afp A Qantas Boeing 747 with 352 on board suffered mid-air mechanical trouble and was forced to land in Bangkok, a Thai official said. The Sydney-bound flight developed difficulties on Tuesday evening soon after taking off from the Thai capital and returned just after 7pm.


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

cnn.com People across Egypt took to the streets in demonstrations against corruption and failing economic policies, rallies partly inspired by similar protests that rocked Tunisia this month. Thousands were protesting in the capital of Cairo. Three deaths have been reported.

bbc.co.uk Eyewitness account: Now we are watching from the window what is happening outside. I hear people chanting: "Down with the president." I've seen the police using tear gas against protesters, though I haven't seen any violence. People are behaving as if they are ready to die. They keep pushing forwards.

ft.com ''Twitter is now blocked in Egypt on all networks!!!'' wrote Wael Abbas, an Egyptian journalist, who had to use encryption technology to get around the controls.

nationmultimedia.com An internal investigation into corruption over admission fees at Thailand's marine parks is underway, following allegations by tour guides and operators of dive tours that corrupt officials have been pocketing more than one billion baht of state revenue each year.

wsj.com Sometimes graft is a grease that allows a badly regulated economy to run. Yet complacency about corruption is always ill-advised, as it can all too easily drive out legitimate business and destroy the trust that holds society together. Indonesia has hovered on this brink in the past and may be there again now.

voanews.com Burma's military is pressing on with the privatisation of state assets as part of economic reforms. Many critics say the program simply transfers assets to the military government's allies and maintains its economic control.

bbc.co.uk A bomb blast in southern Thailand has killed nine villagers and wounded two others, police say. The villagers were driving in Yala, one of three restive provinces, when a bomb exploded next to their truck.

nationmultimedia.com Thai transsexuals were overjoyed as new airline P.C. Air took air hostess job applications from "third sex" candidates at Bangkok's Esplanade shopping mall. Among the successful applicants was Miss Tiffany 2007 winner Thanyarat "Film" Jiraphatpakorn. P.C. Air executive Peter Shan said the company had seen the potential of transsexuals to work as hostesses.

itproportal.com The BBC has confirmed that it will significantly reduce its online operations, with 203 out of the 400 individual websites that make up BBC.co.uk set to be culled.

afp The BBC World Service said it would close five of its language services, in a move that will reportedly lead to hundreds of job losses as the broadcaster seeks to make huge savings.

afp Around 2000 nationalist yellow shirts rallied in Bangkok to demonstrate against the government's handling of a border territory dispute with neighboring Cambodia.

mysinchew.com Thai authorities have released two photojournalists who had been facing deportation after re-entering the country from neighboring Burma, police said. Belgian Pascal Schatteman and John Sanlin, a Burma passport holder, were detained in the border town of Mae Sot after returning to Thailand from eastern Burma, where they reported on clashes between rebels and troops.

bloomberg Air France-KLM Group received an independent safety report commissioned after the 2009 Rio de Janeiro-Paris air disaster and said it will implement the recommendations as soon as possible. Most of its 35 proposals "will be implemented rapidly."

reuters.com Tourism contributes just 2-3 percent to Indonesia's GDP, versus 6 percent for Thailand, and economists believe boosting Indonesia's service industries could be a new engine of growth for Southeast Asia's biggest economy. Indonesia's 17,000 islands stretch from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, and offer pristine coral reefs, diverse cultures, archaeological monuments, striking volcanic scenery and dense rainforests.

smh.com.au A Qantas airliner carrying 99 passengers from Adelaide to Melbourne was forced rapidly to descend 26,000 feet after a sudden cabin depressurisation. Oxygen masks dropped from the overhead consoles on the Boeing 737-400 as the pilots of flight QF670 announced that they would have to make a rapid descent from a cruising altitude of 36,000 feet to just 10,000 feet.

telegraph.co.uk Planners in south China have laid out an ambitious plan to merge the nine cities that lie around the Pearl River Delta. The world's biggest "mega city" would be a metropolis twice the size of Wales with a population of 42 million.

telegraph.co.uk Andy Gray was sacked by Sky Sports while the position of his fellow presenter, Richard Keys, is under increasing doubt after the emergence of more shocking off-air footage. The offending clip of Gray was filmed during the Sky Sports Christmas Special. In it, Gray fiddles with his trousers and says, "Charlotte, could you tuck this in here for me?"



January 27 Second match, Muangtong United versus FC Phuket, 6pm. Tickets 50 baht, 100 baht
February 3 Chinese New Year Festival, Phuket
February 8-10Old Phuket Town Festival, food and walking street fest
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi
February 18 Makha Bucha public holiday
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
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