseas this year, despite a sharp rise in the cost of vacations. The National Holiday Tourism Office says 67,500 people left Beijing for overseas trips during the holidays, a 60 percent rise year-on-year. Hong Kong continues to be the most popular destination for outbound tourists, followed by Phuket, Singapore, Bangkok and Bali, according to the latest top 10 list jointly announced by the China Tourism Academy and Beijing Ctrip International Travel Service.

ecoworld.com An Indonesian man was arrested at an airport in Bangkok for attempting to smuggle 200 live animals ???????????????? including tortoises, snakes, squirrels, spiders, lizards and a parrot ???????????????? in three suitcases. The suspect said he had illegally purchased the animals from Bangkok's Chatuchak market.

afp There are now almost 50,000 rooms available across Bali on any given night, according to government figures. Most of these are in the congested south, where a moratorium on hotel development will be enforced.

reuters.com Known as "katoeys" or "ladyboys," transgenders and transsexuals have greater visibility in Thailand than in many other nations, holding mainstream jobs in a variety of fields. They are especially common in cosmetics shops or health stores, which almost always have a ladyboy shop assistant.




Unti February 13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi
February 11 IBAP for Michael Doyle, US attorney and co-author of 'Doyle's Practical Guide to Business Law in Emerging Countries in Asia.'
February 18 Makha Bucha public holiday
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 27 Earth Hour commemoration on Phuket
April 13-15 Songkran Festival
May New PPAO Hospital to open, Phuket City


Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket